LUXURY

from Mansion February 2020

REA

A penthouse in Pavillions, one of Hamilton Island’s most sought-after apartment complexes, has been listed for $9.95 million. The top-level penthouse overlooks the Hamilton Island Marina and has its own 18m berth. Potentially netting $1500 a night rental in peak season, the single-level apartment has been the private retreat of its Melbourne vendors. It is split into two wings, one with three guest bedrooms, each with ensuite and walk-in wardrobe. The second contains the master retreat and a media room. The central dining and entertaining space opens to the balcony and pool. Hamilton Island Real Estate agent Lynn Milsom has the listing.

HAMILTON ISLAND, QLD

SANDY BAY, TAS

BALMAIN, NSW

Providence, a grand gothic Victorian residence in Balmain built in the 1880s, has been listed for sale for the first time in a decade. Last traded for $4.9 million in 2010, the Smith Street home has been listed through Cobden & Hayson agents Samantha Elvy and Danny Cobden for auction on February 29, with a guide of $6.5 million. The home has been extensively renovated during its ownership by the Roberts family. They modernised the interiors as well as refurbishing the 10m heated pool and adding an outdoor kitchen in the 750sq m parterre garden. Under its slate roof, Providence has four bedrooms, formal lounge and dining rooms and a home office. Previous owners Tim Pethick, the founder of Nudie fruit juice, and his wife Lucinda, had paid $2 million in 2006 before restoring the home. A Hobart waterfront is set to trade for the first time in 25 years after a recent full refurbishment. The four-level residence at Sandy Bay is one of just eight on the tightly held Sandy Bay Road dress circle that sits between the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and Wrest Point Casino. Last year one of the homes on the short strip sold for $3.7 million, the highest house sale price in the state for 2019. St Andrews Hobart agent Steve Yannarakis is marketing the latest listing, which comes complete with a self-contained apartment on the bottom level that opens directly to the water and private jetty. There are another three ensuited bedrooms across the rest of the home, as well as two open-plan kitchen, living and dining spaces. The main one is on the entry level, which opens up to the entertaining balcony looking across the harbour. The home, sitting on 440sq m, last traded for $280,000 in 1995.

ANCONA, VIC COOGEE, NSW

Hayfield Rise, a converted hay shed in country Victoria, has been listed for $4 million by its architect owner Steve Domoney and wife Lek. The Agency Mansfield agents Kate McDougall and Allana Neely have the listing. The conversion of the property at Ancona, 150km north of Melbourne near Mansfield, was a 10-year labour of love. The original structure, a two-bedroom house known as the Hayshed, is still buried within the walls. In the late 1960s it was owned by Arthur Mitchell, the retired headmaster of Timbertop who was a mentor to Prince Charles. Hayfield Rise, completed in 2018, now comprises four pavilions with three bedrooms, a guest house, bunk room and three bathrooms. A two-storey central core comprises the living, dining and kitchen area. There is a 14m solar heated pool with its own pavilion, and a garden designed by Paul Bangay that includes an orchard, rose garden, Japanese terraced walk, lawn panels, perennial bed, kitchen garden, hedging and sculptures. The home has a six-star energy rating.

The penthouse crowning the recently completed Coogee apartment complex Pinnacle has been listed for February 29 auction with a record-breaking guide of $5 million. The apartment, which Belle Property Randwick agent Shane Vincent calls Coogee’s finest penthouse, spans 220sq m and has three bedrooms and three marble bathrooms. It was designed to frame the Pacific Ocean panoramas from its Arden Street position. The balconies and terraces are surrounded by sky-high gardens. Coogee penthouses peaked last year at $4.75 million. The block has been popular among Australian expats, with New Yorkbased stylist to the stars Anna Bingemann, who is married to producer and director Griffin Dunne, buying into the complex which was finished last year.

