The Monte Cristo homestead in Junee is reputed to be haunted. Photo: Ray White real estate.
Want to own Australia’s most famous haunted house?
Junee’s iconic 140-year-old Monte Cristo homestead, which used to host wildly popular ghost tours, is advertised for sale.
“Everything inside the property stays,” said Ray White’s Jason Barrett, who’s accepting expressions of interest.
“The sale includes all the furniture, beds, collectables, art work, even the carriages that are in the stables.”
But what about the infamous tenants?
“I haven’t had the privilege of meeting the ghosts,” Mr Barrett said.
“We’d love to be able to charge them rent but we can’t do that yet.”
The double-storey 1885-built homestead with 18 bedrooms was bought by Reginald and Olive Ryan in 1963, who moved into the then-derelict house and restored it to its original state, furnishing it with Victorian-era antiques and opening it to the public as a museum.
Antique furniture is included with the house. Photo: Ray White.
Believing the house was haunted by 10 ghosts, Reginald launched paranormal tours and overnight accommodation packages to visitors from all over the world in 1993.
When Reginald died in 2014, son Lawrence continued to run ghost tours from the premises until Olive died in 2024, when ownership of the house was handed down to Olive’s daughters Noelene, Debbie, Michelene and Shiralee.
The four daughters closed it to the public in November 2024 and have now decided to offer it for sale.
Lawerence has sought to revive his ghost tours in another guise but does not have any ownership or involvement in the Monte Cristo property.
“We’re hoping that someone will come along and reopen the homestead as a tourist attraction again,” Junee Mayor Bob Callow said.
“I’m told there’s a bit of love and care that needs to be put onto the old girl, as you’d expect when you leave an historic house vacant for a while. There’s some work to do to get it up to spec.
“But it’s got the credentials; if someone were to look at the books it was a profitable venture. The bones are there for a great business. It’s a wonderful old house; it includes a wonderful ball room; I attended a few balls there.”
Monte Cristo in 1963 before it was restored. Photo: Supplied.
If not revived as a haunted house, there are many other options for the new owner – including as a museum, boutique accommodation or heritage-focused restoration project.
“We are lucky here in Junee, the zoning is RU5 village – that accommodates both residential and commercial uses in the one zoning. Subject to council approval, it’s open to a broad range of uses,” Mr Barrett said.
The veteran real estate agent said he’d already had a lot of interest since it went on the market on Wednesday (5 November), but was still unsure of the price it might fetch.
“Being so early in the campaign, we haven’t received feedback yet on that,” he said.
“The owners are realistic and they do want to sell the property, but it’s going to depend on what expressions come in. I don’t know what somebody would be prepared to pay, all the inclusions add an extra complexity to it.”
The large hilltop manor house was built by local farmer Christopher Crawley and his wife, Elizabeth, in the 1880s.
Rumours of the house being haunted began when Christopher died suddenly from blood poisoning in 1910.
In recent times, the homestead became one of Australia’s most famous “haunted house” tourist attractions and was featured on TV shows such as Getaway.
In 2012, the residence was the theme of the Australian horror movie Muirhead. Director Tanzeal Rahim told media he saw the ghost of Christopher Crawley while shooting the film at the house.
Overnight accommodation packages to stay at Monte Cristo were often sold out weeks in advance.
Mr Callow said it would be huge for tourism in the area if the property was restored as an attraction.
“A lot of people who came to stay at the homestead would visit other places in Junee, so we all benefited from that,” he said.
“You feel for the family who have had it for so long; let’s hope there’s good news for the family and good news for the town.”
Expressions of interests for the property at 1 Homestead Lane, Junee can be made to Ray White Junee by Friday 12 December.
