Ballara, the home of Australia’s second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, at 57-73 Glaneuse Rd, Point Lonsdale, has yet to find a new owner.
The historic Point Lonsdale estate, owned by the family of Australian prime minister Alfred Deakin for 118 years, has gone up for auction.
Ballara was put up for sale after a campaign to get Commonwealth support to put the 1.69ha Bellarine Peninsula property into public hands missed a VCAT-enforced deadline sought by family members who wanted to sell the home.
Hopes of Commonwealth support coupled with $4m raised by several family members, led by the great-grandson of Tom Harley’s personality, community and Borough of Queenscliffe pledges were dashed this week.
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Arts and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s staff has reportedly withdrawn an apparently promised sum of $3m to match local fundraising efforts to buy a family home.
Hundreds of people attended Saturday’s auction where antiques dealer Nick Myer called for bids.
Two lower offers were rejected: a mock bid of $500,000 and a more recent offer of $3.2m which came when Mr Myer sought an opening bid of $4.7m.
Mr Myer made a vendor bid of $5.2m – below grade, before passing on the property.
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The house was built in 1907 as a private beachside family residence for Alfred Deakin.
Mr Myer said the five-bedroom, two-storey Californian bungalow with a viewing deck was beautiful and offered “absolute peace”.
“It was designed and built by Pattie and Alfred Deakin in 1907, it’s a beautiful building in a beautiful location,” he said.
“We’re in a great location for beaches, award-winning locations. The Bellarine Peninsula, the Mornington Peninsula, everything is within easy reach – two beach walking tracks, the lighthouse. You’ve got the beautiful village of Point Lonsdale just seconds away.
“These are all benefits that the current vendors have enjoyed during their extended period of ownership and are benefits that the new custodian of this beautiful property will have to enjoy for years to come.
“A chance to get a piece of Australian history.”
Agents were negotiating with parties after the auction.
Alfred Deakin’s grandson Tom Harley wants to save the house. Photo: Jason Edwards
The house was designed and built in 1907, during Deakin’s second term as prime minister. It was an important retreat where he would study, write and develop political ideas.
It houses original materials, works of art, and photographs. His wife, Pattie, designed traditional gardens and established the Point Lonsdale War Memorial on the site, which has been passed down through the generations.
Ballara is protected by local heritage and vegetation controls, and the home is heritage-listed, but the community fears the site could be subdivided in the future.
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Alfred Deakin in the garden at Ballara with his grandson, Wilfred Brookes. Image: Provided
According to PropTrack, Victoria recorded a first rate of 66.9 per cent from 952 first auction results this week.
In Melbourne, 1674 homes went under the hammer this week, a 25 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Ray White auctioneer Luke Banitsiotis said home owners looking to sell before the Reserve Bank’s rate hikes could be a major reason for the increase in auctions.
Mr Banitsiotis said pre-Covid, the rate hike traditionally meant Australian house prices would bounce back – but that hasn’t been the case since the pandemic began.
She-oki trees, moonshine and tea trees grow in this area.
He said that while it is impossible to predict exactly what house prices will do in the future, buyers hoping that rising prices will lead to lower prices may be disappointed.
“We may find that if buyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for these rising interest rates, in two or three months time they have not actually seen the change in the market that they expected and they are paying more as a result,” commented Mr Banitsiotis.
Other ingredients in the mix include not enough housing being built to meet the demand of Victoria’s growing population, and a growing number of retail investors since the state government increased land tax and began major changes to rental laws.
Ray White senior trader Luke Banitsiotis says the rise in Melbourne auctions could mean sellers are hoping to get deals before prices rise again.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Toby Balazs said the increase in auctions this week followed the state’s record high in January.
REIV figures show that 556 properties were sold at auction across Victoria in the first month of 2026, surpassing the previous sales record of 540 set in January 2021.
“It’s probably no surprise in the last week of February that we’re seeing so many auctions,” Mr Balazs said.
“Particularly the central and outer areas have done very well in terms of volume and value of relief.”
He said real estate companies continue to report that investors are leaving the market.
“We must know that if it is an investor’s property for sale, it is clear that this will cause great difficulties in the already difficult rental market,” said Mr. Balazs.
REIV CEO Toby Balazs REIV says January 2026 was a record month for auction sales in Victoria.
However, many interstate investors are snapping up Melbourne homes as it looks good to them from a capital growth perspective, Mr Balazs said.
Apollo Auctions Victoria director Andy Reid said March was likely to be “absolutely reasonable” in terms of auction numbers and more sellers coming to market, especially after some Australian banks raised fixed interest rates this week.
Mr Reid said buyers were also confused by how many similar homes in the same area are selling for different prices – sometimes as much as $150,000 difference – with no apparent consensus or reason, yet.
Apollo Auctions Victoria director and auctioneer Andy Reid in action.
Also, he said many home hunters are using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) internet forums to help them with advice about the property market.
But Mr Reid cautioned that access to more data does not necessarily translate into understanding every detail when it comes to buying or selling, although GenAI can be a useful tool for general information gathering and insight.
However, not everything produced by AI is 100 percent accurate or correct.
“It gives information based on popularity of how many hits it has online – it just collects this information and gives it to you, so it usually doesn’t know if it’s right or wrong,” said Mr Reid.
598 auctions are scheduled in Victoria next week with the Labor Day public holiday on Monday, March 9.
Additional reporting by Alesha Capone.
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