COVER STORY

Simply the best Melbourne’s prestige home buyers divide their loyalties between Toorak and Brighton, and most stick to their patch

BY JONATHAN CHANCELLOR

Brighton has secured Melbourne’s highest trophy home sale price so far this year, as prestige estate agents sense a busier winter than normal. Its surprise $19.8 million sale has temporarily taken the baton from Toorak, which some would say is Melbourne’s best address. Others believe that honour belongs to absolute beachfront Brighton. Not that the two prestigious suburbs are rivals.

Local agents say Brighton residents are very loyal to the bayside area. “Many were born and bred there and then settled there themselves, bringing up the next generation,” veteran agent and founder of Marshall White John Bongiorno noted recently. “People from outside Brighton tend to aspire to Toorak as Melbourne’s most prestigious suburb ... Toorak definitely is the home of Melbourne’s best range of top-end properties,” he conceded.

There is not a lot of movement between the suburbs, as Brighton people like the village and to be near the sea, and Toorak residents like their village and their proximity to the city.

Kay & Burton agent Ross Savas says the two markets follow a similar transaction pattern, partly due to the quality of local schools and access to parks and cafes. “While both neighbourhoods attract the country’s highest earners, they satisfy different lifestyle ambitions,” he says. “The riverside enclave of Toorak caters to slightly different needs from the beachside activity hub of Brighton. As a stronghold for generational wealth, Toorak has long been home to Australia’s most influential families, and now we are seeing young professionals moving in from the stepping-stone suburbs across Boroondara, Stonnington and Bayside.”

Clockwise from left: Rear of New Street, Brighton; pool area at Linlithgow Road, Toorak; and Martin Street, Brighton

The recent strong Brighton sale was the home of John Bongiorno and his wife Anne, who pocketed the windfall in an off-market deal. Their four-bedroom foreshore reserve home on Martin Street sits on 1650sq m, with the adjoining space added in 2007 to cater for the tennis court. The home, which had been quietly marketed in 2016 as “your own beachside resort”, sold last month through local agent Jonathan Dixon to Ying Wang and Fuyi Cao.

Situated on the beachfront Golden Mile, it is one of around 48 properties abutting the seashore. Its striking contemporary design was inspired by its prominent position on the coast, and features an internal palette of marble and blonde timber.

Relaxed open plan living is at the heart of the property, which was consolidated in a 2007 purchase of the adjoining beachfront reserve block for $6 million. The Bongiornos then embarked on a complete renovation.

The Bongiorno family had owned the non-waterfront part of the holding since 1975, when John’s fruiterer father Jack and mother Valda bought it for $115,000. Oriented towards the water, the home’s vast expanses of glass frame views of Port Phillip, with the Bay Trail cycling and walking paths between the house and the water. The lavish kitchen is a focal point for family meals around an extensive island bench and for balmy summer-night dinner parties.

The home’s sale ranks as the bayside suburb’s second most expensive recorded residential sale, topped only by the $22 million paid for 39 Seacombe Grove, Brighton, in 2015. By contrast, Toorak’s top sale sits at $38.8 million, secured two years ago when Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan bought a three-block compound.

The top known sale this year in Toorak has been on Grange

Road, where a contemporary-style mid-1980s Nic Bochslerdesigned home sold after having a revised $10 million to $11 million guide, after being initially listed last year with $12.95 million hopes. The property was last sold for $8 million in 2010. A nearby Barnard Road home has been sold for $10.5 million.

It’s not the first time Brighton has outperformed Toorak. In 1997, the $5.1 million sale of Shanagolden on a 3900sq m Moule Avenue block rewrote the suburb’s previous top price of $3.65 million. One of 15 houses fronting the beach, it topped all Toorak sales that year.

In 1980, businessman James O’Connor purchased Melbourne’s first $1 million home, on St Georges Road, Toorak. The Mercedes dealer bought from former Melbourne Lord Mayor Maurice Nathan for $1.01 million but lost the property soon after during the recession.