SUNSHINE COAST, QLD Art house

The 2018 HIA Sunshine Coast House of the Year has been listed for sale by well-known local custom home builder Paul Clout and his wife Lizzie. They’re asking $10 million for the thoroughly modern beach house on the exclusive David Low Way dress circle. It has direct access to the often deserted Sunrise Beach. Tom Offermann Real Estate agent Cameron Urquhart says it is as much a piece of art as a home. “It’s not surprising that properties in the exclusive and secure Beaches estate are so tightly held,” he says. “There are only eight properties and discerning purchasers are seeking ultra-luxury right on the beach.” The Clouts began building in the gated Beaches estate in 2016 after paying $2.8 million for an 820sq m block. Paul Clout designed the resort-style beach house to take advantage of its position. Only the study doesn’t have 180-degree views. Every room that faces inwards opens through sliding doors to the wet-edge pool, spa and alfresco dining space. Entry to the home is through the lobby with its high glass walls and doors leading in to crisp white living areas, which have a marble feature wall with an integrated fireplace. There are three bedrooms and four bathrooms across the home’s three levels. Two of the three bedrooms are self-contained, while the master has its own open bathroom and walk in wardrobe. The rooftop terrace has 360-degree views extending from Lions Head in the Noosa National Park to Mooloolaba and beyond.

PALM BEACH, NSW

Palm Beach has continued 2019’s bullish run of sales with three more in the first few weeks of 2020. Now the fresh listings are starting to flow. The weekender of Shay Lewis-Thorp, daughter of the late property developer Bernard Lewis and his wife Toni, has been listed for sale with a guide of $12.5 million to $14 million. Lewis-Thorp bought the four-bedroom beachfront on Ocean Road for $7.4 million in 2011 from sharemarket investor Walter Lewin, who had seen slow growth after buying it from Barry and Victoria Roberts-Thompson for $7.3 million some six years earlier. Set on 1220sq m, the double brick property with a contemporary open-plan design has two levels, with a living area on each, as well as a number of beach-facing terraces and verandas. A swimming pool and pool house sit in the landscaped lawns. LJ Hooker Palm Beach agents David Edwards and Danielle Forde have the listing. Last year in Palm Beach there were three sales over $10 million, including the $20.5 million sale of the trophy home Palm Haven on Pittwater.

LORNE, VIC Coast record-setter

One of Lorne’s most impressive properties has been sold for more than $7 million, setting a Surf Coast record. Designed by Spaces Design Group and built by GD Construction, the home last traded in 2011 for $4.4 million. It had been listed with a guide of $6.5 million and was snapped up in two weeks. The private compound in 1840sq m grounds has 500sq m of living space, a pool and ocean views. Great Ocean Road Real Estate Lorne agents Tyrone Provan and Michael Coutts marketed the home, with Great Ocean Road Real Estate Lorne agent Ian Stewart, for Ros Turner, co-founder of Hudsons Coffee, and her husband Ken.

FEBRUARY 8-9, 2020 | ADELAIDE, SA Heritage sandstone

Forest Lodge, a grand Adelaide Hills garden estate, built for businessman and politician John Bagot, has been listed for sale. The heritage-listed residence on Pine Street in Stirling is one of the most tightly held in Adelaide, according to Booth and Booth marketing agent Jamie Brown. It was held by three generations of the Bagot family before being sold in 2002 for $1.65 million, the only time the property has hit the market. Forest Lodge dates from the early 1890s, when it was believed John Bagot was encouraged by the anthropologist Sir Edward Stirling to build the home with walls of sandstone quarried on site. After the gothic mansion was designed by Ernest Bayer, Bagot travelled overseas to obtain conifers for the garden. In 1943, Charles Lane Poole, forestry adviser for the Commonwealth, said the collection of conifers was the most complete in the country. It was the summer home of John’s son, architect Walter Bagot, a founding partner in Woods and Bagot. Walter, also a keen gardener, inherited the home in 1910 and created a croquet lawn. His son John took over the property in the 1960s. The 6ha property was added to South Australia’s heritage list in 2011. Historian Peter Bell, who sat on the committee at the time of its heritage listing, said Forest Lodge’s inclusion was not so much about the home as the “beautiful gardens, including a remarkable conifer garden and mature botanic collections that are both rare and unusual”.

