LUXURY

The coastal Queensland trophy estate Mount Haven at Emu Park, overlooking Keppel Bay and Great Keppel Island on the coast of Rockhampton, is for sale, having been put to auction last month. The 58.5 hectare oceanfront block with homestead had inquiries from around the country; however it was a local bidder from Rockhampton who made the top bid before it was passed in. The property, listed through Ray White New Farm agents Hamish Bowman and Josh Brown, features a four-bedroom, three-bathroom homestead. There’s approval to subdivide to create eight lots. The lots would be located at the north-east corner of the property, fronting the ocean. The marketing suggests there’s potential for boutique accommodation, tourism ventures, exclusive retirement facilities, or the expansion of the existing private family home. The property is smaller than the 80 hectares offered in 2017 when it was listed with $15 million hopes.

WOOLLAHRA, NSW

Rosetta, a renovated two-storey terrace in Woollahra, has sold for almost its $3.875 million asking price. Last traded for $2.43 million in 2015, the open plan terrace on Wallis Street has three bedrooms. The entry level living and kitchen area opens to a rear travertine and ivy courtyard on its 135sq m block. There are two bedrooms on level two, and a separate studio apartment with its own ensuite above the garage. BresicWhitney Darlinghurst agents Darren Pearce and Di Grundy secured the sale post-auction. It’s only the eighth sale Woollahra has seen over $3 million so far in 2021, compared to 12 by mid-March last year, with realestate.com.au noting that the median house price sits at $3.6 million after 70 sales last year. It was $1.9 million nine years ago.

TOORAK, VIC

Apartment House, the Toorak home designed by architect Kerstin Thompson, has been withdrawn from sale. Marshall White Stonnington agents Justin Long and Richard Mackinnon had a $7.9 million to $8.5 million price guide. Completed in 2014, Apartment House was conceived by Thompson around a leafy central courtyard designed by Fiona Brockhoff. “The Apartment House delivers an ‘ageing in place’ housing typology for the clients,” Kerstin Thompson Architects have said of the project. “It was imagined as such in response to the clients’ request for a single-level, universally accessible but elevated and secure dwelling with views.” It comes with the now all-important media room and fitted home office on the main level, close to the master bedroom with ensuite. The Kooyong Road home in its dress circle location has a striking white brick and green copper facade. Entry is through double gates to the garden, with bluestone stairs and a lift leading to the main living and accommodation area. The living space is flanked by floor-to-ceiling glass that opens to the garden. Joining the living space is a state of the art kitchen, as well as a dining room, with dappled light admitted through “hit and miss” brickwork. On the ground level is a self-contained apartment with its own living and dining room, kitchen and private garden terrace. The other ground-level wing has an open-air gym and kitchenette concealed behind large cedar doors.

PERTH, WA

Let there be light

A Perth home designed by the architect Andrew Boughton has been listed for sale. William Porteous Properties International agent Olivia Porteous is expecting offers in the mid $5 millions. Peppermint Grove sees around three or four sales per year over the $5 million mark. The biggest in recent times was achieved in late 2017 when a 2007-built home sold for $11 million – the fifth highest house sale the suburb has seen. The latest state of the art Peppermint Grove home listing on the Swan River southwest of the Perth CBD was built in 2012 and last sold for $4.8 million in 2018. Designed to capture the river views, the three-level home with clean lines was built to maximise the northern light. Bi-fold doors open from the open plan living and dining area, where there’s a marble, gas pebble fireplace, to a resort-style heated pool. The north-facing alfresco area includes a large Beefeater Barbecue set in to a honed marble bench. The kitchen features a cantilevered Calacatta marble dining bar, Gaggenau and Miele appliances, and an under-bench wine fridge. Downstairs is a theatre room with motorised screen and a 900-bottle temperature-controlled wine cellar. Linking the ground and top level, where the four bedrooms are located, is a glass and marble staircase. A six-person lift runs to all three levels.

Designer renovation

A vast Woolloomooloo Wharf apartment on the harbourside landmark has been listed for sale following a designer renovation. Marketed as a penthouse-style residence, the near 300sq m Finger Wharf apartment has been refurbished by Fleming Design. The open plan layout, with a series of living and entertaining areas, is flanked by large sliding windows to maximise water views. New herringbone oak floors feature throughout the living spaces, and the four bedrooms have European sisal carpet. There is a master suite with dressing room and ensuite with double shower, steam room and jacuzzi. A guest suite has a walk-in robe and ensuite. A new Caesarstone island kitchen is in the heart of the open plan living and dining area, and the space comes with a home cinema. Ray White TRG agent Gavin Rubinstein has a guide of $11 million, topping the listings of busier recent times. Finger Wharf vendors have secured 24 sales over 2019 and 2020 combined, compared with 11 over the two previous years.

