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Late art dealer Rod Menzies’ family has put a grand 20-room Italianate mansion in Victoria’s north on the market with a $15m+ price tag.

Set on 64.75ha, the circa-1879 Noorilim Estate features a private beach on the Goulburn River, vineyards, an ornamental lake and boathouse, 10 bedrooms, 15 fireplaces, seven staircases and a minstrels’ gallery where famous Australia opera singer Dame Nellie Melba once performed.

Noorilim previously served as a thoroughbred stud farm and produced three Melbourne Cup winners, including the 1910 race winner Comedy King, who is buried in the grounds.

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The jaw-dropping property, originally designed by architect James Gall for parliamentarian William Winter-Irving, is located at 205 Wahring Murchison East Rd, Wahring, near Nagambie, about 149 kilometres northeast of Melbourne.

Christie’s International principal Sean Cussell said Menzies’ family had decided to sell the estate following his death in 2022, aged 76.

The property is located nearly 150km from Melbourne.

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Statues and plants surround the balconies.

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Quite the first impression once you step inside.

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Noorilim also closed as a wedding and events venue after the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

Menzies, known for achieving record auction results for paintings by famous artists including Brett Whiteley, Sidney Nolan and Jeffrey Smart, was an entrepreneur whose company Menzies International included a cleaning group and racing stables.

The home oozes luxury at every turn.

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A living room with grand fireplace.

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The businessman set Victoria’s former house price record when he sold Malvern’s Stonington Mansion for $52.5m in 2018, a benchmark that was overtaken by the $80m sale of a Toorak mansion to crypto king Ed Craven in 2022.

Famous recording artist Tones and I filmed her music video for the song Bad Child at Noorilim, which boasts 5m-high ceilings and an ornate hall adorned by Corinthian columns, and tiles laid by Italian artisans who travelled to Australia especially for the commission.

Tones and I filmed the video for her single ‘Bad Child’ at the property. Picture: Supplied.

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Adjacent to the hall is a sitting room, library and dining room, all with windows offering views onto an arched loggia.

“Noorilim has an extensive cellar, numerous outbuildings and barns and a heritage-listed water tower, plus the private beach on the Goulbourn River,” Mr Cussell said.

“I think the 2km driveway is a significant entry to what is considered to be one of Australia’s grandest homes.”

Rod Menzies pictured inside Wahring Mansion. Mr Menzies died in 2022.

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A look at other wing of the property through green doors.

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A restored tower in the mansion looks out to the gardens designed by landscape architect

William Guilfoyle, known for his work on Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, featuring more than 300 trees, a rose garden with a fountain.

Mr Cussell said overseas-based buyers have shown interest in the estate, including purchasers from Asia and the Middle East, along with international hotel operators.

One of the home’s 10 bedrooms.

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Clawfoot tubs are found in the bathroom.

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One of Mr Menzies’ three sons and the Menzies auction house chairman, Cameron Menzies, said his favourite memories of Noorilim included planting the vineyards with his family, and the 2015 wedding of his brother Brandon and sister-in-law Lucy Ivey in a section of outdoor area is known as the “Italian garden”.

From 2016, Brandon and Lucy ran the estate as an events, weddings and concerts centre, and also held tours of the historic site.

Have a hit of pool, but mind the horses.

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A home office fit for a high flyer.

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Cameron said his father purchased the estate in 1998, intending to retire there with wife Carolyn.

“But he lasted about two days and went back to Melbourne, he missed the hustle and bustle,” Cameron said.

Noorilim instead became their family retreat for special occasions like Christmas and Easter.

Cameron said his Dad enjoyed hosting soirees, where music acts would play in the minstrels’ gallery, for his art collector clients.

Singer and actor Ted Hamilton, who starred in television shows including Division 4, Homicide, The Love Boat, M*A*S*H and Hawaii Five-O, was a regular performer.

Cameron said his favourite feature at Noorilim was the tower and the spectacular views it offers.

An art wing to display multiple pieces.

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“To climb up there and drink in that serenity, is so peaceful and beautiful,” he said.

Cameron also spent a few years living at the estate as a young man.

When his friends would visit – often driving their first or second cars – he and others would gather on the tower, and throw small pieces of fruit from the orchard at the vehicles.

Another look at the property from the eastern side of the building.

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And although local folklore suggests one of the mansion’s guest bedrooms is haunted, Cameron said he has never seen anything unusual within the building.

Also this week, updated title documents showed that Precision Brain, Spine and Pain Centre chain managing director, Dr Renee Bittar, purchased a $40m Toorak mansion from whiskey baron David Prior back in February.

Dr Bittar is married to neurosurgeon Dr Richard Bittar.

Morrell and Koren buyer’s advocate to the city’s top end, Matthew Cleverdon, said $15m+ listings in Melbourne were scarce at the moment.

“There is an appetite for properties priced about $15m but across Melbourne, opportunities are limited,” Mr Cleverdon said.

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