The hammer has fallen on this year’s Good Friday Appeal Charity Home Auction in Victoria, with the fully furnished Vogue 34 Henley home at Rathdowne Estate setting a new record of $903,000.
This year’s Henley and Villawood Properties auction marked 28 years of homes being donated, with more than $16 million having been raised for Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital prior to this year’s record-breaking result.
The house and land package was auctioned by REIV’s Senior Auctioneer of the Year Andy Reid on Good Friday and this year marked the first time the event had been held since 2019.
Prior to the auction, Mr Reid told Elite Agent he would be putting on “a real show that’ll hopefully result in records being broken”.
“I can’t guarantee where it will end up, but I can promise I’ll be giving it everything I have right up until the hammer falls,” he said.
More than 500 people turned out to watch the four-bedroom house in Wollert, in Melbourne’s outer north, smash the previous record of $860,000, which was set in 2018.
The auction was also streamed online via Anywhere Auctions, allowing bidders from across the country to raise their paddle from home for the first time.
But the successful bidders did it the old-fashioned way, with Epping couple Drage and Zaklina Lazarovski and their daughter, Natasha, securing the property.
Henley Homes CEO Antony Blackshaw said the price achieved was a fantastic result for the Royal Children’s hospital. He said Victoria’s support for the Good Friday Appeal continued to go from strength to strength.
“Every person connected to the charity home build, from Henley Homes and Villawood to all the trades and suppliers, have a personal connection to the cause, or are very aware of the significant work and service the Royal Children’s Hospital provides,” Mr Blackshaw said.
“When it comes to generosity, you don’t have to look further than our amazing team, trades and suppliers, who year after year continue to support the construction and delivery of a beautiful family home to auction, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the appeal.
“Their contribution to the project is invaluable,” he said.