RED HILL, VIC

Langhaus, a recently completed home on the Mornington Peninsula, is for sale. The 4.3 hectare Red Hill South property sold for $2.07 million in 2017 when it was a modest 1950s farm cottage. Now there is a Scandinavian-style home with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The open plan living and dining area meets a striking stone kitchen with butler’s pantry. The room opens to a covered alfresco dining deck and pool. There’s also a separate building with garage, workshop, guest bedroom and multipurpose loft space. RT Edgar Mornington Peninsula agents Paul Armstrong and Michael Parker have a guide of $11 million to $12 million, which would make it the second property in the small Red Hill South locale to break the $10 million mark. The first was a Stephen Akehurst-designed Callanans Road home that sold for $16 million in 2018.

KILLCARE, NSW

A luxury Killcare Heights home has been listed for sale for the first time in a quarter of a century. The clifftop house with gun-barrel views across Killcare Beach has been the home of former Waratah Brian Macauley since 1995 when he and wife Marilyn paid $395,000. They renovated the home around 10 years later, adding its showpiece infinity pool overlooking the beach and ocean. The four-bedroom home on nearly 700sq m has been designed to take advantage of the views, with both levels opening to the ocean side. McGrath Ettalong Beach agents Dale Bassett and Madi Holt have a $4 million to $4.4 million guide. There are around 20 houses on the lowside of dress circle Macdonald Street. The highest price paid was in 2016 when Tanya Ford, wife of Healthe Care chief financial officer Gordon Ford, paid $4.55 million for a five-bedroom home designed by Castlepeake Architects. Two years ago former Westfield director Stephen Johns bought a house on the strip for $3.7 million. The coastal town’s multi-award winning property The Boathouse has been listed for the first time. First National Byron agent Su Reynolds is expecting a sale within the $6 million range, which would be the highest result for the old part of town. Owner and master builder Ian Heanes of Heanesbuilt created the three-level home, using a mix of raw and refined finishes. It features internal and external walls of microgranite, sourced locally from the family farm. The centrepiece is the suspended polished concrete stairwell. The main living space is on the entry level, as is a kitchen complete with American oak benches and a butler’s pantry. Upstairs is dedicated to the master retreat, with an ensuite with white wood marble floors. Large windows offer views over Byron, the ocean and the hinterland. The property has an Enviroswim freshwater pool with river stone walls.

BYRON BAY, NSW

NOOSA, QLD

Hinterland jewel

With the relisting of the luxury Cooroy Mountain hillside property Stonelea Estate there are renewed hopes for a record Sunshine Coast hinterland sale. There are $15.5 million expectations for the grand estate through Tom Offermann agents Cameron Urquhart and Tom Offermann, who are marketing the 6.5 hectare property as the “undisputed stupendous jewel of the Noosa hinterland”. Set at the end of a sweeping driveway past topiaried ficuses, the home has a Travertine-tiled vestibule with timber beams and lofty ceilings. The formal dining area and living room with dual stone fireplace feature wall is serviced by the commercial-grade kitchen, fitted with leather-honed black granite benchtops, cool room, butler’s pantry and servery for the Mediterranean-style, rock-walled dining terrace, which has its own pizza oven. The terrace flows up to the wetedge swimming pool, which boasts views across the hinterland to the Coral Sea. There are five bedrooms, including a master suite in the east wing with a 70sq m dressing room. Downstairs in the east wing, a self-contained area links to another bedroom in the west wing. Joining the wings is a media room with feature screen, reclaimed Russian elm panelled wall and two portholes looking into the pool. There’s also a second study and access to the humidity-controlled wine room and 2000-bottle cellar. In the grounds is a helicopter landing pad designed by McDermott Aviation. “The sensitively crafted estate blends perfectly into the natural terrain and has sublime 180-degree views,” Urquhart says. “It’s a place in which, somewhere between the sea spray of Noosa Main Beach 20 minutes away and the almost lost world tradition of a safe, secure unrivalled lifestyle, it’s possible to lose yourself completely.”