Bongiorno, who declined to comment on his own sale, has always maintained that the beach is Brighton’s major drawcard. “Brighton people love to live near the sea,” he says. The Golden Mile runs from west of St Kilda Street towards the bay between the bobbing masts of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club and Elwood Park. Bongiorno also cited the suburb’s elite private schools and well-regarded public schools, as well as two major shopping centres, as drivers.

“It’s not a destination suburb for shopping or restaurants, so [it] tends to have a unique local feel and ambience,” he adds. He says Brighton appeals to families who live in surrounding suburbs, such as Middle Park or Albert Park, who move there when they start a family for the large homes and landholdings.

Bongiorno says new arrivals to Brighton, particularly those from overseas, often want newly built homes. There are also new boutique apartments targeted at downsizers wanting to stay.

So far in 2020, modern has reigned supreme in Brighton. One of its sharpest new homes is on Gould Street, where a never-livedin Martin Friedrich Architects build recently sought between $7.5 million and $8.2 million. The four-bedroom home with jet black exterior has a rooftop entertainment area and gardens landscaped by Garden Construction. Marshall White Bayside’s Stephen Smith and Simone Howell have the listing.

A former HIA Victorian Home of the Year winner on Martin Street sold earlier this year for $5.175 million, only the sixth home to crack the $5 million mark in Brighton in 2020. The two-level home, built by Art Nouveau Homes and designed by WJFA Architects, won the Best Spec Home category in 2015, the same year it was a finalist for the Bayside Built Environment Awards for Best New Building. It has four bedrooms, a study, gym and home cinema, and landscaping by Turning Japanese. There are three decked areas and a pool. Marshall White’s Scott Xue and Andrew Campbell secured the sale.

Renovated homes that still feature the design aesthetics of a bygone era get plenty of attention, however. The 2013 winner of the Bayside Built Environment Awards recently sold in just over a month on New Street. The Victorian residence, which won Best Residential Renovation or Extension, was built in the 1880s and underwent a redesign and extension by Jenny Rizzo from Inarc Architects. Now the four-bedroom home is set over two levels and features a modern extension at the rear, with steel beams and wooden decks. Upstairs is the parents’ retreat, complete with a timber slat enclosed balcony. Marshall White Bayside agent Ben Vieth and Dahli Woosnam sold the home.

There are $3.65 million to $4 million hopes for a mid-century modern home on Lorac Avenue that recently underwent a designer renovation careful not to detract from its original design. RT Edgar Brighton agents James Paynter and Sherife Olmez are marketing the four-bedroom home, which has floorto-ceiling glass walls. The formal lounge with timber ceilings features a minimalist double open gas fireplace, and opens to a bluestone-paved alfresco area overlooking the pool and spa.

Kay & Burton Bayside agents Alex Schiavo and Tracy Tian Belcher have a $12.8 million to $13.8 million guide for a European-inspired home on the dress circle Chatsworth Avenue. The two-level home was built in 2015, a few years after the previous home on the block sold for $3.5 million. It was designed by architect Jon Friedrich and sits in 1150sq m of Jack Merlo landscaped gardens. With formal living and dining rooms and Italian crystal chandeliers, it has five ensuited bedrooms. The master features its own living room with gas log fireplace.

Schiavo says while there is demand from Brighton buyers wanting to stay in Brighton, there’s an influx of international and interstate buyers. He says around 60 per cent of homes his office sells over $3 million are bought by this demographic.

Toorak’s most premium recent listing is on the sought-after Linlithgow Road, where Kay & Burton Armadale agents Gowan Stubbings and Nicole Gleeson have a $10 million to $11 million guide for a fully renovated 1930s home.

Last traded for $5.251 million in 2012, the three-level home has undergone a renovation using stone, marble and timber finishes for the interiors. There are five bedrooms, four bathrooms and an outdoor terrace, off the kitchen and dining space, overlooking the 1190sq m block with a resort-style pool.