THE YEAR AHEAD Following a year-end rally that capped 2019’s subdued performance, property agents are looking forward to renewed activity as 2020 kicks off with some high-end listings

BY JONATHAN CHANCELLOR

LOpposite and above: Fortune Bay House in Perth’s Dalkeith has seven separate entertaining zones eading luxury estate agents hope 2020 will be a more active year than 2019. The prestige market in the two biggest capitals bounced back in spring, but there was very low turnover during the year. The year ended with a flurry of big-ticket sales, which has prompted fresh listings along with unsold offerings that are returning to market with renewed hopes for a sale.

One of Perth’s finest riverfront homes has returned to the market, with Ray White agent Jody Fewster scheduling it for auction on March 21. The contemporary sixbedroom home on Victoria Avenue, Dalkeith, known as Fortune Bay House, sits on 2280sq m with seven separate zones for entertaining – including the river terrace with barbecue. It has been home to Irish horse trainer David O’Brien and his wife Catherine, who moved to Perth in 2009.

“We dearly love Perth, but all five of our children now live overseas and we want to spend more time with them and our grandchildren,” Mrs O’Brien says. “Perth is famous for its wonderful outdoors lifestyle and this house is made for a sporty family, as you can play tennis, swim, waterski, jet ski, go kayaking, fishing and wakeboarding, plus we have a beautiful white sandy beach where you can walk your dog.”

The O’Briens have expanded the master suite to include two bathrooms, two dressing rooms and a study. The property, bought in 1999 for $6.5 million, was unsuccessfully listed twice over the past two years.

There’s a renewed push to sell Sydney stock, including the Centennial Park mansion Walsholme. The Agency’s Ben Collier has the grand Lang Road mansion, built around 1908 for Fred Walsh, the then consul-general for Honduras. One of the first homes in the early 1900s parkside housing estate, the Federation Romanesque style residence comes with a tower room where a previous owner kept pigeons.

Set on 950sq m, the property had undergone a full scale renovation since it was last traded, in 2003, for $3.9 million. It was initially listed 18 months ago.

Many of last year’s eleventh-hour sales were off market. There was a $33 million sale in Point Piper when music industry veteran Stephen Shrimpton sold the Wolseley Road home he bought for $1.95 million in 1995. It was bought by entrepreneur Fred Bart.

There was also the sale of the Kutti Beach beachfront home of Susan Kelly, wife of the founder of Industrie clothing giant Nick Kelly. That was bought for around $32 million by Shay Lewis-Thorp, daughter of the late property developer Bernard Lewis, and her husband Alex Thorp.

Brisbane quietly achieved a near state record at the back end of last year with the biggest sale of 2019. The executive chairman of Ord Minnett and chairman of the Brisbane Broncos Karl Morris and his wife Louise sold their Tennyson home for $16 million in a private deal. They had paid $6.8 million for the site in 2008, knocking down the original home to build a new mansion. The 4200sq m property on the King Arthur Terrace dress circle along the river has a near 100m water frontage and a 40m pontoon. There was also the mid-$7 million sale of the heritage-listed Cintra House in Bowen Hills last month.

An iconic Melbourne listing kickstarts the year’s offerings. Shrublands in Canterbury was last sold in 2002 and was facing demolition when local residents opposed plans to turn it into townhouses. It was sold a year later to the Williams family. Anne Williams

Clockwise from top left: Exterior and staircase of Walsholme on Lang Road, Centennial Park; Shrublands in Melbourne; the dining room at Shrublands

and her late husband Mike undertook a full-scale restoration and extension.

