Mansion March 2021

Mansion INCORPORATING NEWS FROM DOW JONES’ M A NS ION GL OBA L

AUSTRALIA

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Interiors

section

Potts Point

Victorian-era makeover

Little Shop of Horrors

Why exotic plants are all the rage

Rising tide

Beauties restored

HEADING NORTH

Why everyone is flocking to Byron Bay 1

M A NSIONAUST R A L I A .C OM . AU

Issue 41 • March 2021

T H E W E E K E N D AUST R A L I A N | O C T OBE R 8 - 9 , 2 0 1 6

Contents

A Coorabell property, near Byron Bay, has an American-style barn.

See page 12

9 L U X U R Y Designer touch, grand to the core, cinematic outlook 1 2 C O V E R S T O R Y Buyers flock to the hinterland behind Byron Bay 1 6 D O L L Y L E N Z The global demand for trophy homes is as strong as ever 1 8 G A R D E N High-priced, rare indoor plants are flourishing 2 0 O F F T H E P L A N Prestige off-the-plan market riding high 2 2 P O R T D O U G L A S Tropical town ticks the boxes for sea-changers 2 6 M A N S I O N G L O B A L Homes of Robin Gibb, Sylvester Stallone 32 TASMANIA

Grand historic residences seek new custodians

34 POTTS POINT

Victoria Street is one of Sydney’s most wanted addresses

3 7 P R E S T I G E M A R K E T U P D A T E Luxury property sales surge ahead 4 1 T O O R A K Architect Robin Boyd’s Milne House, a mid-century masterpiece 4 6 I N T E R I O R S A pokey harbourside terrace now has views from every angle 4 9 P R O D U C T S Furnishings to give a home that magic touch 5 0 D E S I G N C L A S S I C Italian Componibili modular storage units

N E X T I S S U E April 10, 2021

C O V E R Ripcurl founder, Melburnian Brian Singer, paid a

record $22 million for 35 Marine Parade,Wategos, Byron Bay, in October last year

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Mansion

Editor’s letter

AUSTRALIA

Editor Lisa Allen Contributing editor Jonathan Chancellor Interiors editor David Meagher Art director Samantha Yates Writers Libby Moffet Emily Pettafor Joel Robinson Luke Slattery Sue Wallace Sub editors Sandra Killen, Justine Costello Picture editor Christine Westwood Advertising Michael Thompson Tel. 61 2 9288 3630 michael.thompson2@news.com.au

Unsolicited manuscripts will not be considered.

Printed by Ovato Print Pty Ltd, 31 Heathcote Road, Moorebank 2170, for the proprietor and publisher, Nationwide News Pty Limited (ACN 008 438 828), of 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010 for insertion in The Weekend Australian on March 13, 2021

If you believe the forecasters, it won’t be too long before our most expensive capital city markets, Sydney and Melbourne, start moving into new record price territory, no doubt fuelled by low interest rates.

And judging by our story on the slow-burning gentrification of Victoria Street in Potts Point, an inner-city precinct just off the Sydney CBD, its new residents look certain to cash in.

The street’s legendary backpackers, mostly hailing from far-flung European capitals, are long gone and the cashed-up local refurbishers, no doubt helped by the aforesaid low interest rates, are moving in. Many dilapidated terraces along the street are being prettied up and restored to their former glory as lavish residential homes. And why wouldn’t the area be popular? It’s close to the city and the harbour views from the lofty terraces are sublime.

Nearby at Darling Point, Luke Slattery takes a look at a fabulous transformation of a harbourside semi-detached terrace, with pictures by Anson Smart, and we investigate the growing desire for indoor plants.

As Libby Moffet reports, demand for exotic plant species during COVID-19 has been “explosive”, “ballistic”, and “the perfect storm”. She reports that two small rare variegated monsteras planted in the same pot sold for $10,300 on eBay’s Australian website. Who knew?

Nationally, we also look at Port Douglas, Toorak, Launceston and Devonport – where Emily Pettafor reports on two grand mansions that have just hit the market. While REA’s chief economist Nerida Conisbee finds that interest in the Gold Coast from the residents of Melbourne rose dramatically during COVID. Who can blame them?

We hope you enjoy this issue, and, as always, many thanks to the real estate agents, architects, and planners who contribute to each edition.

Lisa Allen Editor

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

RE/MAX agent Claire Uttley has blown the Bribie Island record out of the water with her latest sale. The Banksia Beach home sale surpassed the existing $2.7 million island record by almost $2 million. The property, Kwilena, was named the 2018 home of the year in the Queensland Master Builders awards. It had been on the market for about a year, with a $4.99 million asking price. The Seaside Drive house, which looks out to Pumicestone Passage, was bought by people from NSW. The sale was assisted by buyer agents Ryan Haller and Klein Hunter. All four recent Bribie Island sales above $1.85 million were waterfront two-storey homes with pools and four or five bedrooms. The area is an hour from Brisbane and an hour from the Sunshine Coast, and is connected to the mainland by an 835m-long bridge. Banksia Beach’s previous record price of $2.7 million was set in 2006.

BRIBIE ISLAND, QLD

CRONULLA, NSW

ASCOT, QLD

Designer touch

Sydney’s Cronulla has become a downsizers’ haven, with a ready made pathway from the waterfront to developments targeting empty nesters with larger apartments. The latest block, Oasis, has just 11 apartments, with the two-level penthouse listed for $15 million. There have been six waterfront sales above $4 million in the Sutherland LGA in the past four months, not including a $6.5 million sale of a block of land in Sylvania Waters. The latest listing is a Gunnamatta Bay beachfront, selling for the first time since its 2004 construction. The Nicholson Parade home, last traded for $2.36 million in 2000, sits on 1105sq m with lawns leading to a sandy beach. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a home office with its own adjoining meeting room and a rumpus room with a kitchenette. Ahead of its March 24 auction, Highlands Property agents Laura McKay and Mitchell Wynn have been offering comparables ranging between $7.3 million and the big $10.3 million sale in 2017.

MARCH 13-14, 2021

| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

A renovated Queenslander in Brisbane’s blue chip suburb of Ascot has sold after just five days on the market for $5.408 million. JerseyCo Design has restyled the original 1920s floorplan since it last traded for $2.28 million in 2013. The Inverness Street home now features a Wyer + Craw kitchen, French oak and hoop pine timber flooring, handpainted Belgian and Moroccan imported tiles, and Zoffany and William Morris wallpaper. The open-plan living and dining space, and fitted home study, open to a deck that meets the 1620sq m of productive gardens that feature a pool. The lower level of the home features a rumpus room with a kitchenette, two of the five bedrooms, a theatre and a wine cellar. The entertainer sold through Ray White New Farm agents Matt Lancashire and Patrick Goldsworthy. After 68 house sales in 2020, realestate.com.au says the median house price sits at $1.448 million, with Ascot having seen a compound growth rate of 2.9 per cent for houses over the past five years.

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NOOSA, QLD

Eden, a Sunshine Coast mansion set on one of the largest waterfront reserve parcels on the Noosa North Shore, has been listed for $7 million. The home was a concrete shell when it was bought by Brisbane couple Andrew and Kate Hay, with its previous, Singapore-based, owner only starting construction. They had Vati Projects complete construction of the 1050sq m home, and Grow Collective the landscaping. The designer residence, set among trees and native gardens, sits behind a modernist facade with geometric lines, natural stone, timber and glass. There are five bedrooms, a king master suite in the north wing complete with its own balcony, open bathroom, walk-in wardrobe and dressing room, and dedicated study area. The main living spaces open on three sides to terraces, sun decks and a gazebo. There’s a long, multi-angled pool with Balinese volcanic rock tiles. The garden is at the water’s edge, with 180 degree views to where the Coral Sea meets the Noosa River, encompassing Noosa National Park and the Noosa River foreshore.

ST KILDA, VIC

An award-winning St Kilda home last sold for $2.1 million is about to hit the market for the first time in 13 years. The four-bedroom house was renovated by Kennedy Nolan architects two decades ago, and in 2018 Doherty Design Studio embarked on another revamp that saw the Charnwood Road home named a finalist in numerous design awards. While maintaining the original 1920s facade, the Californian bungalow has been modernised throughout.

The ground level features the living and entertaining spaces, including a front sitting room with an original fireplace and bay windows.

At the rear, a striking terrazzo stone kitchen, living and meals area opens to the landscaped garden by Ben Scott Garden Design, featuring a solar-heated pool.

The four bedrooms are on the upper level. The Agency Port Phillip’s Sam Hobbs says the price guide is $5 million to $5.5 million.

