{"id":509896,"date":"2026-02-28T15:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509896\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:08:20","slug":"historic-home-passes-in-at-auction-after-federal-funding-withdrawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509896\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic home passes in at auction after federal funding withdrawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

February 28, 2026 \u2014 5:41pm<\/p>\n

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The seaside home of Australia\u2019s second prime minister, Alfred Deakin, has passed in at auction after a plan to put the historic property in public hands was derailed when the federal government declined to contribute funding this week.<\/p>\n

The 1.6-hectare property in Point Lonsdale \u2013 known as Ballara \u2013 was up for sale on Saturday for the first time since it was built in 1907, after Deakin\u2019s descendants moved to offload it two years ago.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"CrowdsCrowds inspecting former prime minister Alfred Deakin\u2019s house, Ballara, in April.Jason South<\/p>\n

However, some of Deakin\u2019s extended family want to preserve the heritage property for the public and lobbied the federal government to help \u201cSave Ballara\u201d as a historic site.<\/p>\n

Tom Harley, one of Deakin\u2019s great-grandsons, planned to buy the home via a legal entity that would allow Deakin University to manage the estate, but he said the Commonwealth this week withdrew funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just outrageous, frankly,\u201d he said of the decision, arguing Ballara was worth preserving like other former prime ministerial residences the Commonwealth had helped purchase, such as Bob Hawke\u2019s childhood home in South Australia.<\/a><\/p>\n

Harley worried a developer would swoop in and buy the home on Saturday before he could raise further funds, but this did not eventuate.<\/p>\n

\"Deakin\u2019sDeakin\u2019s great-grandson Tom Harley is among a segment of decendants who want to raise funds to avoid Ballara falling to public hands.Jason South<\/p>\n

Hundreds gathered at the heritage homestead for the 1pm auction, yet auctioneer Nick Myers was met with silence when he opened the bidding.<\/p>\n

He suggested a starting bid of $4.7 million before a vendor bid of $5.2 million was made, but ultimately no one put their hand up and the home was passed in.<\/p>\n

Harley said he was relieved the home wasn\u2019t lost to a developer, but was still disappointed its future wasn\u2019t resolved after the Commonwealth pulled out at short notice earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are discussions ongoing with a number of parties that are amenable to preserving it to the public,\u201d Harley said after the auction. \u201cBut it\u2019s going to be very complicated and take a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA photograph of Alfred Deakin, which hangs at his former seaside residence in Point Lonsdale.Jason South<\/p>\n

Deakin built Ballara as a sanctuary from the stresses of public life, and cultivated a native garden together with his wife, Pattie.<\/p>\n

The house then served as a holiday home for generations of Deakin\u2019s descendants, but still contains original furniture, photographs, artwork and historic documents.<\/p>\n

Deakin, a lawyer and Age journalist, was a founding father<\/a> of Federation and prime minister three times between 1903 and 1910. As the nation\u2019s first attorney-general, he was also the chief architect of Australia\u2019s White Australia Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Crowds<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2024, The Age revealed<\/a> Deakin family members were divided over what to do with his old retreat.<\/p>\n

Some wanted to sell it on the private market, while others, including Harley, wanted the house and grounds preserved for public use.<\/p>\n

The matter was taken to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and in March the family agreed to delay the sale so they could try to put the property into public hands.<\/p>\n

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and ex-Labor premier Steve Bracks were among those who signed a letter to the federal government supporting the Save Ballara campaign.<\/p>\n

Other signatories included former Labor minister Barry Jones, ex-foreign minister Julie Bishop and La Trobe University emeritus professor Judith Brett, whose 2017 book on Deakin won Australia\u2019s top biography award.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"BallaraBallara was erected in 1907 by Alfred Deakin as a family seaside retreat.Domain<\/p>\n

Harley had sought to raise $8.2 million to fund the property\u2019s acquisition. Under his proposal, Deakin University would manage the estate.<\/p>\n

During the week, Harley did not disclose how much money he had raised but insisted the proposal had public backing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campaign has gained a great deal of support from the community both locally and nationally and from relevant government institutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The statement of information from Elders Real Estate said the indicative selling price of Ballara was between $5.2 million and $5.7 million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Arts Minister Tony Burke\u2019s office did not respond to enquiries on Saturday, but the federal government confirmed earlier this week it was aware of the sale.<\/p>\n

The Borough of Queenscliffe had pledged $300,000 towards Harley\u2019s project.<\/p>\n

Mayor Donnie Grigau said putting the property into public hands would help protect its heritage value, mature gardens and neighbourhood character.<\/p>\n

The site\u2019s future, he said, would depend on planning controls and heritage overlays if it were sold privately. Subdivision was not automatic and would require formal planning approval, Grigau said.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Harley with a picture of his great grandfather Alfred Deakin inside the family\u2019s property at Point Lonsdale.Jason South<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Deakin University said the institute had consistently indicated its willingness to help preserve the site for the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeakin continues to support efforts to achieve the best outcome for Ballara and the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Elders Real Estate rural and lifestyle sales manager Peter Linderman said the listing of Ballara, which is one street from Point Lonsdale\u2019s beach and shops, was exceptionally rare.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Alfred<\/a><\/p>\n

It has remained in the Deakin family for 117 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo own Ballara is to become a custodian of a story woven into the very fabric of our nation,\u201d said Lindeman, who did not respond to requests for comment after the auction.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"BenjaminBenjamin Preiss<\/a> is The Age’s regional editor. He was previously state rounds reporter and has also covered education for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 28, 2026 \u2014 5:41pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-509896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}