Ex-Goldman Sachs chair snaps up $14.5m Portsea mansion

Marlborough House at 8-10 Back Beach Rd, Portsea, has sold.

Goldman Sachs’ former top investment banker, Christian Johnston, and his wife, Jinah, have purchased a heritage-listed eight-bedroom Portsea house for about $14.5m.

Mr Johnston, who retired as chairman of Goldman Sachs in 2023, recently snapped up the property from sports marketing and communications bigwig Simon Strapp and his wife Allison.

Strapp is a chief executive at TPF Group which includes a creative and brand agency and a sports promotional agency.

The sports company’s clients have included several AFL teams, Melbourne Victory and Cricket Australia, while the other agency has worked with Mazda, Grill’d, Stihl, Grey Goose Vodka, Bombay Sapphire and Rexona, among many others.

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More than two decades ago, the Strapps purchased the circa-1902 Marlborough House, a

former boarding house at 8-10 Back Beach Rd.

Across their years in the home they installed a pool and tennis court in addition to undertaking other work in sympathy with the residence’s history.

Classified as a significant property by the National Trust, the abode also features a billiards room, sitting room with a bar, gardens by famous landscape designer Paul Bangay and a separate studio with a cinema and cellar.

Set on 4047sq m, it was listed with $16m-$17.5m price hopes last year.

The pool is a modern addition to the 123-year-old home.

There’s a fireplace and dark-toned walls in the billiards room.

A country-style kitchen showcasing double sinks and double ovens.

At the time, Mr Strapp told the Herald Sun that he and his wife were selling because their five children had grown up.

However, Marlborough House was later withdrawn from the market without being sold.

But Sotheby’s International Realty Peninsula managing director Rob Curtain said that when he met a Victorian-based family seeking to buy a substantial Portsea home, he thought the resort-style residence might suit them.

Mr Curtain said Marlborough House’s owners were happy for the family to look through the property and an off-market sale followed, with the deal settling a couple of weeks ago.

The pool house contains photos of iconic Hollywood stars.

Enjoy a spot of tennis.

The house, which previously belonged to the Victorian Mental Health Authority, was used as a holiday home for children with disabilities until the mid-1980s.

He declined to comment on the sold price but industry sources indicated the house fetched $14.5m.

The abode was designed by architects Henry Kemp and Beverley Ussher who were among the pioneers of Australian Federation-style architecture.

“The size of the rooms and height of the ceilings, you don’t get that in most modern homes,” Mr Curtain said.

“Just with that structure and sheer size, basically the house hasn’t moved in 100 years – it’s as solid as the day it was built.”

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