Sorrento mansion sets clifftop record in $30m secret sale

A holiday house fetching $30 million?

That’s the new reality for the ultra-prestige property market on Mornington Peninsula, where a clifftop mansion has smashed sales records.

Westbank, a clifftop mansion in Sorrento, sold for $30 million.Credit:

Westbank, on Point Nepean Road in Sorrento, sold for $30 million in May last year but only settled this week, public records show.

Built about 1910, the grand home is set on more than 7200 square metres and was constructed from limestone quarried on the property.

The property has set records in the past, selling for $9.5 million in 2007 when the neighbour reportedly bought it and added a covenant that would protect his views from future development, before reselling a year later for the discounted price of $8.5 million.

The home offers stunning bay views and has previously been advertised with six bedrooms, garaging for four cars, wine cellars and boat shed.

The water views don’t disappoint.Credit:

The previous record for the Mornington Peninsula was the $26 million sale of Ilyuka in Portsea, set 10 years ago.

In an off-market deal, the home was purchased in the name of a corporate entity linked to a lawyer’s trust, although the new owner is said to be private equity boss Ben Gray, founding partner of BGH Capital, according to a source with knowledge of the deal but not authorised to speak publicly.

Public records list the sellers as property developer John Gibson and Suzanne Gibson.

There is no indication whether the new owner of the 7000-square-metre pile is planning a holiday home or a more permanent move, but coastal lifestyle locations have been in hot demand since the pandemic prompted a shift to remote working.

Kay & Burton Real Estate chairman Gerald Delany said the sale reflected demand for clifftop property, rather than being pandemic-driven. He declined to comment on the identity of the buyer.

“It’s one of the old-money, iconic properties,” he said. “It’s one of the rare ones and has got a very big land content.”

The home was originally built by local builder William Joseph Croad, whose work also includes the George Hotel in St Kilda and the Sorrento Golf Club.

In a Federation style, the villa’s architectural details include intersecting gables, tall chimneys topped with terracotta pots and projecting timber bay windows.

Neighbours include wealthy residents such as trucking boss Lindsay Fox, and former Computershare director Michele O’Halloran – who sold the $26 million Ilyuka before buying a more modest home nearby in recent years.

Sorrento house prices soared 35.1 per cent over the 12 months to September, Domain data shows, to a median $2 million, although top-end homes fetch multiples of that.

Portsea prices jumped 28.3 per cent to $3 million over the same period.

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