TOORAK, VIC

Grand to the core With the grandest of double staircases, Toorak’s heritage-listed Trawalla has hit the market for the first time in 17 years.

The asking price is $27 million. The historic three-level home, which last sold for $4.99 million in 2004, dates from the 1860s, when it was built as a 20-room residence for Melbourne merchant George Stevenson. Two decades later, it was extended into 50 rooms for the retired pastoralist John Simson, who named the home after the small town he hailed from in central Victoria. During the 1890s depression its grounds were reduced, the home later becoming a boarding house. It sold in 1950 for £14,000 and became the Melbourne School of Nursing, then the Victorian Academy of General Practice in the 1970s. Trawalla was returned to a six-bedroom home after its 1999 sale at $2.93 million, when offered with approval for its conversion into seven apartments. Now restored by the late Stuart Rattle, the home – with a 22m indoor pool and a demountable floor to create a dance floor – sits in 2400sq m gardens by Paul Bangay. RT Edgar Toorak agents Warwick Anderson and Jeremy Fox have the Lascelles Avenue listing on behalf of the Carroll family.

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THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

BATTERY POINT, TAS KILLARA, NSW

Tasmania’s Battery Point has quickly clocked up two big-ticket sales this year. They were the highest prices since 2018. Earlier this year, a home on Battery Point’s Clarke Avenue fetched more than $5 million. The most recent trophy home sale was when Pam Corkhill and Tom Triffitt of Harrisons Agents Hobart sold a Napoleon Street home, just two weeks after it had been listed seeking more than $4.975 million. They described the home as one of the “most exceptional” in Battery Point. Designed by Maria Gigney Architects, the Derwent River waterfront property sits on 1030sq m. The views take centre stage upon entry. There are three bedrooms and a sitting room on the entry level, before exposed stairs lead down to an indoor lap pool wrapped in glass which opens to a northfacing deck. The glass wraps around to the kitchen, living and dining area, complete with Jetmaster open fireplace.

On the lower level is the master bedroom with walk-in wardrobe and ensuite and a study. The bedroom opens to the lawn, courtyard and terrace areas. Napoleon Street, with 40 tightly held homes, sees few sales. One of the last big sales was in 2018 when, after three years without a sale there was a street record of $4.15 million with another Maria Gigney Architects-designed extension. That was topped in late 2018 with a $4.4 million sale. The Hobart record hit $8.5 million back in 2011 for a Waimea Avenue, Sandy Bay, property. In 2017, Sandy Bay waterfront property Sentosa was sold for $6.5 million.

A luxury four-bedroom 1930s home in Killara, restored by designer Brendan Wong, has been listed with Pillinger agent Chantal Hooper with a price guide of $6.5 million to $7 million. Wong says his approach was to bring back the grandeur: “We carefully balanced an elegant aesthetic with the practical demands of family living.” The 1930s home has Neo-Georgian features, plus remnants of Spanish Mission and Art Deco detailing. The original leadlight windows remain, as does the grand staircase, twisted Solomonic column and arched doors. Even the service bells have been restored.

There’s a billiards room with the original table, pendant light and bar. A European porcelain tiled pool sits in gardens by Richard Unsworth. Late last year a Killara home designed in 1928 by William Hardy Wilson sold for $5.78 million.

EAST MELBOURNE, VIC

Cinematic outlook The fifth-floor East Melbourne apartment of Inge Morgan, the widow of the late cinema advertising pioneer Val Morgan, has been listed for sale.

Still in its original condition, the whole-floor apartment in the tightly held 1974-built Clarendon Apartments block was bought by the Morgans so they could walk across Fitzroy Gardens to the theatre and the city night life.

One of just 12 whole-floor apartments, the unit has two bedrooms, down from its original four bedrooms, across its 275sq m footprint. There’s also a 20sq m balcony.

The last apartment sold in the building was almost a decade ago. The Morgans bought in 1994 from Reuben Sackville, a former president of St Kilda Football Club, and his wife Anita.

Prestige Homes of Victoria agent Sean Cussell has set a price guide of $5 million to $5.5 million.

MARCH 13-14, 2021

| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

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M Cover story

McGrath agent Nick Dunn doesn’t know when the Byron Bay property boom will taper off. He’s seen the Byron township perform very strongly with record prices regularly being set, but suggests the hinterland has had even more price growth.

Dunn, who moved from Bondi when he was in his early 20s some three decades ago, believes that’s distinction is due to the COVID-19 factor. “People are looking at life differently; in the hinterland they can work from home and still have some acreage, grow vegies, raise cattle and install solar.

“They’re attracted to a more sustainable lifestyle.” Dunn suggests inquiry for property between the township versus the hinterland is pretty much equal now.

“Before COVID, inquiry was 75 per cent for coastal areas,” he says.

Pacifico Property agent Christian Sergiacomi says his sales split between hinterland and town are now 50/50 too.

“Town has been and always is very strong,” Sergiacomi says. “Suffolk Park all but sold out late last year, and the hinterland has seen incredible prices, people yearning for space more than ever.”

Another strengthening trend has been pinpointed by Liam Annesley, agent at Byron Bay Real Estate Agency, who says that, despite the distance, buyers from Melbourne have been showing the keenest buying intent since the onset of the pandemic. The relatively easy access, and the lifestyle on offer, are the biggest drivers for Victorians seeking Byron Bay property.

“It’s the convenience to airports and the subtropical climate,” Annesley says.

“The eateries and the sidewalk entertainment make Byron Bay a beachside cultural experience.”

It’s not a new trend with Victorians heading to the New South Wales coastal hotspot for decades, but Melburnians are often outbidding Sydneysiders.

Not much inquiry anymore from Queenslanders who prefer the Sunshine and Gold coasts. Annesley says around 30 per cent of his buyers come from Melbourne, “narrowing the gap over the last eight months to Sydney”.

It is more prevalent in the top end of the market. Last year’s lockdowns and lockouts briefly assisted Sydney buyers. “But it didn’t stop us selling sight-unseen to Victorians via facetime video inspections,” Sergiacomi adds.

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A renovated house at Coorabell, in the hills behind Byron, is listed for $15 million-plus

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

BYRON AND BEYOND Buyers are flocking to the northern New South Wales hinterland with the same gusto previously reserved for the famed coastal town S t o r y b y J ONAT H A N C H A NC E L L OR

MARCH 13-14, 2021

| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

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Top row: European-style pool and landscaped gardens at Coorabell; 35 Marine Parade, Wategos, sold for a record $22 million last October Bottom: 5.6ha clifftop Coopers Shoot estate with record $20 million - $22 million hopes; 25ha rainforest Coorabell property owned by David Knappick

The leader of the Melbourne expatriate pack is Antony Catalano currently overseeing an expansion of Raes, his luxury boutique hotel and restaurant on Wategos Beach after a recent $24 million acquisition of a nearby development site.

He’s also upgraded to a new bolthole himself as he spends more time at Byron than his pad overlooking Port Phillip Bay. It was a Melburnian, Brian Singer, the founder of Ripcurl, who paid the record price, $22 million, for a single dwelling at Marine Parade, Wategos, last October.

Selling agent Michael Coombs, from Atlas, is now turning his attention to setting the hinterland record with the recent listing of Hercules. He and colleague Helene Adams have $20 million to $22 million hopes for the Coopers Shoot home that was called Byronian when it was bought for a then hinterland record $7.9 million in 2014 by Evolve College directors Deborah and Robert Wild.

The 5.6ha clifftop estate, with views to Byron and across the headland, has two luxury residences. The main five-bedroom home, dubbed The Green House, has a recording studio dating back to its ownership by music entrepreneur and SAE founder Tom Misner.

The hinterland was buoyed by the quiet $8 million sale of Twin Peaks in Coopers Shoot in November, the hinterland high for 2020. It was bought from Sydney solicitor Paul Caporale who paid $1.45 million for the 26ha property a decade ago before building a new home designed by Greg Tollis Architecture, as well as a number of cabins.

There’s high hopes for further big ticket sales in Coorabell, around 17km from Byron, near Bangalow.

Coal tycoon David Knappick is seeking $15 million to $18 million for his Coorabell home high on the scenic ridge of Coolamon Scenic Drive. Knappick has owned the property for the past 17 years, having paid $2.3 million in 2004.

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The 25ha rainforest property has a three bedroom home which Knappick had built around a decade ago using recycled timber beams from Queensland’s Mackay Wharf. The 20m lap pool looks out across the hinterland to the Pacific Ocean. Graham Dunn at Graham Dunn Real Estate Byron Bay has the listing.

