$30m Southern Highlands trophy home Invergowrie returns to the market
One of the Southern Highlands’ most celebrated country estates has returned to the market, with the historic Invergowrie offered for sale amid expectations it could achieve up to $30 million.
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Invergowrie, one of the best-known and most luxurious estates in the Southern Highlands, has been listed for sale with a price of up to $30 million.
The Exeter acreage is being offered for the first time since 2019, when it was sold by former Liberal Party leader John Hewson to little-known Queensland grazier Victoria Anderson.
The property attracted significant attention during Hewson’s ownership, having remained on the market for a decade prior to its sale. He initially sought $11 million in 2009, then ultimately accepted $6 million seven years later.
Architectural heritage and landmark gardens
The main residence dates back to 1936, when it was commissioned by pioneering industrialist Sir Cecil Harold Hoskins, whose leadership helped shape the nation’s iron and steel industry. Designed by architect Geoffrey Loveridge, Invergowrie is a grand Tudor Revival residence set within gardens conceived by celebrated landscape designer Paul Sorensen. His early 20th-century landscapes remain among the most admired in the Highlands.
Today, those heritage plantings — sweeping lawns, ancient oaks, stately silver elms and groves of cedar — continue to frame the home in established grandeur.
A richly reimagined interior
Since purchasing Invergowrie in 2019, Anderson has comprehensively reimagined the interiors, engaging award-winning studio Greg Natale Designs to transform the historic residence into a richly layered and opulent home.
Every detail speaks to bespoke quality: deep navy joinery offset by striking brass fixtures and hand-gilded ceilings; French oak parquetry laid in the classic Versailles pattern; Italian porcelain tessellated tiles; and plush custom carpeting underfoot. One-off wallpapers from Papiers de Paris sit alongside coveted designs by Versace, Gucci and Ralph Lauren, while decorative lighting selections include pieces from Ralph Lauren Home, Kelly Wearstler and Kate Spade.
The designer kitchen is fitted with integrated Miele refrigeration, a Smeg cooktop, a Thermoseal oven, a EuroCave wine cabinet, and a Qasair executive range hood, while Carrara marble surfaces and a Billi tap deliver boiling, chilled, and sparkling water. Bathrooms and powder rooms are finished in Norwegian Rose and Carrara marble.
A private estate on 9.3 hectares
Spanning two levels, Invergowrie comprises six bedrooms in the main residence, along with several formal and informal living and dining rooms, an office, gym, reception room, bar and wine cellar. There is also a trophy room adjoining a billiards room and an indoor 25-metre pool.
Across the 9.3-hectare estate sits a self-contained 1800s Lakehouse with two additional bedrooms, as well as a separate two-bedroom guest house and a caretaker’s cottage. The grounds also feature a tennis court, wrought-iron arbour, aviary and bocce court.
Cullen & Royle agents Deborah Cullen and Richard Royle are marketing the property in conjunction with James Hall of Savills.
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The US housing market remains under pressure as high mortgage rates continue to weigh on affordability and demand. Industry leaders say 2026 has been one of the toughest years for home sales, with slower price growth, weaker mortgage activity, and fewer buyers entering the market. However, experts say reduced competition and more price cuts could create opportunities for well-prepared buyers.
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The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.
Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”
Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.
The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.
But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.
Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.
“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”
Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.
Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”
Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.
Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.
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