Pearl of Canterbury: 10-bedroom Melbourne mansion selling for up to $40 million

An imposing Melbourne estate featuring a mansion with 42 rooms, a tennis court and an indoor pool, has hit the market, just two years after it last sold.

Known as Shrublands, the 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom historic Italianate home at 16 Balwyn Road, Canterbury, last sold in March 2021 for $29 million. It’s now asking $37 million to $40 million.

Set on a 6525-square-metre block, the estate last traded to businessman Ali Ali, records show, after being advertised with a guide of $42 million to $46 million.

Kay & Burton partner and head of international division Jamie Mi and selling agent Sam Wilkinson said the vendor listed the property as he no longer needed all the space, and had business interests in another location.

Though the seller had only owned the property for a short time, he had updated the home’s indoor pool and undertaken other minor repairs, Mi said.

The home previously had $18 million of renovations done, including painting rooms with gold accents, she said.

The estate sits on more than 6000 square metres of land.Credit: Kay & Burton

Built in 1863, the Canterbury home was initially offered off-market, with international buyers approached for the sale.

It has had multiple repeat inspections from prospective buyers, Mi said, including interest from interstate.

“It had some really good traction overseas,” Mi said. “This house has a very specific type of buyer just because of how big it is.”

“There’s probably a range of buyers it could appeal to,” Wilkinson added. “It is a generational trophy home, and that would appeal to wealthy families who want to live, really, in a private compound. But there’s also the business part of it, potentially the commercial aspect as well.”

The indoor pool was updated by the current owner.Credit: Kay & Burton

Though the property has been listed with a higher guide than its 2021 sale, Wilkinson was confident a sale would be achieved. That was despite the sharpest rise in interest rates in a generation.

Canterbury’s house prices fell 1.5 per cent in 2022, according to Domain data, to a $3,217,000 median.

“There’s been talk about the rates,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve sold a lot of properties in the $10 million-plus market, and they’re not affected by the rate rises.

“It’s the scarcity of the type of properties like this – one of Melbourne’s more significant estates – that attracts the high prices.”

The home is being sold via expressions of interest.

Shrublands is not the only high-priced mansion to hit the top-end Melbourne market in recent weeks.

Late businessman and horse breeder David Hains’ Toorak mansion in Albany Road is being sold off-market, expecting to fetch between $40 million and $50 million following his death in January.

A 47-room nursing home known as Darnlee is also up for sale in Lansell Road, Toorak for between $20 million and $22 million.

And, a five-bedroom pile in St George’s Road, Toorak, sold by the Rich List Stamoulis family for $19 million in 2021, has been listed by the current owners with expectations of $24 million to $25 million.

Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and Jack Nicol have that listing.

St George’s Road, one of the most sought-after in Melbourne, is the street where two houses smashed Victoria’s house price records.

Crypto king Ed Craven picked up a knockdown-rebuild on St George’s Road for more than $80 million late last year, and another sold for almost $75 million to entrepreneur Grant Rule.

Victoria’s previous house price record was $52.5 million for the mansion known as Stonnington, in Malvern, sold by art dealer Rod Menzies in 2018.

Elsewhere, a stylish five-bedroom residence on Orrong Road, with interiors by Lauren Tarrant Design, has come to the market with a price guide of $10 million to $11 million. Selling agents on the listing are RT Edgar Toorak’s Max Ruttner and Mandy Zhu.

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