3 AUGUST / 2022
PRESTIGE THE BEST IN AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY
GOING FOR BOLD Exquisite in every detail
A S TAT E M E N T O F ARC H ITECTU RAL EXCE LLENCE 28 ABSOLUTE RIVERFRONT RESIDENCES ON THE APEX OF THE BRISBANE RIVER IN TOOWONG
ARCRESIDENCES.COM.AU 1300 663 205
B y K ATE FARRE LLY
Tallebudgera Gold Coast 49-109 Tallebudgera Connection Road $33 million
J OSE PHIN E H U YN H
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Private sale Agent: Amir Prestige Southport, I often tell myself, in the world of luxury property, if it seems too good
Amir Mian 0401 470 499
to be true then it probably is. There have been many times I’d thought I’d
Possibly the most opulent home on the Gold
struck gold on a brand-new, high-end listing, only to discover on closer
Coast hinterland, Bellagio La Villa is on 17.8
inspection that it wouldn’t be ready to move in until 2024. But in the case
hectares on the banks of the Tallebudgera Creek.
of this week’s cover property – which could easily be mistaken for an artist’s
Designed by Michael Witty with landscaping by
impression – the saying doesn’t ring true. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief at
Paul Bangay and interiors by Eleanor Davis, the
the sight of the Balmain home and fell in love with its Nina Maya-designed
European-inspired residence comes with an
interiors. Ethereal and calming, the space is a masterstroke in restrained
indoor pool, stables and a guest house.
design and hints at Maya’s past life as a fashion designer. “I always saw fashion accessories as the finishing pieces,” she says. And it’s this same approach she takes to dressing a house. The timeless palette means it will never go out of style and has earned its place on the real estate runway.
O U R COVE R 1 Carieville Street, Balmain Listed by BresicWhitney PAG E 8
Editor: Josephine Huynh josephine.huynh@ domain.com.au Editorial producer: Paige Tonna Group picture editor: Kylie Thomson Senior designer: Colleen Chin Quan Graphic designer: Nicole Gauci National magazine editor: Natalie Mortimer National managing editor: Alice Stolz Chief marketing officer: Rebecca Darley Chief executive officer: Jason Pellegrino Residential sales: Queensland Amanda Vaughan 0413 370 004 New South Wales Caitlin Hao 0430 938 214 Victoria & Tasmania Ray van Veenendaal 0438 279 870 Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory Jeroen van de Peppel 0427 292 797 Digital edition Visit domain.com.au/ digitaledition
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HOT PROPERTY
ANSON SMART
DESIGN DIGEST Mineral marvels
FEATURE STORY An ethereal retreat
LIVING IN Bohemian village spirit
THE PROPERTY INVESTOR Adding value to apartments
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Peppermint Grove Perth 41 Keane Street $13.95 million +
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Private sale Agent: Ray White Dalkeith/Claremont, Yivien Yap 0433 258 818 It’s a short stroll to riverfront parkland and the Freshwater Bay Yacht Club from this Giorgi-designed and built residence. Featuring limestone floors, custom joinery and an American oak floating staircase, the property offers two generous living zones, a home theatre, gym and a solar-heated pool.
Bellevue Hill
Vaucluse
Sydney 2 Sheldon Place
Sydney 1 Hillside Avenue
$8.5 million
$11 million
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Private sale
Auction: 6pm, August 10
Agent: The Agency Eastern Suburbs, Ben Collier 0414 646 476
Agent: Richardson & Wrench Double Bay,
Claim your slice of 1970s modernist architecture with this character-filled
Michael Dunn 0448 131 616
home just up the road from The Scots College. It boasts north-facing living
This three-level home faces north and captures
areas, a marble kitchen, a studio with en suite and a Palm Springs-style
city views from the top-floor terrace. It has a
pool. It is just moments from top schools and Rose Bay marina.
selection of living spaces, a media room and pool.