Nearby there’s a more classic home on 23ha which has hopes of selling for over $15 million. The entrance to the Queenslanderstyle residence is at the end of a 1000sq m hand-laid Italian porphyry cobblestone drive. The homestead, dating back to the 1880s, has been completely renovated, retaining original features such as its four metre high pressed metal ceilings, cedar walls, blackbutt flooring and ornate fretwork. In its landscaped grounds is an American-style timber barn and a European-style pool. Formerly known as Coorabella, it was where actor Margot Robbie was married in 2018 when the property was owned previously.

First National Byron Bay agent Tara Torkkola and Helen Huntley-Barrett have the listing. Torkkola says the number of hinterland inquiries have caught up to the amount of inquiries they would receive in town. And she believes there won’t be a surge in holiday rental availability even if office life becomes the norm again. “Now that they are living here they won’t ever want to go back,” Torkkola says. She says Byron is a little bit like some of the Melbourne suburbs. “It’s sort of like Melbourne by the sea.”

Victoria’s richest woman, St Kilda-based Sussan Group boss Naomi Milgrom, has long been a fan of Byron Bay. In 2007 she made her first foray into Lighthouse Road, opposite Clarkes Beach.

She now has more than 2800sq m across three acquisitions made over the years totalling $17.5 million. She’s submitted plans by Barcelona architects Estudio Carme Pinós to build a contemporary hillside mansion at a cost of more than $4.4 million.

There are strong investor returns, initially shaken somewhat during the early pandemic lockdowns.

The holiday rental windfalls have seen The Project’s Melbourne-based TV host Carrie Bickmore pay $3 million in 2018 for a renovated 1920s home dubbed Luxico. Bickmore renovated and extended and it became a $1200 a night Airbnb listing. When COVID hit she sought tenants at $2200 a week. It is back as a $1180 a night rental and has very limited availability until May. Melbourne-based ARIA award-winning singer Tones & I grabbed two holiday rentals in the same transaction, paying $3.3 million for Starr Cottage and Skye Lodge over Christmas.

South Melbourne comedian/producer Santo Cilauro spent $2.2 million on a retreat in the compound Villas at Byron last year.

Melbourne-based fashion designer Stevie Cox is taking on another Byron reno project. She recently spent $1.875 million on a 1990s home in nearby Ewingsdale, having previously renovated a home close by now known as Nirvana House, popular for photo shoots. Her sister (together they created Tigermist and more recently I.Am. Gia), spent $2.25 million in town last year.

Elders Lennox Head agent Jason Crethar says stock levels are at an all-time low. “I think you will find there are more agents than properties right now,” Crethar says.

He says he doesn’t see this trend as a boom in a price cycle.

“I see it as a migration from the cities to the regional areas and I think it will just continue.” Crethar says Lennox Head has benefited from the attraction of Byron Bay. “With buyers from the cities used to travelling an hour to drive to work or to get to the beach, a 15-minute drive from Lennox Head or Byron Bay is not an issue if you live out of town.”

Pacifico’s Christian Sergiacomi says that stock is so low that most people who haven’t sold would not feel comfortable about being able to get back into the market. “We may see owners sell and return to the city,” he says. And he predicts the boom will taper off, but not in the immediate future.

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

*approx.

Dolly Lenz

Local aspect

WITH JENNY LENZ

URBAN TASKFORCE

Tom Forrest The experience of COVID-19 has seen a mini boom in demand for high-end luxury apartments. Record low interest rates have resulted in cheap money being made available to high-end investors. Those with spare cash have been keen to invest. Penthouses have often been the first apartments to sell and prices have held firm. Urban Taskforce members have reported strong demand for luxuriously appointed apartments in a genuinely safe country – Australia – and particularly with the investment opportunities, views and urban amenity of Sydney. Bespoke cabinet-makers and interior designers have been in high demand, and this has only been limited by the availability of imported raw materials and stock. In Sydney, demand for prestige apartments has been boosted by the influx of expatriates returning (almost 350,000) and looking to invest in good locations near the Sydney CBD. As Australia opens its doors … business migration will continue to drive demand for the luxury apartment market.

CROWN GROUP

Iwan Sunito

A 2835sq m penthouse by The Four Seasons Residences is on the market in Nashville for $31.38 million PRESTIGE MARKET

Demand stays the course The pandemic’s effect on the luxury real estate market has been wide-ranging and disrupted almost every facet of the industry from supply, pricing, lending, and even the consumer’s ability to view a property in person. While supply and demand experienced an initial short-term setback, prestige projects and trophy apartments have managed to make it through generally unscathed and shockingly close to schedule. In fact, the pipeline for prestigious new buildings in major US cities looks robust at the moment, signalling that demand for trophy homes continues to be strong.

During the early stages of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, real estate development came to a screeching halt as the industry was put on pause to stop the spread. Initially, there were fears these shutdowns would set back markets and development for years, however local governments gradually loosened controls and deemed construction industry essential, saving many projects from doom. With construction now permitted, existing projects continue toward completion and, in fact, many new uber luxury offerings launched in the middle of the pandemic.

In New York City, mega projects by well-capitalised top luxury developers saw a boost as those developers took aggressive steps to finish buildings in a bid to deliver a more complete project to the market. A great example can be seen at the Lantern House project located in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood and designed by renowned architect Thomas Heatherwick. This project became one of the best-selling developments in NYC once the lockdowns were lifted, a fact that can be attributed to the advancement of construction under the developer’s strong financial footing.

While supply is one aspect to a healthy market, demand is equally important and without it, the industry would almost certainly see a catastrophic drop in pricing and absorption.

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Thankfully, all the current metrics show the uber wealthy have continued to display an insatiable appetite for prestigious apartments throughout the pandemic. Developers are taking note and launching new projects to capture those buyers. Known throughout the world and widely considered the gold standard of luxury, The Four Seasons brand is behind many of the trophy projects launching in US cities.

In Nashville, The Four Seasons Residences has listed a 2835sq m penthouse for $US25 million ($31.38 million), which would be the highest apartment sale ever recorded in the city. Further south, the brands New Orleans outpost just notched a $US13 million penthouse sale, shattering the previous records for an apartment purchase in the city. Not to be outdone by The Four Seasons, other luxury lifestyle brands including the Waldorf Astoria, Aston Martin Residences and The Fairmont are all prepping their own entries to the prestigious property market in hopes of meeting the demands of uber wealthy buyers.

At the start of March 2020, there was great uncertainty whipping through the real estate industry. Many felt it would be doomed by stalled projects and an instant and long-lasting pull back in buyer demand. Fortunately, supply and demand experienced only short-lived pain and if the current pace of development stays consistent to match the demand, the outlook for the trophy apartment market across all major US cities looks quite rosy for the immediate future.

Dolly Lenz heads up New York-based Dolly Lenz Real Estate and has sold well over $US13 billion worth of luxury US and international homes. Jenny Lenz is managing director of Dolly Lenz Real Estate. dollylenz.com

Despite all the restrictions last year around visiting display suites and meeting with sales agents, we outperformed expectations by selling $63 million worth of luxury apartments over February, March and April 2020. This year we’ve seen buyers and agents back in force, with inquiries steadily increasing. We’ve noted the heat in the housing market, with auction clearance rates being higher than preCOVID, and prestige house sales around Sydney going crazy, and we’re expecting that to follow in the luxury apartment market. There have been more inquiries for our penthouses than before the pandemic, and we sold one at Waterfall by Crown Group, in the middle of lockdown, to a buyer who bought without an inspection. The buying process has changed completely, with some buyers putting down deposits and even exchanging via Zoom or FaceTime. Our penthouses at Waterfall by Crown Group were snapped up. It is designed as an urban resort and feels a little like a wellness retreat, which has great appeal right now.

LENDLEASE

Ben Christie We have seen limited disruption to the demand for prestige apartments in good locations throughout the pandemic. Our purchasers take a long-term view, and the pandemic has not necessarily affected their decision to purchase. The pandemic has meant more people are spending more time at home, which has really emphasised the importance of views, quality design, finishes and functional layouts. From a design perspective, we have seen constant demand for larger-scale apartments and expectations of state-of-the-art facilities. The demand for product varies, depending on the location and type of project. With high-end luxury projects – such as One Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo South – there is a great focus on generously-sized apartments with three or more bedrooms. Some will use one bedroom as a home office and the other as a guest bedroom. Demand for home offices and study rooms has increased generally, and we have refined our design to accommodate a study in apartments where possible, to meet that demand. Internationally, we’re seeing a lift in expat inquiries from several locations, including the US, UK, Europe and Asia.