“It’s an amazing property”, Anne Williams says, adding that over the years there had been hundreds of inquiries from parties wanting to use is as a movie location. “It is such a part of Melbourne history. We wanted to respect this. We had a passion about bringing it back to be the amazing property it once was.”

It took four years to restore the 42-room, 12-bedroom mansion. Anne and Mike expanded the holding to 6,525 square metres. Back in the early 1900s, when it was occupied by John Ambler, Shrublands played host to a number of moonlight concerts. String bands and vocal quartets would set up on the balcony of the grand mansion.

The home, designed by architect John Flanagan, was the first substantial residence in the precinct when completed in 1863 for dentist Ernest Carter, who later became a vigneron and established a vineyard on the site and out at Lilydale. Shrublands labelled wine was produced in the 1860s and 1870s, when the Boroondara area was one of Victoria’s leading wine-growing regions. The basalt basement cellar, which still exists today, was used to store the wines.

An 1876 advertisement for the sale of Shrublands described the site as having 16 acres of garden, vineyard and orchards.

Carter didn’t sell in 1876 and instead grew the property, adding adjoining holdings to create around 87 acres. The boundaries were Balwyn Road to the west, Mont Albert Road to the north, Chatham Road to the east and Canterbury Road to the south. He subdivided the estate in 1883 and sold the mansion and its surrounds to broker John Hindson and his wife Alice. Hindson commissioned architect William Wolf to extend the property to the west in 1889, in keeping with Flanagan’s original design and nearly doubling Shrublands valuation within a year. Alice donated the allotment with the house to the Anglican Church as the family had a long association with St Barnabas Church in Balwyn Road. It stayed with the church until its sale in 2002 to intending developers.

Abercromby’s agent Jock Langley, who is marketing Shrublands, says 2020 has started off where it finished in 2019. “Confidence is the key to stability,” he says.

“From Abercromby’s point of view the market over the summer has delivered some outstanding results, with more than $127 million of luxury real estate passing through the books in just over two months. Lack of quality stock, continued low interest rates and low unemployment will continue to see the market grow in 2020.”

The latest prestige Brisbane listing comes from Hamilton – a near 3000sq m mega block, comprising three titles amalgamated over a decade. The Ludlow Street block is currently the site of two residences, with a block in the middle ready to build a five-level mansion. There’s an entertainment pavilion already on the block that is the favourite area of vendors Dr Steve Andrews and his wife Sally.

“It’s been inspired by Asia, and is fully airconditioned and a truly beautiful space,” Mrs Andrews says.

Ray White New Farm agent Christine Rudolph, who is marketing the property with Matt Lancashire, says the parcel of prime Hamilton Hill land with its exceptional city and river views could never be built out. “It’s a cliche but this offering is truly extraordinary and offers an array of opportunities across three adjacent hilltop lots. The substantial site presents multiple options for its fortunate future custodian.”

Rudolph says that 2020 has started strongly in the prestige sector. “Buyers have long-term confidence driven by major infrastructure projects, including Queens Wharf, Cross River Rail, Eagle Street Pier, North Shore Hamilton, Bulimba Barracks, Howard Smith Wharves and now a bid for the 2032 Olympics”, she says.

Ray White boss Brian White says 2020 is being driven by aspirational buyers looking for quality properties.

Ray White Double Bay agent Craig Pontey says the Sydney market is looking strong, but there is a lot of stock coming on to the market.

“I think the market will be more of the same from last year – some really good sales and some ordinary ones”, he says. “Banks are supposed to be loosening up but I’m not sure if it’s across the board yet. If stock levels are high then things might just be steady as she goes. There’s still a lot of money around chasing few opportunities.”

8/20-22 Carlisle Street, Rose Bay

This prestige penthouse apartment enjoys panoramic harbour views towards the Sydney Harbour, CBD and Harbour Bridge. It presents an open layout with a smooth outdoor transition, plus a well appointed kitchen, king and queen bed suites, and secure parking for five cars. This residence is superbly located for an enviable lifestyle in one of Sydney’s most sought after locations.