Ballarat Bishops Palace listed for August auction

Ballarat Bishops Palace listed for August auction
Jonathan ChancellorAugust 5, 2014

Ballarat's Bishops Palace - the home of the first bishop of Ballarat Diocese - has been listed for 30 August auction.

The heritage-listed property, set on a 14,500 square metre holding, was last sold for around $700,000 in 1996 by the Catholic Church.

It remains in mint condition, agent Jim Bambridge says.

It was built in 1873 as the headquarters for the Ballarat Diocese and its first bishop, Dr Michael O’Connor to a design by Melbourne architect Joseph Reed of Reed and Barnes at a cost of £6,000.

Its been for sale for some time through PRDnationwide with 1444 Sturt Street having been initially listed at $6.5 million, then $5.5 million, then in early 2014 at $4.5 million plus when Property Observer was told all the buying interest had come from intending home buyers. 

Ballarat prestige sales have tended to be on Lake Wendouree where $2,825,000 was paid in late 2007 for a house with 53 square metres of living space, an indoor pool and a tennis court on a large block.

The median house price in Ballarat is $340,000, a tad under its recent $355,000 peak. 

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

Editor's Picks

Coronation Property Group breaks ground at new Chatswood apartment development
MAYD kicks off construction of ultra-luxury ONE Burleigh apartment development in Burleigh Heads
TOGA installs first tower crane at Macquarie Rise as construction gathers pace
Olympic infrastructure fuels residential boom in Maroochydore City Centre
Australian Federal Election 2025: How Labor and Liberal plan to fix the housing crisis