The landmark Suma Park estate on the Bellarine Peninsula is set to remain a popular wedding venue after selling in March.
Buyers splashed close to $120m on the 20 most expensive homes to sell in the 2025 financial year.
Landmark homesteads, rural lifestyle properties and beachside trophy homes were among the 20 top sales across the region.
Suma Park, near Queenscliff, topped the region after selling in an undisclosed deal understood to be over $10m.
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RT Edgar Bellarine director Felix Hakins brokered the deal in March, which he said would ensure the historic property remains a popular venue for weddings.
High-end sales are typically quiet, with details for landmark properties at Bellarine and Queenscliff kept under wraps.
The extraordinary Portarlington Rd, Bellarine estate with absolute bay frontage sold in deal believed to be worth more than $8m.
The 62ha property was the long-time home of late barrister Brian Bourke, who is best known for defending Ronald Ryan, the last person hanged in Australia.
The home at 37 Flinders St, Queenscliff was snapped up in April.
This Portarlington Rd, Bellarine property was originally listed with $12m-plus price hopes.
The lavish four-bedroom house was built to frame uninterrupted Corio Bay views, as well as surveying the cattle grazing at the bayside property neighbouring historic Spray Farm.
The keen arts supporter installed an impressive private sculpture collection that dots the grounds.
A beachside Queenscliff residence designed in the early 1990s by late architect Wayne Gillespie for Sir Rupert and Lady Susannah Clarke and later aesthetically renovated by youngest daughter Jo Youl with a family friend who is a Geelong builder, and friend and interior designer Emily Fitzgerald, hit the market in March with $7.5m to $8.25m hopes.
Located footsteps from Nuns Beach via a direct path from the Flinders St address, the three-storey Sagres offers a stunning backdrop overlooking the waters of Port Phillip Heads.
RT Edgar Bellarine agents Elissa Holloway and Candace Smith handled the expressions of interest campaign for the three-storey residence but were tight-lipped on the sale.
The Advertiser understands there was competition for the postcard-worthy property that’s easily trumped the town’s previous $6.5m record price.
Retired motor racing driver and former Total Tools boss Paul Dumbrell also quietly wrapped up the sale of a beachside Barwon Heads home he originally planned to bulldoze.
Records show the Bathurst 1000 champion traded the Swaney Draper designed five-bedroom house overlooking 13th Beach for $7m.
His family splurged a combined record $10.2m on the exclusive 1275sq m property at 2 Stephens Pde and an older neighbouring house during the Covid coastal boom of 2020.
Bellarine Property’s Christian Bartley earlier brokered a $3.3m sale of the four-bedroom weatherboard next door at 4 Stephens Pde.
Mr Bartley did handle the second most-expensive sale in late June as deadline for expressions of interest closed on the Jackson Clements Burrows designed five-bedroom residence at 12-16 Henley St, Barwon Heads.
The residence at 12-16 Henley St was snapped up with two parties at the table to negotiate the sale just shy of $7m.
Featuring cedar cladding, floor-to-ceiling windows and polished concrete, the timeless house champions sustainability with a 7.5-star energy rating, cross-flow ventilation and greywater recycling.
It’s key design element was inspired by a half-joking request to include a planetarium inside the family home.
The resulting skylight in the living room allowed the residents to watch the stars.
The home set among established native gardens designed by local landscape architect Tim Nichols which incorporate a 16m saltwater swimming pool and outdoor fireplace.
The top urban Geelong sale was another off-market transaction believed to be worth more than $8m for Kardinia, the historic Belmont riverfront home where a developer recently lodged plans to restore the landmark as a residence and build 34 double-storey townhouses.
Disability service provider GenU had been trying to offload the property since 2019, when it listed with the Colliers Geelong agency with $5m-plus hopes, but last year dealt privately with Newtown-based developer Fathom Group.
Fathom Group wants to demolish the former Karingal head office complex, a collection of mainly 1960s brick buildings including an unsympathetic extension to the historic Kardinia house itself to allow the development.
Fathom director John Grigg said Kardinia would be restored to its original condition as a residential home, on its own title, with the gardens and ground intact.
Virginia St delivered the top result in Newtown, with buyers quick to pounce on Yemoneit, a California bungalow built in 1919 for Godfrey Hirst’s son.
Whitford, Newtown director John Moran said a number of parties stepped forward to put their own stamp on the 2697sq m property before the home was snapped up for $5.95m.
“I think the land component and being in what most people think is the best street in Geelong, you don’t get too many opportunities to do that.”
Newtown’s second entry was in Balcombe Rd, where a sprawling property complete with saltwater swimming pool, floodlit tennis court and a dedicated golfing area lasted four weeks before a local family pounced.
The Malishev construction has high square-set ceilings, polished timber floors and custom cabinetry but offered a secluded estate vibe, said McGrath Geelong agent Carl Hammond.
“It’s like you’re in the country when you’re in the back yard or out on the tennis court, but you’ve a five-minute drive from Pakington St,” Mr Hammond said of the property.
A $4.675m deal for landmark dichromatic brick Western Beach home was the city centre’s most expensive home for the year.
Inside Yemoneit on Virginia St, Newtown, which sold for almost $6m.
The Malishev home on Balcombe Rd, Newtown sold for $4.4m.
This palatial home Highton home sold for $5.5m, setting a new suburb record.
Local buyers seized on the renovated four-bedder at 36 Western Beach Rd, motivated to downsize to the waterfront, McGrath Geelong director Jim Cross said.
“Wanting a single level home on the waterfront is not east to find, unless you’re buying an apartment,” he said.
Mr Cross has handled some of the city’s biggest off-the-plan apartment deals, though they didn’t make the top 20 list this year.
A palatial Highton house set among almost 3340sq m of secluded grounds has set a new suburb benchmark after breaking the $5m barrier.
Cotality records show the new owners of 11 Willowfield Court paid a record $5.55m for the resort-style sanctuary with a tennis court and swimming pool.
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