John Fawkner’s former Oak Park home sells for record $3 million – realestate.com.au

A grand Grade II listed mansion originally built for one of Melbourne’s founding fathers has smashed Oak Park’s house price record with a $3 million sale.

Located in the north of the city, the 1,728 sq m property at 7 Oak Park Court features marble floors, gold leaf accents, stained glass windows, an indoor pool and spa, a billiards room, a bar and a four-car garage.

Records show it broke the suburb’s former $2.6 million home value benchmark set by a four-bedroom home at 128 Devereaux St in 2021.

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British-born businessman and politician John Pascoe Fawkner founded the Oak Park Court residence as a farm, known as Belle Vue Park, in the 1830s and 1840s.

The nearby suburbs of Fawkner and Pascoe Vale are named after Fawkner, who funded a group that set out from Tasmania and organized a settlement near the Yarra River, which later became the modern city of Melbourne.

After Fawkner’s death in 1869, an English family purchased Belle Vue Park and built a two-story mansion attached to the original house.

The six-bedroom address has been classified as a historically significant property by the National Trust.

The country house dates from the 1830s.

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John Pascoe Fawkner financed a group of free settlers from Tasmania to sail to mainland Australia in 1835. They founded a settlement on the Yarra River which became the city of Melbourne.

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Chandeliers, marble fireplaces, gold leaf and high ceilings are present everywhere in the country house.

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A couple who bought the house in 1992 worked for years to restore it as a family home.

McDonald Upton’s Rhys Afford, who co-listed with colleague Joe Zucco, said Belle Vue Park went under the hammer in early December with a bid in the region of $2.5 million to $2.7 million.

Negotiations with the highest bidder, a local family, resulted in the $3 million sale, which became official this week.

Mr Afford said he believed the buyers planned to live in the mansion and possibly do some renovation work.

“The old Victorian part of it, dating from the 19th century, is in amazing condition,” he said.

“It needs a cosmetic overhaul, but the actual structure and how it has stood the test of time is amazing.”

One of four bathrooms in the mansion.

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The entertainers’ area features a bar and fireplace.

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Mr Afford said the family were attracted to the size and unique character of Belle Vue Park.

“It’s not something you could replace, it’s the only one like it in Oak Park and certainly the only one that looks like it for many, many miles,” he added.

Buyers from as far afield as Templestowe inquired about the home, which features a horseshoe-shaped driveway, Melbourne city views from the second-floor veranda and an entertainment room with a fully equipped bar, fireplace and three sets of patio doors to the outdoors.

PropTrack data from realestate.com.au shows Oak Park’s average house price is $1.185 million.

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