Hawthorn abandoned riverside manor sells for more than $8m
This Hawthorn may look like something out of a horror film, but it’s just sold for more than $8m.
A rundown riverside Hawthorn manor has sold for more than $8m after just 18 days on the market.
Despite the 1876-built Italianate mansion having fallen into disrepair while sitting vacant for a decade, 100 groups inquired about the property after it hit the market with a $7m-$7.7m price guide, Jellis Craig partner Antony Woodley said.
Of those, 80 inspected the ramshackle interior and the unkempt grounds of the 1950sq m landholding right on the Yarra River at 18 Yarra Grove.
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The interior has seen better days.
The buyers will embark on a renovation of the historic home.
“All of the superlatives came out,” Mr Woodley said.
“But we had a lot of interest from families looking to do a more simple restoration through to grander schemes.
“For some, it would have been a dream project, but the budget was beyond their reach.”
The agent had previously estimated the buyer would need to front up a couple of million dollars more to make it liveable.
The vendors made a hefty profit from the sale. CoreLogic records show the property, named Ravenswood, last transacted for $1.18m in 1995.
It hasn’t been touched since – literally so for “a good 10 years”, during which it has been unoccupied.
The property fetched more than $8m.
The owners paid $1.18m for it back in the ’90s.
The house is on a large landholding on the Yarra River.
Mr Woodley said the buyers were a family from inner Melbourne who planned to make the residence liveable for the meantime and then gradually chip away at a grander renovation that would likely include an extension that made the most of the river outlook.
“It’s probably going to be a lifetime passion. It’s going to be a generational home for them,” he said.
“(They were drawn to) the river, combined with the opportunity to renovate an original home, and it’s on that city side of Hawthorn so they weren’t moving too far.”
The agent said the manor was “one of the first homes built in the area” as part of a trio of “ornate period properties” and as such, enjoyed a prime position at the river bend.
The property was marketed as a “timeless, noble, and enchanting vision”.
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Ravenswood was one of the first homes built in the area.
The house was built in 1876.
It was marketed as a “timeless, noble, and enchanting vision.”
Another house on the Yarra River – 1C Waterdale Rd, Ivanhoe – sold for an undisclosed figure in its $5.8m-$6m price range within five days of hitting the market.
In addition to the 1985-built home’s futuristic facade, which wouldn’t look out of place on The Jetsons, its riverside position was hard to come by in Ivanhoe, Jellis Craig Ivanhoe selling agent Kieran Whaley said.
“Only 20-odd houses in Ivanhoe have absolute river frontage,” Mr Whaley said.
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