Castle-like mansion in the Adelaide Hills listed for between $4.8 million and $5 million

A landmark Adelaide Hills property that includes more than six hectares of heritage-listed gardens has hit the market.

It will be only the second time in nearly 130 years that the home, which more like a castle than a house, will change hands. 

The grand eight-bedroom, three-bathroom mansion, known as Forest Lodge, at 19 Pine Street, Stirling was listed last week with hopes of between $4.8 million and $5.2 million.

Built by businessman and politician John Bagot in 1892, the home remained in the Bagot family until 2002 when it was sold to its current owners, selling agent Booth and Booth Real Estate’s Jamie Brown said.

Mr Brown said the vendors, who have owned the house for 18 years, were selling to downsize. 

With a turret, stained-glass windows and stunning garden surrounds, the house looks a little like a castle – although it doesn’t have a moat or drawbridge.

“A lot of the classic homes built around that time had a turret to watch the ships come in,” Mr Brown said.

While Forest Lodge isn’t near the water, it is in the Adelaide Hills and has stunning views of the gardens around the home, he says.

“You feel like you’re more at the top of Central Park [in New York],” Mr Brown said,

What the home does have is a formal dining room, a drawing room with bay windows and an open fireplace, and a large main bedroom described as “gallery-like” in the marketing material for the sale.

The grand home, which is also listed on the State Heritage Register, has had some renovations to bring the kitchen and bathrooms into the modern age, but there are still many original features.

Detailed wood-panelling along hallways, a wooden staircase, polished floorboards, open fireplaces and stained-glass windows hark back to when the house was first built.

“The layout hasn’t been changed over the years,” Mr Brown said. 

As well as the amazing gardens which have an extensive, private botanic gardens and large conifer tree collection including some rare species, the home also has the original croquet lawn built for Mr Bagot and his family in the 1890s.

The hill station-style home is being sold via expressions of interest, with offers accepted until noon on March 18.

The suburb of Stirling is just 20 minutes’ drive from the CBD, and has a reputation as one of the most prestigious suburbs of the Adelaide Hills, Mr Brown says.

Forest Lodge is not the only historic home to come up for sale in Adelaide in recent times. 

Earlier in February, the historic Bishop’s Court, home to every Anglican Bishop of Adelaide since 1857 when it was first built, hit the market.

The property, at 45 Palmer Place, North Adelaide, is expected to break a sale price record for the state, by selling for above $7 million.

The current record was set in 2015 when Ivanhoe, at 9 Edward Terrace, Gilberton, sold for $7 million.