Savas notes that 2019 was a low-turnover year with few motivated vendors, but he anticipates the Toorak market will “take off” in the second half of 2020.

“Over the next couple of years I think we’ll see another influx of capital from offshore buyers,” he says. “Based on our current inquiry rate from expats looking to return home, particularly those based in New York or London through the COVID-19 pandemic, the spacious residences and green tree-lined streets of Toorak are firmly in the spotlight.” Brighton four bedroom homes have a $3 million median price, according to realestate.com.au, compared with $5.5 million in Toorak.

SOUTH AFRICA Resort living on the coast

Situated on the coast near Ballito, South Africa, within the Zimbali Coastal Resort gated community, this sprawling modern home was designed to maximise ocean views from its elevated perch. Joy Brasler Architects built the house in 2017, and its simple, clean lines conceal myriad luxuries, including three pools. “Intelligent design ensures maximum protection from the prevailing weather conditions for year-round use,” says Andreas Wassenaar, who has the listing along with Seeff Zimbali. A third, more intimate pool on the lower ground-floor level is accessible from the private lounge area where the four guest suites are located. The home also includes accommodations for two staff members. The spacious master suite shares the same level along the entire northern wing and features a unique bathroom courtyard. Wassenaar says the home, which is priced at ZAR70 million ($5.87 million), would suit a range of potential buyers, including people who require one-level living, as all the living spaces and the main suite are on the upper ground floor. “The home is understated from the exterior, but inside you can see that the architect and interior designer worked closely together to create an impression of seamless integration between the outdoor and interior spaces,” he says. The 650sq m home has five bedrooms and five full bathrooms. It sits on a 3120sq m site and is packaged for sale with the neighbouring 163sq m, which allows for the development of a second home. As part of the Zimbali Coastal Resort community, the property includes full access to an 18-hole championship golf course, six tennis courts, two squash courts, the gymnasium and fitness centre, communal pools and direct access to its beach. There are also several nature and walking trails and residents’ clubhouses, as well as a children’s playground with three cricket nets and a dedicated soccer field. CATHERINE MCHUGH

STONE SANCTUARY

This 14th-century villa in Rezevici Village on the secluded Smokvica Peninsula in Montenegro has not been on the market for more than a half century. Now listed for €10 million ($16.24 million), the solitary stone sanctuary has been owned by only three families, and was once used as a quarantine station for sailors returning from long voyages. The peninsula is covered in wild fig trees, and the simple home is surrounded by cypress and pine trees. Niko Lakovi of Montenegro Sotheby’s International Realty says it’s “one of the most prestigious” locations along the Adriatic Sea coastline. The 200sq m villa, set on just over 1012sq m with two fresh water springs, has four bedrooms and five bathrooms, and seven terraces. There’s also a staff house at the peninsula’s entrance. The interior is decorated in a rustic style that includes stone walls, wooden beams, onyx bathrooms and wooden furnishings. NANCY A. RUHLING

ISLAND ESTATE

A waterfront estate on Miami Beach’s exclusive Star Island has hit the market for $40 million. “It’s a beautiful house in an exceptional location,” says co-listing agent Jill Eber of The Jills Zeder Group, Coldwell Banker. The two-storey contemporary home built in 2003 sits on a lushly landscaped 3716sq m waterfront lot, with 30m of water frontage on Biscayne Bay with Atlantic Ocean access. Including a twobedroom guest house above the garage, the estate has 10 bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms and two partial bathrooms. A gated entrance opens to a long palm treelined driveway. Interior features include stone and hardwood floors, high ceilings, Venetian plaster walls, a grand entry foyer with a dramatic chandelier, an elevator, a wood-panelled library/den, and a wine room. Among the outdoor amenities are a pool, Jacuzzi , cabana, fountain, a bar, and a private dock. Two expansive terraces provide sunset views of Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. BILL CARY