Melbourne windmill where Kath & Kim’s Gina Riley was a ‘door bitch’ seeking $15m
David and Sofia Atanasovski are selling their landmark Bonnie Brook wedding venue, complete with a six-storey windmill. Picture: Mark Stewart.
A six-storey windmill that has long turned heads in Melbourne’s west is winding up for a $15m sale.
The Bonnie Brook landmark has a big fan base and was where actor Gina Riley took on the role of “door bitch” in hit comedy show Kath & Kim, while The Bachelor’s Matt Johnson dropped in looking for love for an episode of the reality romance show in 2017.
Built by a Dutch migrant to give his mother a connection to her home land, the 533-537 Leakes Rd property started off as a nursery.
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Current owner David Atanasovski bought it almost 21 years ago a matter of days after spotting it for sale, having long wished he might be able to find a property with a waterway, some bridges — and a windmill if possible.
“At her first inspection, my wife leaned over and said ‘you’ve walked into your dream’,” Mr Atanasovski said.
They’ve since turned it into a popular wedding venue and have hosted more than 2500 couples’ nuptials.
The Atanasovski’s have also embraced the windmill’s Dutch past — which was picked up on by hit TV show Kath & Kim that featured it under the name the Clock & Clog”. Picture: Mark Stewart.
Gina Riley was famously the venue’s “door bitch” in an episode of Kath & Kim.
Mr Atanasovski also hosted cast and crew from Kath & Kim a few years after buying the property as they filmed on site under the fictional restaurant name of the Clock & Clog.
“Kimmy was our door bitch,” he said.
“And we have had The Bachelor filmed here, with Matty J.”
Mr Atanasovski said the windmill, named Adriana for its creator’s mother, was one of the biggest windmills of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
The super-sized windmill has been a landmark for the surrounding area for generations.
The substantial property has been a popular wedding venue for 20 years.
“It’s an authentic replica of one in Holland,” he said.
“And there’s a little baby one that was built just before we bought it.”
That one is named Josh, for the prior owners’ first grandson.
Across the pandemic they’ve spent close to $500,000 refreshing the windmill and had hoped to develop the site themselves — but now into their 60s they’re preparing to surrender their dream.
“Father time catches up with everyone,” Mr Atanasovski said.
Industry insiders have suggested the Leakes Rd property could be worth more than $15m to the right buyer.
The venue has also been a popular wedding and events destination over the years.
The size of the property has helped some couples attain very unique wedding photos.
Morris Property Network director Michael Morris is handling the sale and said pricing the completely unique “unicorn” property was difficult, but noted that in a tourism precinct and already featuring a liquor license it had scope for a wide range of future development options.
That has been enough to already turn heads among people in the Victorian hotel sector as well as Singaporean and other Asian investors.
“It’s in a premium location, the sky is the limit to it,” Mr Morris said.
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