Who’s buying, who’s selling?
A look behind the scenes of the region’s property market. By Jonathan Chancellor.
Constable Estate, Pokolbin
Constable Estate, a bold circular home within a Pokolbin vineyard estate, has been listed for sale through Adam Morris of Monopole Group in conjunction with Forbes Global Properties. With a guide price of $8m to $8.8m.
Located at 205 Gillards Road, Pokolbin, the estate has been in the hands of the Constable family since 1982 when it was acquired from the winemaking goliath, Hungerford Hill.
Completed in 2010 and designed by Newcastle based architects, Suters Architects. Exceptionally proportioned, with its circular four-bedroom, five-bathroom home, The residence features a gym, sauna, covered pool and encircling an outdoor amphitheatre.
Spanning 14 hectares of picturesque grounds. The vineyard spans 5 hectares, with beautifully matured vines that have produced Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sémillon, Verdelho, and Chardonnay grapes. There are, no winemaking facilities on-site.
The late stockbroker David Constable, an avid horticulturist who died at the age of 90 in early 2024, also created the gardens, an oak walk, sculpture park, camellia garden, rose garden, and the Len Evans Memorial Lookout in 2014.
With his wife, Ida, they co-founded and sponsored Music in the Hunter Chamber Festival.
203/3 Honeysuckle Drive, Newcastle
A Honeysuckle apartment on the Newcastle Foreshore has been sold for $2.5m through Jarrod Dickens and Jesse Wilton of Wilton Lemke Stewart. It had been listed with a $2.4m to $2.5m guide.
Located at 203/3 Honeysuckle Drive with its second-floor corner position, the renovated three-bedroom apartment with a study has views through its floor- to-ceiling glass outlook.
There are two side-by-side parking spots plus a double storage cage. It last sold for $2.4m in 2021 and was then listed as a rental seeking $1,100 per week.
The top sale in the complex came in February 2024 when a fourth-floor three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment fetched $3.065m.
51 Steel Street, Redhead
A tri-level trophy home in Redhead has been listed for sale through Andrew and Renee McKiernan of McKiernan Real Estate.
Located at 51 Steel Street, the five- bedroom, three-bathroom residence was designed by architect Geoff Lovie, utilising solar passive design principles.
Completed in 2014, the coastal dwelling enjoys panoramic ocean vistas. It comes with a parents’ retreat, guest accommodation, children’s wing, along with various living spaces.
Set on a 715 sqm parcel, there are multiple terraces with an outdoor kitchen on the central terrace, a pool, and veggie gardens. There is also a 600-bottle underground wine cellar. Redhead’s top sale came last October at $3.1m on Alison Street. The property is calling for expressions of interest with a guide around $8m.
Invermien, Scone
Invermien, one of Scone’s finest rural holdings, has been sold for $14.1m through Sam Triggs and Jamie Inglis of Inglis Rural Property to the Altomonte family. Spanning 381 hectares, the Cliftlands Road property, located five kilometres south of the town, was the first land grant in Scone in 1825.
The colonial-style homestead with a central courtyard has six bedrooms, with a veranda encircling the entire residence. It had a courthouse, jail, and coach house, all of which are now renovated. The property is divided into 55 paddocks with laneway access throughout, providing options for beef production, professional equine operations, hay production. It comes with a three-bedroom manager’s cottage and a two-bedroom cottage. Invermien last sold for $5.65m in 2012.
11 Ridge Street, Merewether
A Merewether trophy home has been sold for $6.04m through Tahnee Burke and Lyndall Allan of Salt Property. They marketed the home as having “all the facilities you would expect from a five- star hotel, while also providing a calming sense of seclusion and tranquillity.”
Set on 696 sqm, the house was designed by architect Chris Tucker and built by Todd Blatchford, with two levels plus a rooftop terrace. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom abode has a self-contained pool house and spa. There is a space above the double garage with a kitchenette, bathroom, and balcony.
The Ridge Street holding last sold for $685,000 in 2002.
Merewether’s highest sale was oceanfront parkside on Berner Street last July for $11.05m. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom two-storey residence was built in 2020, overlooking Dixon Park Beach towards the ocean, and featured shortly after its construction on the cover of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle.
Koorakai, Fernhill Road Dalwood
The Hunter River homestead, Koorakai, set on 47 hectares at Dalwood, has been listed for sale. Set on the sandy banks of the river, the master-built homestead has views over what Jurds listing agent Cain Beckett has described as some of the Hunter Valley’s prettiest hillsides.
Set behind electric gates, the homestead features a high-pitched roof giving three-meter ceilings, brickwork sourced from a Gunnedah kiln, recycled bridge timbers, and wide wrap-around verandas. There is a central cupola. Its vast country kitchen boasts an antique Aga cooker. The Fernhill Road property last traded a decade ago at $1.795m before its approval for the homestead. Price guide is $4.5m to $4.75m.
Islington Police Station
The former Islington Police Station, complete with four bedrooms, one bathroom, and three lock-up cells, has recently settled after being sold for $1.45m.
Located at 127 Maitland Road, the red brick building, spanning three titles totalling 778sqm and zoned MU1 Mixed Use, was offered to the market for the first time in over 30 years through Mathew and Brooke Iuliano of Mavis Property. The former lock up last traded for $135,000m in 1992.
Read more in our Winter Edition of Hunter & Coastal Lifestyle Magazine or subscribe here.
