155 Yarra St, Geelong, goes to auction on March 28 with $800,000 to $850,000 price hopes.
Geelong thoroughbred racing stalwart Bill McFarlane has listed his long-held two-storey Yarra St terrace that hosted his accountancy practice for more than 40 years.
Bought for $40,500 in 1980, the terrace is part of a two-storey, late-Victorian duplex at 155 Yarra St, Geelong, directly opposite St Mary’s Basilica.
Because it’s been used as business premises, the two-storey home is a veritable time capsule, showcasing both the incredible wealth of the late Victorian period, and the opportunity should new owners decide to update the property as a residence or consulting rooms.
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The retired accountant has a long connection with racing circles in Geelong, where he’s a life member of both Geelong Racing Club and Geelong St Patrick’s Racing Club.
He rose to chair of GRC and served as secretary at St Patrick’s from 1973 to 2010.
There’s a function room at Geelong Racecourse named in his honour and McFarlane was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to the community of Geelong in 2025.
Wilsons selling agent James Wilson said the late-Victorian architecture had caught the attention of potential buyers.
Bill McFarlane has won an OAM for his services to Geelong, mostly at the Geelong Race Club. Bill pictured by the Geelong Advertiser with the Geelong Cup in 2004.
“There’s a number of hand-carved decorative rosettes,” Mr Wilson said.
“There has been a lot of interest around it original architecture. You could tell it was a building of quality.”
Ornate Victorian features include 4m timber ceilings, rosettes, cornices, leadlight windows and original fireplaces.
On the ground level, two substantial rooms branch from a central hallway that’s intersected by a statement staircase.
Decorative features include the mantel and fireplace, timber ceiling and cornice.
The first floor was previously used as a town residence, with a layout including a lounge and bedroom, alongside a kitchen, meals and study spaces.
Tuck-pointed brickwork, ornate skirting boards cast-iron filigree are among the quality inclusions in the period home.
The location, broad Activity Centre zoning and previous commercial use means it offers potential for a cross-section of uses.
155 Yarra St, Geelong, goes to auction on March 28 with $800,000 to $850,000 price hopes.
“It’s is within the health precinct so it could certainly be offices for allied health,” Mr Wilson said.
“It could just as easily return to what it was originally, which was a residential dwelling.”
The four-bedroom house has two bathrooms and off-street parking for two vehicles on the 234sq m corner block.
It’s listed for auction on March 28 at 12.30pm, with price expectations from $800,000 to $850,000.
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