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DESIGN DIGEST
Set in stone When brilliant, contemporary design and an age-old natural material meet, the results are vessels of beauty. C o m p i l e d b y PAU LIN E M O RRIS SE Y MOOD LIGHTING Inspired by the ambience of traditional oil lamps, the JWDA Floor Lamp by Jonas Wagell for Menu highlights an oval opal-glass shade with a slender metal stem, supported by a bold base in either white marble or travertine. menuspace.com
DESIGNER DESK Expressing a neutral form through its simple design, the Axel Desk by Coco Republic makes for a striking statement piece for the home office, exemplified by the beauty of the metamorphic rock that is ancient travertine. cocorepublic.com.au
TABLE TALK
STONE SCONCES Sculpted from carefully chosen marble or onyx, the
The Archipelago
Piedra lighting collection by L’Aviva Home presents wall sconces with semi-
collection by Trit
flush mounted lights, each reflecting the unique character of the stone from
House is a range
which it’s formed. lavivahome.com
of tables expertly crafted from timeless travertine. It includes a console table, coffee, and side tables as well as a cubed pedestal, all of which reveal new characteristics unique to each piece. trithouse.com.au
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Check in to home The resort-style makeover of this Balmain residence pays special attention to the smallest details. B y PAU L B E S T
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FEATURE STORY
YOUR AGENT Andrew Liddell, BresicWhitney
“This is arguably the best nonwaterfront home I’ve come across in Balmain in my 15 years selling in the area. Nina’s work is exceptional; the level of detail is second to none.”
like bedroom suite with a bathroom, a walk-in wardrobe and a balcony with views of the pool and garden. “They saw how the design totally transformed the space and added significant value,” Maya says. “We wanted to recreate the luxurious feeling of walking into the vast suite of a beautiful five-star hotel with a spectacular outlook. It was that resort feel that then informed the rest of the house.” It helped, too, that the couple chose to add an underground recreational third level to their sandstone cottage, excavating beneath the twocar garage. It included a gym and steam room, cinema, billiards room and laundry. Having established the mood and tone she wanted, Maya produced a materials palette to match: restrained, minimal, neutral and tactile, very much her signature style. “We wanted to generate this highly calming, Zen-like retreat aura,” she explains. Materials included a light-coloured Italian travertine, white oak, patina bronze and marmorino plaster. In fact, some of the materials are so close in tone – like the calacatta marble and Venetian plaster, oak and travertine – it isn’t immediately obvious where one starts and another finishes. “We’re trying to create a sense of space and openness,” Maya says, in the same way she designed the “see-through, ethereal” staircase to work as a light well. Maya admits the materiality is more monochromatic than usual, but there’s a reason: “There are no stunning vistas and sweeping grounds, so we need to work hard to create that resort feeling within the interiors themselves.” It also explains her motivation in employing huge numbers of curves, which help to break up “the monotony of the linear interiors” and soften the rooms. They’re everywhere: the kitchen island bench and rangehood; floating marble vanities, mirrors and tapware in the bathrooms; timber
joinery and scalloped cladding; light fittings, bedhead and numerous pieces of furniture and soft furnishings. Maya acknowledges that, as a smaller house with a compact garden, each area needed to work hard to draw the most from it. For example, the kitchen was designed for casual family meals, formal dining or entertaining. Bronze screens for a beautifully detailed bar could be opened or closed to suit different occasions. Maya also maintained the same soft, minimal palette for the furniture and furnishings. “Nothing jars or is high contrast,” she says. “Everything is relaxing and harmonious.” Nevertheless, as a fashion designer before transitioning to interiors, Maya has dressed the house with pops of colour in the same way she once used jewellery, handbags and shoes to accessorise an outfit. Bar stools upholstered in a deep green, a velvet bedhead in sage green, and a green table light gently contrast with the natural materials, while vibrant artwork and Draga & Aurel Joy lamps are light-hearted. “I always saw fashion accessories as the finishing pieces,” Maya says. “It’s similar to interiors.”
