australian television information archive

Nine may cash-in 'McLeod's mansion'

IT'S rundown, but the homestead that for eight years was the centrepiece of McLeod's Daughters, is in line to make Channel Nine a tidy profit.

While the network is still deciding whether it will sell the 55ha property north of Gawler, international exposure is likely to have caused its asking price to skyrocket from the $380,000 Channel 9 paid eight years ago.

The 152-year-old, 14-room Georgian style homestead may be in need of a renovator's touch, national television exposure has cemented the Kingsford property as a piece of national history, as filming for the series has ended.

However, Nine is yet make any announcement with a spokesperson yesterday telling The Advertiser that "Nine is assessing its options".

Elders Real Estate Gawler sales manager Christopher Hurst said it was difficult to put a value on the 55ha property without viewing the homestead.

A nearby 105ha farm at Concordia had sold for $1.2 million within the past six months, but the homestead was the key, he said.

"It is the building on it that would bring the interest. You (generally) don't find many flash farm houses or buildings like that.

"But you don't see too many to sell ­ there is not that many around."

The original owners of the land, the Fotheringham family, sold the property to the Turretfield Research Centre in the 1970s or 1980s for an agricultural research station. The land was subdivided in 1999 and the 55 ha lot was transferred to Nine Network Australia for a reported $380,000.

The drama may have exposed the property to a nation of buyers and boosted its appeal, Mr Hurst said.

"It is in the national eye. No one is going to buy it for a farm ­ it is more of a lifestyle thing. But it has to be the most dangerous property around."

March 20, 2008
The Advertiser