It was one of the more spectacular moments in recent Australian reality television: a billionaire sweeping in to buy not one but all five homes at The Block's 2024 Phillip Island season finale, outbidding rivals and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Now, one of those homes is back on the market, and the asking price tells a rather different story.
The four-bedroom house at 2/113-119 Justice Road, Cowes, renovated by husband and wife Courtney McInnes and Grant Freeman, has been listed for sale at $1.7 million to $1.85 million. Adrian Portelli originally paid $3.3 million for it at auction in 2024, meaning the property is being offered at roughly $1.5 million below that purchase price. The new owner, who received the home as a giveaway prize through Portelli's platform LMCT+, has decided to sell.
The property comes with genuine appeal. It features two main suites, a pool, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and full furnishings. Listing agent Camille Morris from Stockdale and Leggo Phillip Island says the home represents strong value at its current price point.
"The finishes, the appliances, the furniture, the quality is probably worth more than what we listed. But obviously Adrian did overpay, and that was prevalent in the last Block season in Daylesford."
Morris acknowledged the property had been "extremely difficult to price" given the absence of comparable sales in the area. "All we've got is The Block, and it was the best house and yet it didn't win," she said, noting that the show's competitive auction format routinely pushes prices well beyond what the open market would support.
Portelli, a Young Rich Lister valued at $1.295 billion, founded LMCT+, an online subscription club built around car and property giveaways and shopping discounts. At the 2024 Block auction, he paid a combined $15.03 million across all five Phillip Island homes, outbidding familiar faces including IT entrepreneur Danny Wallis and cafe chain owner Jacob Najjar. Ray White Phillip Island agent Yvette Tancheff, who handled the sale of the Cowes house to Portelli, described the atmosphere as "Block-mania", with genuine buyers competing hard before Portelli ultimately prevailed.
Within weeks of the purchases, Portelli offered all five homes alongside $8 million in cash as a trade promotion prize through LMCT+. The winner chose the cash. He then listed all five properties as a compound last June, but after failing to find a buyer, announced he would give each home away to separate winners. That happened in November.
The contrast with the most recent Block season is instructive. Set in Daylesford, that series saw two homes fail to sell at auction entirely, while the two that did sell achieved premiums of less than $150,000 each. Without Portelli driving the bidding, the market spoke plainly.
The Cowes listing serves as a reminder that the prices generated by reality television auctions are shaped by entertainment as much as economics. Whether a buyer emerges at the $1.7 million to $1.85 million mark will depend on how well the Phillip Island property market holds up through the remainder of 2026, and whether the home's quality finishes carry enough appeal to justify the price beyond its television history. Morris is confident they do. The market, as always, will have the final word.