Melbourne’s luxury estates reclaim property crown

Melbourne grand estates are regaining their mantle at the top of Victoria’s property market.

16 Balwyn Road in Canterbury in Victoria. Picture: Supplied.

Melbourne estates are regaining their mantle with the heritage-listed mansion Shrublands in the city’s Canterbury selling after hitting the block last year with a price tag of $42m-$46m.

At that level it would be one of the Victorian capital’s highest ever sales and turn attention back to grand estates rather than the modern homes that have been trading briskly in blue ribbon suburbs.

The sale was quietly concluded in January, marking only the third time it has traded in its history, and at a price even approaching the hopes of the vending Williams family, who carefully restored the property, that it would mark a return for grand estates.

The home, built in 1863, ranks among the city’s finest and sports 42 rooms. It was modernised by Anne and Michael Williams in a $10m project after they picked it up in 2003.

The mansion’s historical ­dimensions set it apart from later properties.

The first owner, Ernst Carter, dentist and later vigneron, was one of the first to buy in the area in the house designed by John Flannagan.

Carter established a vineyard on the site producing Shrublands-labelled wine in the 1860s and 1870s, when Boroondara was one of Victoria’s leading wine-growing regions.

An 1889 extension by architect William Wolf added Tuscan and Ionic pilasters. Shrublands was ­donated to the Church of England in the 1920s and it became the St John’s Home for Boys until 1996, when it was bought by developers, although their hopes of converting it into townhouses were dashed and they sold in 2003.

An interior at 16 Balwyn Rd, Canterbury.

Today, the mansion’s modernised nine bedrooms are matched by ensuite bathrooms, and its scale allows Shrublands to be used as a home and for business.

The property was marketed by Jock Langley, director of Abercromby’s Real Estate, and RT Edgar director Nick Walker. They confirmed the sale but declined to comment further.

While the home has been modernised, Shrublands sports significant historic elements that make other mansions seem wanting.

The home was once surrounded by acres of orchards and pastures, but now the mansion is set in about 6500sq m of landscaped grounds featuring majestic trees, manicured lawns, a new indoor pool in a superb pavilion and a floodlit tennis court.

Grand homes are coming back into vogue. The property drew comparisons with Stonnington Mansion in Malvern, which sold for $52.5m in 2017 to a Chinese purchaser.

Now Melbourne’s trophy hunters are turning their attention to the classic Hawthorn estate Avon Court, which is back on the block with a $45m asking price.

The vendors of that Shakespeare Grove estate, the Du family, had once expected $50m when they went to market in early 2018, and they will be hoping that the four-storey Avon Court mansion with nine bedrooms can again test the city benchmarks.