Cricketing maestro’s family retreat set to be hit for a six by local and international interest

Adelaide, SA (15 October 2021) Glenquarry Farm, a unique and historic hideaway at Crafers West on a staggering 22 acres just 15 kilometres from the Adelaide CBD, has hit the market for the first time in over 60 years and is expected to fetch a price between AU$1.95 million and AU$2.25 million. 

Mr Paul Clifford from Raine & Horne Rural SA has listed the unique acreage built in the 1830s and purchased by cricketing icon Sir Donald Bradman, AC, and his son John Bradman in 1959 and has been held by the family ever since.

Dubbed “The Don”, Sir Donald is acknowledged as the greatest international test batsman of all time with a career spanning two decades from 1928 until 1948. With an amazing test cricket batting average of 99.94 per innings, Bradman’s average has been cited as the most outstanding achievement by any international sportsman in any major sport. It is an average that will probably never be beaten with the next best almost 40 runs per innings behind.

Early heritage mixed with cricketing legend and perfectly located

Like the inimitable Sir Donald, Glenquarry Farm at 117 Sheoak Road, Crafers West is a unique opportunity for a buyer seeking a hideaway just a 15-minute drive from Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.

“Setting the property’s amazing history to one side, this is 22 acres at Crafers West making it one of the biggest estates in this popular part of the Adelaide Hills. Apart from being the family retreat of Australia’s greatest ever cricketer the original cottage we believe is one of the first homes built in the Adelaide Hills,” Mr Clifford said.

“It’s claimed the freestone cottage was built by a runaway from a British naval expedition before South Australia’s proclamation in 1836, and then for it to be purchased by arguably Australia’s most famous Knight adds to property’s historical narrative.

“Better still, when you’re at home at Glenquarry Farm, you can feel like you’re a million miles from anywhere, while being just a quarter of an hour by car from Australia’s fifth biggest city.”

According to Mr Clifford, discreetly set down a long tree-lined driveway well back from Sheoak Road, amongst a tapestry of cottage gardens, paddocks, stock dams, rambling undulation, and stringy barks, this property “is where Australian history lives”.

Adelaide professionals and cricket tragics

While Glenquarry Farm doesn’t have a cricket pitch as such, the large lawned area beside the residence has always been dubbed ‘the Oval’ and is the place where cricket is still played by the great grandchildren.

“Just like a Sir Donald who was a stockbroker, we expect Glenquarry Farm will attract professionals from the city seeking a peaceful retreat in the Adelaide Hills,” said Mr Clifford.

“The movement of equity rich buyers out of the city to find a holiday getaway has collected speed since COVID, but this property’s proximity to Adelaide also means it could quickly become the buyer’s permanent home.”

The property includes the original stone three-bedroom, two-bathroom lifestyle cottage beautifully upgraded over time with a gourmet country kitchen, a formal dining room, a sunlit upstairs family room with dormer-style windows, two large cellars, two crisp and timeless bathrooms, a mudroom, plus countless outdoor spaces.

Every bucolic outbuilding including the guest wing, barn/workshop, storeroom and cellar, studio and stable have been crafted from Mt. Lofty freestone sourced from the site's decommissioned quarry and is the same stone forging used in the Old Government House in adjoining Belair National Park.

Mr Clifford added, “We also expect that professionals from Sydney or Victoria might have a crack at this very special property as a South Australian getaway.”

The Bradman retreat might well attract eager interest from the cricket world too, and particularly from the subcontinent.

“I’m not sure whether the buyer will come from India or abroad, but we know that Sir Donald’s record is widely respected by cricket fans in that part of the world,” said Mr Clifford.

“That said, there’s a distinct possibility the property’s association with Australian sporting history might attract an extra $100,000 or so because how often do you get to buy Don Bradman’s retreat.”

The smudges of Sir Don

While John Bradman and vendor Judith Bradsen built most of the additions to the property over the last 60 years including the extensions to the original cottage, the studio and all the stone outbuildings, the Don’s hand remains in much of the internal paintwork of the original cottage. 

“He was most adept as a painter and tutored me well in the art of working the brush” Judith Bradsen said. “However, I do still attribute to Don the few drops of paint left under the rug in the dining room.”

To find out more about this distinctive Adelaide Hills property the comes with a unique slice of Australian sporting history, contact Paul Clifford from Raine & Horne Rural SA on 0427 796 144.