End of an Era: ‘Monte Cristo’ homestead listed for sale

AN historic 140-year-old Victorian mansion — internationally recognised as Australia’s most famous “haunted house” — has been listed for sale in Junee, marking the close of one of the Riverina’s most enduring family legacies.

The landmark residence at 1 Homestead Lane, known for generations as Monte Cristo, was closed to the public following the passing of long-time owner and custodian Olive Ryan in November 2024.

The property has remained closed since, with its future now set to enter a new chapter as expressions of interest are invited for the entire estate, complete with its antique furnishings and period artwork.

Photo: Ray White Junee

For more than 60 years, Mrs Ryan and her late husband Reginald devoted their lives to restoring, preserving and sharing the mansion, transforming what was once a derelict and vandalised relic into one of the region’s most iconic heritage attractions.

Mr Ryan purchased the then-dilapidated homestead in 1963 for 1,000 pounds, after negotiating with the last surviving member of its original pioneer family. At the time, its contents had long been sold off, its walls stripped bare, and its future uncertain.

Through decades of painstaking restoration and storytelling, the Ryan’s revived the house’s grandeur and cemented its place in both local heritage and global folklore — drawing tourists, history enthusiasts and paranormal visitors from across Australia and around the world.

Mrs Ryan passed away on the eve of her 94th birthday. Mr Ryan died in 2014 aged 80.

Photo: Ray White Junee

“ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OFFERING”

Following Mrs Ryan’s passing, ownership of the 6.1-acre hilltop estate transferred to her four daughters, who have since undertaken the careful and time-consuming process of preparing the property for sale.

Fast-forward twelve months, and the homestead has now been formally listed through Ray White Junee, which is seeking expressions of interest from prospective buyers.

The agency describes the offering as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure one of the Riverina’s most recognisable and storied estates.”

Listed by local agent Jason Barrett, the sale is being offered on a walk-in, walk-out basis, meaning the mansion will remain furnished exactly as the public has known it for decades.

This includes the period furniture, artwork, historic objects and personal collections painstakingly amassed and preserved over more than sixty years.

Photo: Ray White Junee

Photo: Ray White Junee

The homestead itself is immense in scale, comprising 18 bedrooms and five bathrooms across its grand two-storey layout, with internal features ranging from formal sitting rooms and high-ceilinged halls to intimate chambers filled with historical curios and personal artefacts.

Along with the grand manor, the estate includes its original outbuildings and more than six acres of elevated grounds overlooking Junee.

The listing states the property “invites a variety of future uses,” such as a private family residence, boutique accommodation, cultural tourism experience, or a heritage-focused conservation venture, subject to approvals.

“Properties of this calibre and history are seldom offered to the market,” the listing says.

Photo: Ray White Junee

Photo: Ray White Junee

Photo: Ray White Junee

“For decades, the homestead has captured national and international attention, celebrated both for its historical significance and its reputation as Australia’s most talked-about ‘haunted house’.

“This is more than just a home — it is a landmark, a story, and an opportunity to own a true piece of Australian history.”

LEGACY ROOTED IN LOCAL HISTORY

The hilltop mansion was originally built in the mid-1880s by pastoralist and businessman Christopher William Crawley, whose family occupied the property for more than six decades.

The homestead, with its commanding view over Junee, quickly became a symbol of status and influence, its ornate brickwork and iron-laced verandahs visible for kilometres across the paddocks and township below.

Photo: Ray White Junee

After the Crawley family vacated the property in 1948, the house fell silent. For more than a decade it sat empty, exposed to vandalism, weather and neglect.

By the early 1960s, the grand residence had deteriorated so severely that demolition was not only plausible, but likely.

Instead, it was saved.

When the Ryan’s purchased the property in 1963, the mansion’s restoration began — slowly, painstakingly, room by room — a process that came to define not only the house’s future but part of Junee’s identity itself.

Photo: Ray White Junee

Photo: Ray White Junee

Opening first as a historical home and later as a museum, the family’s stewardship eventually introduced something else entirely: the stories.

By the time guided night tours were launched in 1993, the property had become known not just for its architecture and history, but for the folklore that had long lingered in the community and was now being spoken aloud.

Its layered past — blending colonial history, tragedy, folklore and rumoured hauntings — secured its place as one of Australia’s most recognisable residences.

A HOUSE OF STORIES

The mansion’s reputation grew from the layered and often tragic history attached to the Crawley era — tales of illness, injury, loss and hardship that echo many rural colonial homesteads of the time.

Yet, over the years, visitors, guides and caretakers reported encounters that felt harder to explain: footsteps on staircases when no one was present; shadows crossing doorways; voices in otherwise silent rooms; or the sudden flicker of lights in spaces untouched by working electricity during restoration.

Some recalled the distinct sensation of being watched while standing alone in the upper hallway, or feeling a sudden drop in temperature upon entering certain rooms.

Photo: Ray White Junee

Among the stories woven into the homestead’s folklore are the deaths of Crawley family members and staff — including a stable hand burned in a straw-filled bunk, a young child who died after a fall down the staircase, and an adult son whose life was marked by trauma and isolation.

Another enduring tale recounts the night the newly arrived Ryan’s saw the property, which had no functioning electricity at the time, blazing with what appeared to be light in every window, only for the house to fall dark the moment they reached the gate.

Whether these accounts are interpreted as echoes of the past, the power of storytelling, or something more mysterious, they have shaped the homestead’s place in the Australian imagination.

For many, it is a site of history and heartbreak; for others, a destination for curiosity, belief and wonder.

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

Across Junee and beyond, there has been strong and ongoing public interest in the future of the homestead.

Many locals and visitors have expressed hope that the property may one day reopen to the public, particularly given the role it has played in the town’s economy and cultural identity for more than three decades.

Its closure has left a noticeable absence in the local tourism landscape.

Responding to news of the sale on Facebook, long-term Junee resident and business owner Marney Wishart said she would love to see the homestead open its doors once again.

“I hope the future owners give the homestead as much love and attention as Reg and Olive did,” she wrote. “It would be nice to see it remain open to the public too.”

Nancy Wales added “it would be a shame to see it lost as a tourist attraction forever,” reflecting a sentiment echoed across multiple community discussions online.

Some residents have also suggested the property could be considered for public ownership — either through local council, state heritage acquisition, or a cultural partnership — though no such proposals have been formally raised at this time.

While its future use will depend entirely on the intentions and vision of its next custodians, the community sentiment reflects the lasting impact the house has had on the region and its people.

Whatever the next chapter brings, the legacy of those who built it, restored it, and shared it endures.

Expressions of Interest close Friday, December 12 at 11am.

To view the full listing, including a full collection of photographs and floorplans, click here.