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IT turns out that Melbourne’s priciest property could be a haunted mansion.

A ghost has reputedly roamed the halls of the Stonington Mansion in Malvern since 1925.

The mansion made the headlines last week when it was revealed to be at the centre of a $52.5 million property deal that made it the city’s priciest residential property.

But it’s not just a terrifying price tag that could leave its future residents pale.

Believed to be the son of then Governor George Rous the third Earl of Stradbroke, an apparition has been seen at the home.

Christopher Rous died of leukaemia at age nine, and was buried on the grounds of the mansion for about a year before his remains were transported back to England with his family in 1926.

Fortunately, he’s considered a friendly ghost.

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Drew Sinton, operator of Melbourne’s Haunted Bookshop, said he recalled the tales of the mansion’s haunting and said Melbourne had a rich history of haunted homes.

“There are owners around town, such as at Como house, where they are quite proud of their ghost,” Mr Sinton said.

“At a lot of big mansions, people get along very well with their ghosts. They usually don’t cause any problems.”

He added that some of the city’s highest-priced real estate was haunted, from The Princess Theatre which hosts the ghost of opera performer Frederick Federici, to The Block arcade where a ghostly lift operator and a fireman’s phantasm still linger.

“It’s not like a Stephen King story, and if it’s haunted you get it for a steal — that’s just not the case,” Mr Sinton said.

“It just makes a building like the Stonington Mansion seem a little bit more surreal and romantic — and not just a dollar sign for a real estate agent.”

Morrell and Koren buyers advocate and top-end property expert David Morrell said he had not been aware of the home’s haunting history and it was possible the buyer, believed to be from China, also had not been.

But it wouldn’t be a problem for most local buyers at that level, Mr Morrell added.

“That’s not been a factor in Toorak, there was one a few years ago that sold well,” he said.

Originally published as $52.5 million Stonington Mansion haunted by ghost for nearly a century

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