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

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A Gardens L I BBY MOF F E T

Sowing the seeds

Ask an indoor plant grower to describe selling conditions over the past year and chances are they’ll respond with words such as “explosive”, “ballistic” and “the perfect storm”, before adding that they’ve never experienced a market like this. While the growth in apartment living and smaller backyards has fuelled the popularity of indoor greenery over the past decade, COVID lockdowns and restrictions have unleashed unprecedented demand for indoor plants, with buyers paying as much as $6000 to get their green thumbs on a rare plant.

Industry body Greenlife Industry Australia says the surge in indoor plant sales reflects a range of factors stemming from the pandemic, including a greater focus on home improvements, an increase in discretionary income and a growing desire to have something to nurture and appreciate.

“Last year highlighted the importance of plants and green life to all people, across the generations and all demographics,” the organisation’s CEO, Peter Vaughan, says. Social media has also driven demand, with people sharing images of their plant purchases on Facebook and Instagram and enjoying the bragging rights of owning a coveted rare variety. eBay and Facebook Marketplace pages are filled with plants for sale and auction, with transactions also conducted through private Facebook groups and agents. Growers report particularly strong interest from millennials. While there are plenty of common plants being snapped up online for as little as a few dollars, there are also hectic bidding wars for rare species that 18

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NIKKI SHORT X 4

A growing desire for indoor plants has seen high-priced, rare species flourish

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

JESSIE MARLOWE X 3

Clockwise from far left: Mark Hamilton; a rare variegated Monstera from Verdant Dwellings; Oxalis triangularis from Verdant Dwellings; Lauren and Jeff Nielsen; tassel fern; jewel orchid; Hamilton’s Birkin and Brazil philodendrons

MARCH 13-14, 2021

| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

often sell for thousands of dollars. As this story was being written, two small rare variegated monsteras planted in the same pot sold for $10,300 on eBay’s Australian site, with bids more than doubling from $5000 in the auction’s final 15 minutes.

Given the prices some indoor plants are fetching, theft is a risk, leaving many growers reluctant to reveal the location of their greenhouses or discuss the rare plants they hold. Online sales are sometimes done anonymously and plants usually sent to buyers by post or courier.

Growers say aroids such as monsteras, philodendrons and anthuriums are in particular favour because of their stunning foliage and ability to thrive indoors. Dark leaves are in vogue and variegation is also hot, with people prepared to pay top dollar for a plant that once may have been rejected because of its inconsistent colouring.

While some growers sell complete plants, cuttings and offshoots are also popular and seeds are in high demand. Seeds of a rare plant such as an Anthurium Clarinervium can sell for up to $150 each.

Based on Sydney’s outskirts, arborist and plant enthusiast Mark Hamilton went online to sell some of his excess plants when COVID hit and forced markets to close. “Facebook Marketplace was booming, with all these monsteras going at extremely high prices so I thought I should advertise on there as well, and they’ve been going like hot cakes,” Hamilton says.

He says his biggest sales have been his variegated Half Moon Monstera Adansonii, with several 15cm cuttings featuring multiple nodes selling for $5000 to $6000 each. “There are very, very few of those in the country. There are people just paying huge amounts, so it just comes down to supply and demand and what people are after I suppose. Over the next 18 months, as supply grows, prices will definitely come down,” he says.

Victorian grower Jeff Nielsen and his wife Lauren, owners of indoor plant business Verdant Dwellings, found themselves well positioned for the surge in demand when the state went into lockdown last year. In addition to their Mornington Peninsula shopfront, they had built a website for online sales and developed custom-made boxes to dispatch their potted plants to buyers in locations as remote as Cooktown.

“We were a little bit concerned coming into COVID, not knowing if people were just going to hold onto their money and save, but in the first week of Victoria’s first lockdown we had a record number of sales online and we just kept breaking that record week after week,” Jeff says.

Online sales grew to 1200 plants a week during the lockdowns, while over the past year Verdant Dwellings has doubled its Instagram following to 20,000.

The Nielsens, who have two large warehouses for growing and shipping plants and a dedicated room for propagation, had already had an early taste of local demand for rare plants, with Jeff helping to secure the Australian contract for a wholesale nursery to grow the popular variegated Monstera Thai Constellation two years ago.

While classic indoor plants are Verdant Dwellings’ bread and butter, the couple also feature a small selection of rare plants on their site, recently selling 11 Alocasia Melo plants for $1000 each in 36 hours. “And a couple of people bought more than one,” Lauren recalls. “It’s still a shock to us too sometimes.”

Sydney-based horticulturalist Stephen Jarrett, who grows more than 100 different crops including rare plants, says he shakes his head when he sees the prices some plants attract, recalling how 20 years ago he had an igloo of variegated monsteras but couldn’t sell a leaf for foliage because it was out of vogue. “Now they’re paying $500 to $800 for a leaf on a bit of stem with a tiny bit of aerial root — maybe with a growth coming out of the node, maybe not. It does my head in,” he says.

While some buyers are keen to create an instant side hustle from selling cuttings or seeds from their new plants, professional growers are strategic in picking trends and often play a long game, spending time to source and grow rare plants, and selling cuttings from plants they’ve owned for more than 20 years.

“If you’ve got to outlay money and there’s no return for five years a lot of people won’t copy you. They want a quick buck. A lot of success I’ve had is in being patient,” Jarrett says.

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Off the Plan J ONAT H A N C H A NC E L L OR

Life at the top is grand Prestige buyers are clamouring to secure off-the-plan apartments with all the bells and whistles Developers and agents marketing prestige off-the-plan developments have seen little impediment in buyer demand for their top end offerings.

Kokoda Property chief executive Mark Stevens says that what the pandemic has revealed, above all else, is the depth of Australia’s prestige buyer market.

“It’s a very different experience to the global financial crisis, which saw the economy destabilise from the top down and an almost immediate, sustained slump in luxury property sales,” Stevens says. “The pandemic, however, created destabilisation from the bottom up. It’s a situation which has seen the typical prestige buyer demographic largely unscathed and, in some cases, with an even greater appetite to purchase.”

Stevens says the interstate market has the benefit of years of sustained growth and equity in their existing properties and they are highly motivated to enter the Queensland market before the gap closes.

The Gold Coast market has been one of the biggest success stories due to the COVID pandemic. And the demand has been through the roof, with the REIQ suggesting the market has proved attractive to owner-occupiers.

Andrew Malouf, director at development firm Spyre Group, which has a number of Gold Coast projects in the pipeline, says the prestige off-the-plan market in southeast Queensland was unscathed from any drastic COVID-19 impacts.

Malouf says it did the opposite. “If anything, it [COVID-19] created an urgency for clients within the prestige price demographic to secure property — in an effort to compete with expats and interstate migrators entering the SEQ prestige market.” Spyre is developing the Komune Resort, and is set to create a 12-level apartment tower Cala Dei Residences on the Coolangatta site. Malouf notes that the list of deliverables within prestige apartments has grown as a result of COVID-19.

“We have seen a far higher appreciation of specification and inclusions, such as double glazing, EV charging, and bespoke crafted fixtures, which provide a feeling of home ownership; breaking the mould of typical apartment offerings.”

Malouf says features such as multiple living spaces, functional home offices, entertainers’ kitchens with butler’s pantries and a master suite with ensuite are critical in a world where there is a heightened importance of liveability.

The Gold Coast market has seen an influx of owner-occupier focused stock. “The residential development industry in SEQ is recognising that owner-occupier interest has far exceeded the investor market that was prevalent in 2011-12”, Malouf says.

Perth was a little slower in seeing the demand for prestige luxury apartments bounce back from COVID. They had to wait until earlier this year, according to local real estate agent Mal Dempsey. “Buyer inquiry has increased by around 300 per cent in the last three months,” Dempsey says, with sales recorded 20

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From top: Luxury apartments Grande Pyrmont Bay Estate, Sydney; Natura at Burleigh, Gold Coast; Chester & Ella, Brisbane; Maya, Kirra, Gold Coast

recently on South Perth Esplanade at levels not seen for eight to 10 years. He says any plans to create new luxury apartment developments were shelved when COVID hit. But now the housing market is strong, Dempsey says the demand in the $2 million to $4 million housing bracket is facilitating downsizing to the bespoke luxury apartment market.

“With family still at home or returning to Perth, the requirement is generally for larger apartments offering at least three bedrooms plus study, two separate living areas, big balconies (in case of lockdown), three car garaging and facilities.

Finbar chief operating officer Ronald Chan says there has been an increase in demand for prestige apartments from the launch of its Civic Heart, South Perth, development in the second half of 2020. They’ve seen consecutive sales each month ranging from $1.7 million to $5.7 million.