Balmain Sydney 1 Carieville Street $6 million
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Auction: August 17 Agent: BresicWhitney, Andrew Liddell 0431 450 554
Hover your camera over the code to see Domain listings in Balmain
ANSON SMART / STYLING NINA MAYA INTERIORS
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hen Nina Maya was engaged by a travel-loving couple to revamp their multistorey Balmain cottage at the height of Sydney’s first pandemic lockdown in 2020, the Paddington interior designer seized the chance to help them get away. Without leaving the house. “Everyone had that feeling of being grounded without knowing when we could travel overseas again,” Maya says. “That was very much the impetus to design a resort-style feel at home.” The main bedroom upstairs was the starting point for the project. In fact, the couple, unsure what value interior designers could add, initially approached Maya only to review their sleeping quarters. But they signed her up for the whole house the minute they saw her design: a porous, resort-
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A VIBRANT NEW RESIDENTIAL COMMUNIT Y
A COLLECTION OF APARTMENTS & GARDEN TERRACES BROUGHT TO YOU BY TOP SPRING AUSTRALIA The Newlands offers a collection of luxurious apartments and garden terraces with unrivalled architecture and quality. Merging functional green spaces with considered architectural design, these spacious and light-filled residences create a sense of place with relaxed tranquil landscaping connecting you to nature. Created by award winning architects Bates Smart and Arcadia Landscape Architecture, The Newlands reimagines urban living in the Lower North Shore.
R E G I S T E R YO U R I N T E R E S T 1 8 0 0 8 4 2 0 6 5 / T H E N E W L A N D S .C O M . AU
LIVING IN
27.4810° S, 153.0121° E
WEST END MARTIN JACOBSEN
Welcome to West End, a cosmopolitan enclave of Brisbane imbued with an inclusive village spirit. B y PAU LIN E M O RRIS SE Y Known as a thriving cultural hot spot located
12 per cent year-on-year, as shown in the latest
just three kilometres south-west of Brisbane
Domain House Price Report.
and across the Brisbane River, West End proudly
buyers here, including being just a 10-minute
sleeve. Residents who revel in its cosmopolitan
drive into the CBD, and having easy access to
delights and bohemian village spirit enjoy dining,
some of Brisbane’s best schools, with plenty of
drinking and living with added zest.
green spaces to enjoy like the riverside Orleigh
$4 million-$5 million
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shopping precinct has also given further fanfare to the suburb, with the historic Peters Ice Cream
history of West End. It’s right there on Gray Road
factory as the cornerstone of the development.”
style homes live. The same goes for Boundary
A blooming community
Street, the pulsing hub of the suburb, dotted
For Katie Lee, who owns and operates eco-
with heritage-listed buildings.
friendly florist Bare Bouquets with her wife
“While the beauty of these historic structures
Brisbane 55 Orleigh Street
Park,” O’Kelly says. “The new West Village
You don’t have to look hard to notice the rich and Bristol Street, where classic Queenslander-
West End
“There are many attractions that draw affluent
wears its offbeat and gritty character on its
Old meets new
YOU MAY LIKE ...
Heaven, the locals and their friendly demeanour
play an integral part in the suburb’s colourful
separate the suburb from other places she’s
charm, there’s also been a spike of new builds
lived. Lee is from Newcastle and lived in
Expressions of interest
mixed into the area,” says Luke O’Kelly, Ray White
Melbourne for eight years, before moving to
Agent: Space Property South Brisbane,
West End principal. “For instance, there have
West End in 2017.
Danielle Hughes Brown 0413 665 920
been almost 40 new developments in the
“I remember being so worried at the time
Rising from its riverside outlook, this prestigious
West End precinct in the past five years, which
about missing all of the amazing food in
residence has an opulent three-level facade
includes Arcadia, Montague Markets and Encore,
Melbourne, but to my delight, Brisbane turned
which provides privacy from the street. Inside are
just to name a few.”
out to be the best,” Lee says. “The weather and
open, light-filled spaces around a grand staircase.
Interstate buyers are becoming aware of the
people are great, there’s so much good quality
profits gained by moving to the Sunshine State,
food, and new things are popping up all the time.”
which is beneficial not only for one’s lifestyle but
Lee’s affection for West End grew as it proved
also from an investment point of view. This means the suburb’s market has remained steadfast, with a median price of $1.45 million, up
The bohemian lifestyle
to be abuzz with all sorts of activities and
of Brisbane’s West End
Hover your camera over the
possess an eclectic nature … one where people
forges an active and
code to see Domain listings
can blissfully be whoever they want.
friendly spirit.
in West End
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Bellagio La Villa
E X Q U I S I T E
L A N D M A R K
E S T A T E
Inspection by Appointment
49-109 TALLEBUDGERA CONNECTION ROAD, TALLEBUDGERA 14
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17.9 hectares*
Welcome to arguably the most iconic property to grace the Gold Coast hinterland. Set out over 17.9* sprawling hectares and nestled on the banks of the meandering Tallebudgera Creek, this landmark estate basks in both tranquillity and refined luxury. A majestic masterpiece designed by renowned architect Michael Witty in conjunction with landscaper Paul Bangay and interior designer Eleanor Davis, it rises up elegantly from amongst meticulously landscaped gardens. Reminiscent of a grand European-inspired estate with expertly manicured hedges and flourishing fountains, a stately driveway and Porte-cochere ensure you arrive in style. The estate includes horse stables, vegetable garden, fruit orchids and a charming guest house featuring 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a modern kitchen, and machinery shed.
