Trophy Homes: Burston estate’s Benalla farm sold

The Benalla farm of the late Mike Burston was sold at auction for $4.95m to Wagyu beef producer David Blackmore.

The Hawthorn vineyard.

The Benalla district farm of the late cattle industry leader Mike Burston wassold at auction yesterday for $4.95 million to the award-winning wagyu beef producer, David Blackmore. The property, East Mount Ada, spans 610ha in the heart of Victoria’s Broken River Valley. Its Ruralco Property Hume agents Luke Marple and Brett Neilson had been expecting about $4.75 million. Burston received an OAM last year for his services to the industry.

Hawthorn vineyard on the block

An inner-city vineyard on the Yarra River near Melbourne has been listed for sale for between $12m and $13m through Scott Patterson and Tom Staughton at Kay & Burton. The Hawthorn vineyard, just 4km from Melbourne, is the home of Coppin Grove Wines, a family boutique winery established in 1998, with about 1000 pinot noir, chardonnay and nebbiolo vines. Its signature wine is the Coppin Grove Sparkling. The vineyard has been the two-decade work of Michael Cohn, who runs a business importing and distributing textiles in Australia, and his wife Ann. They paid $1.404m for the 8200sq m double block in 1996.

Ablett’s Ashmore pad up for grabs

Gold Coast AFL superstar Gary Ablett has yet to sell his luxury Ashmore waterfront house, which was up for sale through the football season. Its listing sparked rumours he was likely to leave the Suns. The house started the year with $2.2m hopes and is now priced at $2.045m through Danny Stanley from Kollosche Prestige Agents. Ablett paid $1.8m for the home in 2011. Meanwhile, veteran GWS defender Heath Shaw has listed his former Kew East home in Melbourne. The ex-Collingwood star paid $750,000 in 2008. Marshall White is expecting $1.4m-$1.5m. Western Bulldogs star midfielder Marcus Bontempelli spent $2.2m on a nearby Kew cottage. North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell sold in Brunswick West mid-season for $1.268m to relocate to a $1.275m house in Maribyrnong. Recent retirees of the game bought up, including Lions forward Jonathan Brown, who spent $4m in Camberwell. Retired ruckman Darren Jolly and wife Dea, stars of two series of TV show The Block, bought a $1.8m Sorrento cottage on the Mornington Peninsula.

Cutts’ weekender listed

Having spent $9.47m on a Portsea clifftop house, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Jeremy Cutts has listed his nearby weekender. Set on a 2700sq m elevated block with bay views, the turn-of-the-century beach house has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. A terrace deck wraps around the swimming pool. The Cutts family have owned it for more than five decades since the Franklin Road property was bought by architect Robert Cutts. Abercromby’s agents Tim Derham and Hugh Hardy are marketing the home. This year Jeremy and wife Robin, based in South Yarra, bought an eight-bedroom home near the tip of Point Nepean Road. It last traded for $400,000 in 1982 when it sold by the Lansell family.

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