“These sales have largely been focused on premium product and for sales of apartments in the upper price bracket with features such as commanding views from levels 18 up to 35.”

It’s a similar story in New South Wales where Mirvac is seeing demand change to the most expensive two and three bedroom apartments in its Portman on the Park development at Green Square, a stark contrast to the demand pre-COVID. Mirvac’s head of residential Stuart Penklis says for the first time outside of the CBD market they saw amalgamations where buyers bought two apartments to form substantial three and four bedroom homes. “We are moving as quickly as possible to bring several prestige projects to market, targeted as always at the owner-occupier market,” Penklis says.

Mirvac has pivoted its designs based on a customer survey.

With more than 80 per cent saying they wanted to cook and entertain more at home, Mirvac redesigned the kitchens and functionality of its apartments to meet the growing needs.

Penklis says despite the city exodus to regional centres, major cities will always have enduring appeal. “While we are seeing a significant increase in sales in our master planned communities, there is no evidence among our customers of a mass migration to the bush or beach. Job and career opportunities, essential services such as hospitals and quality schools, cultural and lifestyle offerings provide major cities with enduring appeal.”

McGrath Pyrmont agent Murray Wood says the prestige apartment market in recognised high-value and low-supply suburbs such as the Lower North Shore and inner Eastern harbour suburbs, along with established higher-density premium locations with low-to-nil site supply, has seen a focus by developers looking for sites. Wood, who secured two penthouse sales records in the Opera Residences in 2016 when they sold for $26 million and $27 million, says the prestige apartment sector, which was formerly a downsizer market over the last period, is now receiving competition from both younger families and couples, and expat purchasers.

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

Port Douglas J OE L ROB I N S ON

Above: Bali Hai, listed for $3.2 million; below and left, The Sands Estate home; bottom, 15 Wharf Street, the holiday home of the Jenkins family.

Sky is the limit for top end

Seaside fortunes growing with new investment The Port Douglas prestige market has been buoyed by its recent record sale. But the top end of town had already seen a pick-up, according to its selling agent Queensland Sotheby’s Barbara Wolveridge.

“The market is definitely on the up and is as good as it’s been in several years,” Wolveridge says. “Buyers are looking for a seachange. COVID has shown them they don’t have to live in the cities and fight traffic for two hours a day. They can work remotely and Port Douglas fits that bill perfectly.

“I’m expecting 2021 to be as big a year for prestige property as last year. We are getting some great listings.”

Veteran agent Tony McGrath from Tony McGrath Real Estate notes the market is as strong as it’s been in 30 years. He senses the market is “on fire just like it was in 1988”.

Easter tourism bookings are stronger than normal.

“If anyone wants to come up here in the winter from the south 22

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they will be lucky to find a place still available probably from June to October,” McGrath adds.

Port Douglas saw its highest ever price when the Wharf Street property of businessman John Morris, widely known as the man who shaped Port Douglas, and wife Marilyn sold. The former record was $6.8 million, also on Wharf Street, which had stood since 2017 when Melbourne developer Michael Yates sold his holiday home to fellow Victorian Larah Cook, wife of Paragon Financial Group director Dean Cook.

Located at the tip of Wharf Street overlooking Port Douglas and the Coral Sea, the Morris home was updated about a decade ago, having been featured in the 1987 movie Travelling North.

The home has five bedrooms, four ensuites and a home office.

The Wharf Street sale has prompted the Melbourne-based hedge funder Richard Jenkins and wife Justine to sell their luxury oceanfront at 15 Wharf Street. They are selling up to buy a

weekender in Portsea. They’ve been leasing the FNQ holiday home for between $1400 and $2000 a night, with it being leased over 200 days per year. They’ve renovated the four bedroom home in recent years, which they bought for $2.2 million in 2003.

Queensland Sotheby’s agent Lynn Malone has the listing.

Wolveridge’s latest listing comes with $2.3 million hopes for a designer house in the Sands Estate. Created by designer and builder Lee-ann Pitcher, the classic Port Douglas home has been designed to open up to its tropical surroundings.

The home’s three bedrooms have Italian fossilised marble in the ensuites. The kitchen was the winner of Best Kitchen by Master Builders Queensland and HIA Queensland. It features a semiprecious Onyx lightbox which cantilevers a three-metre stone island bench, giving the appearance it’s floating. Wolveridge calls it one of the most stunning homes in Port Douglas.

Agents eagerly anticipate the proposal by the Melbournebased developer Gurner for a hotel and residence complex and retreat. Wolveridge suggests it will bring a whole new group of visitors to the town, comparing the development to Hamilton Island’s drawcard Qualia.

“Once they are here, Port Douglas has the capacity to entertain them with our fabulous award-winning restaurants, the Great Barrier Reef and our spectacular rainforest.”

Callum Jones at The Pink Agency showed Tim and Aimee Gurner around Port Douglas in 2019. “The development is a refreshing design unlike any other in town” Jones says. “The design and look is very now and I can see the appeal of the property that fills a void in the current accommodation market.”

There hasn’t been a resort built in the town since 2008.

“If we are to continue to promote Port Douglas as a first class destination then we need to be able to offer accommodation options to match,” Jones says.

Ray White Port Douglas agent Mark Flinn says it’s an honour that the Gurners believe in Port Douglas the way they do.

“To invest the money and the quality of the project and infrastructure at that level they are talking about, will be a massive plus for the town in the long term,” Flinn says.

Flinn currently has a $3.2 million listing for the tropical hideaway Bali Hai. Set on 33 hectares, the three bedroom home, designed as a series of pavilions Bali is famous for, has a private wet-edge pool overlooking the surrounds that feature swimming holes and rapids.

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

Estate for a star

Home to a Bee Gee An almost 100-year-old New York mansion that once belonged to Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees was listed last week for $US12.9 million ($16.3 million). Located in the Long Island village of Lloyd Harbor, the seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom home has views of Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor, enjoys 150m water frontage and a 60m pier with a deep dock, according to listing agent Bonnie Williamson, of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. She shares the listing with Lauryn Koke, also of Sotheby’s. “Its name, Kenjockety, is an American Indian name for ‘far from noise’, which gives you a sense of the privacy you have there,” Williamson says. The ivy-covered home has been meticulously restored over the past several years. About $US7.5 million was spent in the process. “Everything was done over the top,” Williamson says, adding that keeping the integrity of the house was a key requirement. “The work was done to make it last another 100 years.” Updates include a newly installed mahogany coffered ceiling, custom mahogany closets, Venetian plaster wall treatments and new tile work.

VL HENDRICKSON

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US actor Sylvester Stallone has listed his Los Angeles eight-bedroom home with an expected price tag of $US110 million ($138 million).

The sprawling 6400sq m Mediterranean-style estate is set within the city’s up-market and guardgated Beverly Park community. It is listed with estate agency Hilton & Hyland. Stallone, 74, and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, have owned the property through a trust since 1998, records show, but it’s unclear how much they paid for it. The star’s mark on the home is undeniable, from the Rocky-inspired artworks and sculptures that pay homage to the film franchise – one of which stands over the infinity pool – to the couple’s movie memorabilia.

Some of those collectors items may be included in the home’s sale, says listing agent Barron N. Hilton, who shares the listing with colleagues Rick Hilton, Jeff Hyland and Tessa Hilton. The house is “built for a king and queen”, Hilton says, adding that attention to detail in the property is “superb”. It’s a treasure trove of amenities, including a home gym, theatre, multiple offices, balconies and an impressively well-stocked bar. “You just feel at home when you walk in,” Hilton says. “You can really picture your family enjoying yourselves there.” Plus there are rolling lawns, a putting green, a Richard Landry-designed guesthouse, and views from essentially every room – even the garage.

LIZ LUCKING

Built on a dream A Santa Monica compound owned by Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith is on the market for $US50 million ($62.7 million). When he and his wife, Tamyka, moved from New York City to Los Angeles, the couple had visions of 1930s Hollywood grandeur, he told Mansion Global. They ended up having it in spades. “We had a vision of a Chateau Marmont-style escape with the dual ability to throw lavish parties and feel homey and secluded at the same time,” Smith says, referring to the famed Hollywood hotel. “A sort of mini-resort with the best poolside living in LA and a vista from every window.” In 2015, he bought the sprawling Mediterranean-style estate for $23 million and embarked on a multi-million-dollar renovation to make the couple’s dream a reality. “The property was very dilapidated,” says Santiago Arana, of The Agency, who sold Smith the home and is handling its latest listing. “It was a beautiful hacienda, but dilapidated. He brought the gardens to life and almost gutted the whole house.” Built in 1932, the ultra-private estate is hidden behind antique gates and sits on 1.36 hectares – one of the largest residential lots in Santa Monica, according to the Los Angeles-based brokerage. Smith, 51, drafted interior designer Kerry Joyce for the overhaul, who “took our vision and made it into a one-of-a-kind escape”, he says.