Contact the Listing Agents Amir Mian 0401 470 499 amir@amirprestige.com.au Alex & Victoria Fleri 0424 404 063 | 0498 989 980 alexvictoria@amirprestige.com.au amirprestige.com.au
THE PROPERTY INVESTOR
VAIDA SAVICKAITE
Why assets are worth investing in When apartment owners band together to improve the building as a whole, it seems everyone gets to reap the rewards. B y SU E WILLIAMS
W
Adding value to the building can come from a range of improvements. Sometimes it’s as simple as a lick of paint to improve the kerb appeal.
hen you invest in an apartment, it is possible to increase its value significantly by improving the building it sits in as a whole. This can range from as minor a change as hanging a beautiful artwork in the foyer or lobby to much more substantial projects such as improving the facade, upgrading common areas, installing a lift into a modest walk-up or adding balconies to all units. Paul Morton, chief executive of Lannock Strata Finance, a lender that often provides funds to strata schemes to help them pay for their improvements, says he’s seen projects from the repainting and carpeting of lobbies and corridors for $50,000 to the $50 million redesign and extension of the Sydney apartment building Skye Tamarama. “Many of them are infill projects, where there’s a space underneath that can be turned into an apartment and sold to raise money, and others where they add a penthouse on the top,” he says. “Some buildings want more car parking, others want balconies and, especially if there’s an
ageing population, some want lifts. We’re getting an increase in inquiries and although some of the projects are quite big, you have to remember that when you’re renovating your own home, you’re solely responsible for everything as well as the cost. With an apartment building, it
“Owners report that their values have increased exponentially.” can be many people sharing and contributing, so it may be a lot less.” The uptick in value can be way out of proportion to the funds spent. Karen Stiles, executive officer of the apartment owners’ peak body, Owners Corporation Network, says a building next to hers just had its facade rendered,
which looks spectacular. “The owners report that their values have increased exponentially as a result,” she says. “A unit which might normally sell for around $1.25 million just sold for $500,000 more. “But the ease of getting most owners to agree to projects like this depends on the community, how bonded and aligned they are, and if there’s a champion in the building prepared to drive the project. “All investors should understand that the more value they can add to a property, the better the rental returns and capital growth will be.” As many older apartment buildings age, more owners are now considering how they can improve them, believes Caroline McConnachie, the general manager of construction company MAX Build, which has been renovating a number of blocks. “There’s definitely a huge appetite for it as a way to address problems and upscale buildings,” she says. “We’re doing an old 1930s block currently at Ben Buckler with some remedial issues and it’s like something from Grand Designs, with a retractable roof and a car stacker. “The more this strata renewal becomes known, and the more aware apartment owners are of all the moving parts, with the planning, the financing and building, and often offsetting the cost with selling part of the common property, the demand will continue to increase. People realise assets are worth investing in.”
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NORTH ADELAIDE 212 TYNTE STREET LANDMARK RESIDENCE - "ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY"
Prestigiously positioned on the corner of Tynte Street, overlooking Wellington Square with it's beautiful gardens. This is the most prestigious development opportunity in Adelaide! The opportunities are endless - reinvent this iconic building into a spectacular CBD Mansion with modern contemporary themes (Subject to Planning Consents). Or with Planning Approval already in place, create three stunning Matthews Architects luxury residences - 212TYNTE
LAND
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
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Closing Tuesday 16th August at 2:00pm (Unless Sold Prior)
John & Stephanie Williams 0413 874 888 Jock Gilbert 0418 825 222 For Sale in conjunction with Circa Real Estate RLA 243281 & Jock Gilbert Real Estate RLA 2189
Williams Real Estate
RLA 247163
williamsproperty.com.au
kayburton.com.au