LIZ LUCKING

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

Mount Somerset, Port Douglas Hinterlands - One in a Million 200 acres of ancient rainforest contrasted by 600 sqm of modern living with uninterrupted 360 degree ocean, island, mountain and rainforest vistas from a mountain top to call home. Exclusivity, privacy and security, just 20 minutes to the resort town of Port Douglas. With up-to-the-minute technology, city comforts and scope to develop further, this 100% self-sustainable penthouse in the rainforest is truly unique. Location, lifestyle and every conceivable luxury – Mount Somerset, Port Douglas.

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www.queenslandsothebysrealty.com

Tasmania

Clockwise from top: Glenfruin, in Launceston; bookshelves line walls in a Glenfruin room; Devonport’s Malunnah; original details such decorative ceilings have been restored

E M I LY PE T TA FOR

Beauties restored

Two glorious historic homes seek new custodians

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Northern Tasmania is known for its rugged natural beauty and cool climate wineries, but the region also has its fair share of stunning historic homes.

Two of the region’s gems are seeking new custodians, having been lovingly restored by their doting owners.

Malunnah, built in 1888, was saved from developers when Rhona Parker and her late husband bought it in 2013.

The grand Devonport residence had seen better days and Parker relished the challenge of polishing the faded beauty. “I’m a former art teacher, so my creative side has just gone wild here,” she says. The home has beautiful leadlight detailing on windows and doors as well as decorative ceilings. Period features, including an American oak staircase that was shipped to Tasmania in the 1920s, vie for attention with restored lattice work and timber decking on the wraparound veranda, and modern bathrooms.

Parker, who moved to Tasmania from Kiama on New South Wales’ south coast, says restoring the Victorian property was “a massive amount of work, but it was well worth it”. Sitting proudly on the banks of the Mersey River, Malunnah offers up to 11 bedrooms and has three kitchens and six bathrooms. Set on 5600sq m, the home is safe from developers after Parker’s work earned a heritage listing.

She has operated her home as a bed and breakfast since 2017 and has many repeat visitors. “People come here and say it feels like home,” says Parker who charges around $121 per room per night. The gardens house the original stable with hayloft and barn as well as a conservatory built from straw bales. There is a pear tree that dates from 1888 and beautiful heirloom roses. “Everything grows here like it’s on steroids,” Parker says.

Fred Guilbert, from Roberts Real Estate in Ulverstone, is seeking $2.95 million for Malunnah. Its sale will set arecord for Devonport, which had a median house price of $315,000 in February 2021, according to REA Group.

Just over an hour away in Launceston, another historic beauty, Glenfruin, is seeking a new owner.

The property was built in the 1880s and converted to an Italianate mansion in the 1920s. It is centrally located but discreetly positioned, with only the red dome on the roof visible from the street.

Bronwyn Shakespear moved from acreage to the Brisbane Street property in 2018. She was drawn to the home’s period charm and unique style. A 4m wall around the property offers complete privacy without obscuring the views over City Park and the Tamar River.

Shakespear, who hails from Sydney originally but had been living on the beautiful Georgian estate Calstock in Deloraine, says she had always admired the home. “I knew of Glenfruin and I always thought: ‘If that ever comes up for sale, I’m going to take a look’,” she says.

Her five-bedroom residence is on 1450sq m, with curved terraces at the front and a walled courtyard garden in the rear. The interiors are sumptuous, with original crystal chandeliers, pressed metal ceilings and bow windows.

Shakespear says she has “enjoyed every moment” of her time at Glenfruin and relished the location of the property.

“It’s like living on Martin Place in Sydney,” she says.

Katrina Garwood, of Parry Property, is seeking $3.5 million for the property, which set a new price record for Launceston when it last traded at $3.25 million. The city, Tasmania’s second largest, had a median house price of $535,000 in February 2021, according to REA Group.

Launceston and Tasmania’s northwest booked the highest price gains across the Apple Isle last year, according to Real Estate Institute of Tasmania figures. Launceston’s median house price grew 10.2 per cent, to $402,000 for the December quarter of 2021.

The northwest recorded 15.5 per cent growth over the same period, for a median of $338,000. Hobart, Tasmania’s largest, most expensive real estate market, turned in price growth of 7.3 per cent in the December quarter to a median house price of $590,000.

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

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i Potts Point L I BBY MOF F E T

Victorian era makeover

It’s one of Sydney’s earliest streets, arguably one of its prettiest and certainly one of its most colourful. But now, after decades playing host to nightclubs, brothels and rowdy backpackers, Victoria Street in Potts Point is becoming one of the city’s most sought-after addresses for well-heeled homeowners.

The backpacker hostel signs are slowly coming down and construction fences are going up, as new residents embark on multi-million-dollar renovations of the Victorian terraces that line the street.

Close to a dozen renovations are now under way – an impressive number in a high-density suburb that’s home to thousands of apartments but only about 120 houses, about 50 of those on Victoria Street.

Director of Richardson & Wrench Elizabeth Bay/Potts Point Jason Boon, who has handled most of the recent house sales along Victoria Street, likens eclectic Potts Point to the vibrant inner-city suburbs of Soho, London and SoHo, New York. “It’s close to the city, it’s got a bit of retail, it’s got a bit of night life – it’s the closest we’ve got to a Soho,” says Boon, adding that Victoria Street is particularly appealing because of its attractive terraces, with their heritage-protected facades, and the beautiful arch of London plane trees that spans its generous width.

Stretching about 750m through Potts Point, from Embarkation Park to the Kings Cross Hotel, the elevated boulevard offers some harbour views, and three public stairways provide quick access to Woolloomooloo and Sydney’s CBD. The renovation activity on the street comes almost 50 years after a dramatic battle to save a row of its terraces from demolition – a fight led by Victoria Street resident, activist and heiress Juanita Nielsen, who disappeared in 1975 at the height of the campaign, presumed murdered. The homes were eventually protected by union green bans.

Now the fabled street falls within a Heritage Conservation Area and the City of Sydney says it must consider the impact of any development on the heritage significance of the area, with Lord Mayor Clover Moore noting the street boasts some of the city’s most historic residences and terraces.

“While (Victoria Street) now sits within a key heritage conservation zone, we continue to protect it from any inappropriate development, and to value and respect its significance culturally, historically and architecturally,” Moore says.

Boon says the value of houses on the street has increased by 30 to 40 per cent in the past five years, with more growth on the cards.

“I think there’s no end to that because there’s going to be low stock levels for terraces close to the city; there’s not many of them and when they’ve been really nicely done up, I think they are going to overtake Paddington and Woollahra prices,” he says. “In the next five to 10 years it will become the most expensive real estate close to the city and not in strata or company title.”

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ANSON SMART

Backpackers and nightclubs are out and multimillion-dollar residential renovations are in, as an inner-city street becomes increasingly gentrified

THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

| MARCH 13-14, 2021

JANE DEMPSTER X 5

MARK WILLIAMS

Clockwise from far left: Interior of Emma van Haandels’ Victoria Street house; Spicers Potts Point Hotel at No 120-124; activist Juanita Nielsen, who moved into No 202 in the late ’60s; the street in days gone by; The Butler restaurant at No 123; No 77-79; and No 111

MARCH 13-14, 2021

| THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

In recent years, most Victoria Street terrace sales have been between $3 million and $5 million, while many of the renovations under way are in the vicinity of $1 million to $3 million.

Boon nominates Hordern House – a wide-fronted villa at No 77-79, bought by Emma van Haandel and Joel Williams for $5.75 million five years ago – as a benchmark for the street’s refurbishments. “They’ve done a $5 million renovation,” he says. “It is absolutely a work of art; it’s amazing.”

Another winner is Joy Morais’ stunning $2.5 million renovation of the NSW Heritage-listed No 55, which she purchased for $5.55 million in 2016.

Morais describes the renovation as a labour of love, with the landmark building carefully restored from three apartments to a single four-storey home. She worked with a heritage architect to identify the original lacework that once decorated the home’s ground floor veranda and then spent two years finding someone to replicate the precise pattern.

Renovations have begun elsewhere in the street, including the terraces on either side of Hordern House, at numbers 75 and 81. Owners of the latter, Maurice Violani and Jessica Yates, lodged plans for a $1.9 million renovation with the council last year, after purchasing the house for $3.4 million in 2019.

Down the road at No 97, builders are working on an estimated $2.8 million renovation of Victoria House.

It was bought by Susan Robinson in 2019 for $4.9 million, with changes to include the creation of a small plunge pool in the backyard.

More activity is imminent, as Victoria Street farewells some of its backpacker hostels. Hostel occupancy numbers have plummeted due to COVID-19 travel bans and restrictions – as well as the growing popularity of Airbnb – and the real estate is now worth more than the businesses, according to Boon, who believes their days on the street are numbered.

And while controversial lockout laws in Kings Cross have just relaxed, locals say the notorious nightclubs of the past won’t return, as the entertainment scene in the area has moved on.

“I think now that Victoria Street is going to become predominantly residential,” Boon says.

Kanga House Backpackers, at 141, 141a and 143 Victoria Street, is scheduled for auction late March, and The Agency Eastern Suburbs’ Bernadette Summers reports strong interest in the three terraces, quoting $2.9 million for each.

Summers says most of the property viewers have been owner-occupiers, with many families attending inspections. “It’s on its own parcel of land and you’re never going to be built out of that view – it’s amazing,” she adds.

Across the road, property developer Theo Onisforou is set to transform the former Zing Backpackers hostel after paying $3 million each for its two terraces at 156 and 158 Victoria Street in 2018. He’s lodged plans to create two four-bedroom houses, each with parking for two cars, in an estimated $3 million renovation.

Stressing his interest in Victoria Street as a home builder rather than a developer, Onisforou says he bought the terraces for his children, who share his love of Potts Point. A keen walker, Onisforou loves Victoria Street’s proximity to the city, the suburb’s eateries and its close-knit community.

“I can walk up Macleay Street and invariably run into somebody who’s happy to have a chat or a coffee,” he says.

“I don’t get that sense of community anywhere else in Sydney.”

While the hostels are closing, there will soon be a far more up-market accommodation option opening on the street. Developer Phillip George will soon lodge a development application to create an 18-room, six-star boutique hotel on a 1300sq m site at the street’s southern end, encompassing the iconic Piccadilly Hotel at No 171, the former Golden Apple brothel and four terraces at the rear.

George says that the $80 million development, which is due to open in 2023, is part of a progressive vision for Potts Point that still respects the heritage of the original buildings.

“I believe Victoria Street is one of the greatest streets in Sydney,” he says. “It’s an amazing area, with the gentrification that’s coming through, and the density of the population, the culture and arts, the wealth of knowledge and the wealth base that’s located there.”

Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society president Andrew Woodhouse describes Victoria Street as the suburb’s jewel in the crown, because of its landscaping and the setback of terraces, adding “it’s full of professionals — people with some cash to splash”.

Woodhouse believes the street’s approved home renovations are sensitive and respect the heritage significance of the sites and the conservation area. He says sticking points for DAs can be around structural elements, such as removing original staircases or demolishing internal walls, with Council often requiring some retention of the significance of where walls once were, such as a stump or an arch.

Woodhouse has lived in Potts Point for 21 years and says Victoria Street has become more liveable and interesting over that time. “It’s one of the most desirable streets to live in in Sydney,” he says. “You cannot be bored walking down Victoria Street – everywhere you look there’s something fascinating.”

MANSIONAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

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Prestige Market Update NERIDA CONISBEE

This property at 31 Coolong Road, Vaucluse, had a price guide of $42 million.

Top-end prices surge despite pandemic Vaucluse still dominates luxury sales but the Gold Coast’s appeal lures cashed-up buyers Luxury property remains the asset class of choice for rich-listers.

In the past two years alone, Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Australian co-founder of software company Altassian, purchased $210 million worth of luxury property, bringing his entire portfolio to an estimated $250 million.

Looking at the most expensive sales in Australia over the past 12 months, it appears not even a pandemic has slowed down Australia’s wealthiest home buyers.

Very few luxury suburbs with median prices of more than $3 million experienced price declines in 2020. In fact, more than half saw double-digit price growth.

Most striking is the fact that the number of $3 million-plus suburbs doubled during the pandemic, and it is possible that list will double again this year.

Interest in homes priced at more than $10 million increased on realestate.com.au, with views per listing more than doubling over the year. There are anecdotal reports of records being set for many luxury property sales, with buyers including well-off locals and expats, keen to return from COVID-19 ravaged countries to the relative calm of Australia.

Sales of Australia’s most expensive properties often go unreported, however, those that were made public demonstrate the dominance of harbourside Sydney. Vaucluse is the most dominant suburb when it comes to luxury sales, and some MARCH 13-14, 2021

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properties are priced at well in excess of the suburb’s median of $5.15 million.

The 31 Coolong Road waterfront property (pictured above) in Vaucluse had a price guide of $42 million and is considered to be the top sale of 2020.

While Sydney is the clear frontrunner, surging iron ore exports were particularly positive for Perth’s residential market. The most expensive sale was a $27.5 million riverfront property at Dalkeith.

The luxury market on the Gold Coast also benefited in 2020 conditions, with interest in the area from the residents of lockeddown Melbourne rising dramatically.

One luxury sale made the top 10 list for the year, and that was on what is referred to as “Millionaires’ Row”, at 187-191 Hedges Avenue, Mermaid Beach. It sold for $22.5 million in August.

Australia’s property hot spot Byron Bay also experienced quite a few record sales, including 35 Marine Parade.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a luxury property list without at least one property from Toorak, Victoria. Late last year, 57 Clendon Road sold after having only been listed in November. It’s estimated the price was in excess of $20 million. Toorak was one of the few prestige suburbs that saw price declines in 2020, but it does appear that Melbourne is now well and truly catching up.

Nerida Conisbee is the chief economist with realestate.com.au

Most expensive recorded sales on realestate.com.au 12 months to December 2020 All sales were in excess of $20 million

Street

Suburb

State

31 Coolong Road

Vaucluse

NSW

152 Wolseley Road

Point Piper

NSW

20a Vaucluse Road

Vaucluse

NSW

89 Watkins Road

Dalkeith

WA

8 Burran Avenue

Mosman

NSW

42 Vaucluse Road

Vaucluse

NSW

174 Prince Alfred Parade

Newport

NSW

187-191 Hedges Avenue

Mermaid Beach

QLD

57 Clendon Road

Toorak

VIC

Byron Bay

NSW

35 Marine Parade

Source: realestate.com.au

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Milne House, Toorak, designed

by Robin Boyd, has a price guide of $3.85 million to $4.2 million.

Pure and simple The stylishly simplistic Milne House in Toorak remains a legacy of the revered mid-century modern architect Robin Boyd.

It was completed in 1970, just before Boyd’s death in 1971 at age 52, reflecting his holding to functionalist precepts rather than the more popular featurism aspects of architecture.

The recently listed and niftily renovated home ranks as one of the last of 200 homes Boyd designed mostly across Victoria.

Split into its pioneering two wings, its accommodation quarters has four bedrooms, one a master with marble ensuite.

There are two living areas at the Glenbervie Road house, which was designed for pharmacists Ian and Patricia Milne in the late 1960s.

It sits on 650sq m within the former 1.5ha Ingleburn estate of the Guest biscuit family, which had taken the name from the Guests’ prior Finch Street, East Malvern, home called Ingleburn.

William Guest, the biscuit company chairman, was Victoria’s commissioner of titles for 20 years and, for 14 years, lectured in property law at Melbourne University.

It was in the 1920s Guest undertook the initial subdivision, selling land to Charles Ruwolt, who built what was later to become the initial Toorak Teachers College premises.

Following his 1932 death, and further subdivision, Ingleburn became the home of surgeon George Scantlebury and his wife, Lilian, who helped oversee the development of the Australian MARCH 13-14, 2021

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Red Cross Society scheme to train members to cope with natural disasters and civil-defence emergencies. There were progressive Ingleburn subdivisions, the most recent four lots coming a year after the 1965 death of Ernest Wagstaff, manager of the Australian subsidiary of British Imperial Oil Company.

Their three-day house contents auction in February 1966, including a 23 inch television, attracted newspaper headlines.

The bulk of the Wagstaff probated £506,736 estate, provided incomes for nieces and nephews in England until their deaths; then the principal was shared between the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.

The Milnes sold the all-white Robin Boyd home in 1974 for $116,000 having bought the building block for $18,595 in 1966.

It last sold for $2.225 million in 2014.

Kay & Burton South Yarra agents Michael Gibson and Robert Fletcher have a $3.85 million to $4.2 million guide, with offers closing March 16.

Its pavilion style zones resonate with buyers some five decades on. Ditto the compact courtyard that brings the outside inside.

And there’s the curious use of cork boards for its ceilings. Boyd opted for a home with strikingly tall bagged brick walls for the home, one of just two of his home designs in Toorak.

There’s also the Richardson House designed in 1955 on

Blackfriars Close. In nearby South Yarra, it’s hard to miss Domain Park, the Robin Boyd-designed time-capsules in the architect’s 1962 apartment block, which took high-rise living much higher than the usual parkside three storeys.

And, of course, 250 Walsh Street, the house Boyd designed for his family in 1957, now the headquarters of the Robin Boyd Foundation, co-directed by granddaughter Amy Boyd.

Walsh Street was bought from Boyd’s widow Patricia Davies in 2006 shortly after the foundation was established.

The talented, innovative architect once forthrightly noted, “all the founders of modern architecture disparaged the terrible buildings that were done in the name of art and creativity throughout the 19th century. They had to fight the ornament, the contrived symmetry and fakery of popular buildings to clear the way for a true architecture.”

His 1960 book, The Australian Ugliness, suggested “most Australian children grow up on lots of steak, sugar, and depressing deformities of nature and architecture.”

The book attacked the Sydney Harbour Bridge for “its entirely redundant pylons built as features to camouflage the honest steel.” Then adding, “they may be the crowning achievement of Australian Featurism, but the pylons differ only in scale, not in principle, from most things on three million Australian mantelpieces.”

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Harbour transformation From dark and pokey to bright and modern

Post-war Italian icons The Componibili stacker story

Feel the groove The importance of touch

Mansion MARCH 13-14, 2021

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GUIDING LIGHT

A harbourside terrace house has been transformed from dark and pokey to bright and contemporary with views even from the depths of the interior S to r y by LU KE SL AT T E RY P h o to g r a phy by A N S ON S M A RT

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The interior of this Darling Point semidetached terrace was gutted and remade to open the long, narrow building to light and views of Rushcutters Bay. The centrepiece is a three-storey stairwell and central void

South African-born architect Bruce Stafford established his first practice in Durban in 1984 and quickly built a strong international reputation for boutique resorts in remote locations, built to converse with landscapes, traditions and local materials.

One of these, Singita Boulders, which clings to the banks of the Sabi Sand River in the country’s northeast, is a medley of thatched roofs, mirrored waterways, dry stone walls and rooms sunk firmly into the ground.

“It became quite a hit in the travel world,” recalls the architect, who began to get commissions from Sydneysiders who had visited his South African hotels and resorts. A keen surfer who knew the Emerald City well, he decided to chase the trail of private referrals by moving his practice to Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2001.

This modus operandi has served him well. “We tend to fly under the radar a bit and let our work come through referrals,” he explains.

It was through word of mouth among relatives that he was commissioned to renovate this Darling Point semi-detached terrace, Bring to Light.

“We had done work for the client’s parents and we came highly recommended.

It meant that this renovation was a real family affair.”

But it was no ordinary renovation. The roofline, which echoes that of its attached neighbour, had to be retained due to heritage constraints. The interior, on the other hand, was almost entirely gutted and remade to open this long, narrow envelope to light and views of Rushcutters Bay below. The centrepiece is a stairwell and central void that plunges three storeys.

“Relying on private referrals can be a hard journey but it means our clients tend MARCH 13-14, 2021

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The roofline was retained due to heritage constraints, but the interior was carved out to create voids that allow light to penetrate. The kitchen, anchored by a monolithic stone island bench, is at the dwelling’s core

to trust us from the get-go,” says Stafford. “And this project required a lot of trust. The interior was completely reformatted.” He retains an image of his foreman, a fellow South African, tearing the heart out of the old structure “without fear of anything”.

Stafford’s primary aim was to open a “dark and pokey dual occupancy” to light and aspect, transforming it into a bright contemporary home. Of almost equal importance was the orientation of the home around the owner’s favourite pastime – cooking. An expansive kitchen, anchored by a monolithic natural stone island bench, is placed at the dwelling’s core.

Architect Bronwyn Litera, who worked with Stafford on the design of the building, says the kitchen was designed to be a focal element of the house. “The client is an avid cook and spends much of her time in the kitchen, so it was important that this really was the heart of the home,” she says.

“We spent a lot of time working on the ground floor plan to include a generous dining room for big family gatherings. The 3.4mhigh ceiling helps to make the rooms feel larger and brighter and the curving edges of the ceilings lend them a sense of endlessness.”

In this way the project is about using architecture to create connections. The client and friends – one of whom is her next-door neighbour – share the life of the kitchen and dining area, while an entirely new relationship with the harbour environment is forged by an array of remade spaces and openings, vertical and horizontal; and, in the case of the skylight, set at a slant.

The building even reaches out to the semi next door with a series of visual connections apparent in the side facing the harbour.

“We’re a small boutique studio of just 12 people,” Stafford explains.

“Our focus is luxury residential and we tend to take on projects that challenge us. One of the primary drivers in our philosophy is spirit of place, or genus loci. Each site has a unique spirit about it, and a unique set of opportunities and challenges, so we’re very contextually focused on different requirements of each site and the dreams of each client.”

Stafford attributes his sensitivity to the unique potential of each site and each client to a unique feature of his South African birth, education and early professional years.

“There weren’t a lot of sophisticated materials in the buildings I grew up in and the buildings I worked on. We used what was available, with an emphasis on natural materials and textures. I hope you see that on all of our projects.”

In Bring to Light he and his design team of Bronwyn Litera and Lucia Ayub use vertical timber cladding to great effect, as well as brick, stone and rough-rendered walls.

The textural quality of the interior is raised to the next level with the addition of bathrooms lined with grained ceramic tiles and natural stone on the kitchen benchtop.

While this sensitivity to texture is something Stafford attributes to his South African past, he is quick to acknowledge the inspiration of his adopted home. “There are many similarities, from the quality of light to reticence about ostentatious architectural gestures,” he says.

“I feel at home with the architectural culture here. We’re not like some countries where they want to bare their chests and beat them.”

“In fact, I rate the architecture of this country as the best in the world. If I look at international directions in design, Australia is always up there.”

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Etc. S A M YA T E S

1.

2.

6.

3.

Magic touch

5.

1. P I L L O W & B L A N K E T Amos Nutmeg cushion, $79.99. Cotton Waffle blanket, $179.95 (single/double) $199.95 (queen/king). sheridan.com.au

2. L I G H T

Foscarini Twiggy floor lamp designed by Marc Sadler, $2610 spacefurniture.com.au

3. V A S E

Cloud Short Vessel by Tom Dixon, $450 livingedge.com.au

5. R U G

Alexis community rug, 200cm x 300cm, 100 per cent New Zealand wool, $3960 designerrugs.com.au

6. T A B L E

Rodan coffee table – Pinch 875mm diameter x 340mm height.

Finish: white oiled oak, natural black American walnut or black stained oak. American walnut, $2960 spenceandlyda.com.au

4.

4. C H A I R

Magis Officina high back easy chair and Officina ottoman.

Frame in galvanised iron.

Upholstery in fabric, $5930 dedece.com

MARCH 13-14, 2021

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Componibili collection

Design classics

AN N A C A S T ELLI F ER R I ER I

DAVID MEAGHER

A new version of the classic Componibili storage modules, made from organic agricultural waste, comes in four pastel colours

T

The Componibili collection of stacking storage modules is an icon of post-war Italian design. It was conceived by the designer, urban planner and architect Anna Castelli Ferrieri in 1967 for the plastics manufacturer Kartell founded by her husband Giulio Castelli in 1949.

Kartell started life by making automobile accessories and expanded into home furnishings in the early 1960s.

At the time plastic was considered a material best suited to industrial applications rather than home furniture.

When the Componibili, made from ABS plastic, was first introduced it was hailed for its flexibility, functionality and practicality. Today, more than 50 years since it debuted, the cylindrical Componibili storage unit is still one of Kartell’s best-selling products and looks just as futuristic as it did in the 1960s.

Componibili is the Italian word for modular and the units can be easily customised to suit a variety of contexts: individual elements can be fitted with castors and doors, and topped with a lid which also doubles as a tray.

They can be stacked on top of each other and interlock securely with no screws or glue.

The Componibili comes in a range of bright colours and a new bioplastic version of the storage unit was introduced this year made from organic agricultural waste and is limited to four pastel colours.

From Space Furniture. From $205 for a two-drawer unit.

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