Mansion The List November 2019 by The Australian

th e l i s t A fashionable portfolio: Collette Dinniganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global property empire

Where the rich live Top agents of 2019 The biggest house sales of all time

unveiling

100 A u s t r A l i Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s

best mAnsions

November 2019

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100 A u s t r A l i A’ s

best mAnsions

the most covetable properties across the nation

44 The whizz-kid

this sydney property agent says success is all about exposure

54 Rosedale House

66 City mansion

32 Haunts of the rich

46 Secret mansions

58 Beach house

70 Holiday houses

36 The super agents

50 Portfolio by design

62 Home base

74 State of play

19 The top 50

Where Australia’s wealthiest people choose to live

the real estate industry’s most successful operators

the family seats of the wealthy are usually tightly held

Collette Dinnigan has a new outlet for her creative talents

the l ist 2019 Aus t r A li A’s 10 0 be s t m A nsions

A Georgian mansion in country NsW is lovingly restored

Noosa’s clifftop Ogilvie house is more than a summer getaway

Roxy Jacenko’s Vaucluse house is a refuge from a hectic life

Architect Rob Mills turned an old factory into a city mansion

these luxurious retreats are way beyond the fibro shack

Prices are moving again but what does the future hold?

roxy Jacenko’s Vaucluse house, page 62

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realestate.com.au is home to some of Australia’s most prestigious properties. So, whether you’re looking to upgrade the family home or invest in a premium address, realestate.com.au has thousands of properties to discover.

Editorial editor DAviD MeAgheR

Mansion editor lisA AlleN

Writers joNAthAN chANcelloR joel RobiNsoN MilANDA RoUt johN steNsholt

Art directors shiReeN NolAN sAM yAtes

chief subeditor DeiRDRe blAyNey

Editors’ lEttEr

Picture editor chRistiNe WestWooD

Digital head of product design Alex fAWDRAy

the l ist 2019 Aus t r A li A’s riche s t 250

Digital producer

kellie soUthAN

head of delivery

siMoN MUggeRiDge

Developer

Advertising head of product MeRi MARDoN

Product manager MichAel thoMpsoN collette Dinnigan, shot on location at Bowral

occasionally do end up on the market and the prices they command can set records. We also take a look inside four very different and remarkable homes, from a historic country estate in orange, NsW, that has been painstakingly renovated, to a beach house in Noosa that resembles a luxury resort, the sydney home of publicist Roxy jacenko and the Melbourne home of architect to the rich and famous, Rob Mills. there’s something to cater to everyone’s interior design tastes. And speaking of interior design, we also profile fashion designer collette Dinnigan for this issue. since closing her fashion business in 2013, Dinnigan has indulged her love of interiors with some spectacular home renovations and in the process become one of our most astute house flippers. We photographed her for this issue at home in bowral, the location of her latest project. A big thank you to all the hardworking agents, property developers and architects, and some very accommodating home owners – as well as the corelogic research team – for helping to bring this edition to life. We hope you enjoy it. David Meagher and Lisa Allen

client services executive gRAce WilsoN gpo box 4245, sydney 2001 phone (02) 9288 3000 Production NsW pReMeDiA

On the cover

shirt dress from jacinta james. jacintajames.com.au boots from sandro paris sandro-paris.com.au cover photography Nick cubbin

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Nationwide News Pty Limited (ACN 008 438 828), of 2 Holt Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, for insertion in The Weekend Australian on November 16, 2019

MARtiN ilAgAN NB Unsolicited manuscripts will not be considered. Printed by Ovato Print Pty Ltd, 31 Heathcote Road, Moorebank 2170, for the proprietor and publisher,

arlier this year, when we published the inaugural edition of The List: Australia’s Richest 250, the list’s chief compiler, journalist john stensholt, wrote: “love them or hate them, so many people want to read about the rich.” given that property is a national obsession, we thought it stood to reason that people would also like to read about where the rich live. for this, our first edition of The List: Australia’s 100 Best Mansions, we decided to focus on the top residential sales of all time. it will probably come as no surprise that the top two house sales are waterfront properties on sydney harbour. they also happen to be next door to each other, and they’re owned by two best mates: Mike cannon-brookes, who paid $100 million last year for the fairwater estate previously owned by lady Mary fairfax; and scott farquhar, who bought the neighbouring elaine the year before for $71 million. cannon-brookes and farquhar are the cofounders of the Australian technology company Atlassian. it’s hard to believe, but those purchases have been well and truly trumped by a surprise sale that happened just as this edition was going to press. An unknown buyer purchased an off the plan apartment in the one sydney harbour residential tower designed by Renzo piano and currently under construction for $140 million. As you might expect, it’s no ordinary apartment – it will have nine bedrooms, a rooftop pool, 1600sq m of living space and 8m high ceilings. but for that price you could have two elaines. We have labelled this special edition “Australia’s 100 best Mansions”, but you will notice when you turn to page 19 that we have only featured the top 50 house sales of all time. Rest assured, it’s not a mistake. the 100 properties that make up this issue come from that list as well as some other features, such as one on our best holiday houses, our top real estate agents, our secret trophy mansions and some individual home stories. for this issue, john stensholt combed the data from our Rich 250 list to look at the suburbs that have the highest concentration of the nation’s wealthiest people. the number-one suburb might surprise you. A hint: it’s not in sydney. jonathan chancellor looked at the homes of the rich that rarely come up for sale, houses that we’ve called secret mansions. some of them have been tightly held for generations, but as the sales of elaine and fairwater (both previously owned by members of the fairfax family) show, due to various circumstances they

Fairwater in sydney’s east, the number-one mansion

A u s t r A l i A’ s

TOP 50 mAnsions

From sydney’s Point Piper to Perth’s mosman Park, these are the country’s most covetable properties. Waterfront settings are often a big part of the appeal, but size, provenance, luxury amenities and location are all among the must-haves for their cashed-up buyers by lisa Allen and John stensholt T H E AUST R A L I A N

Aus t r A li A’s 10 0 be s t m A nsions THE L IST 2019

1 Price: $100 million Year: 2018 owner: mike Cannon-brookes suburb: Point Piper, nsW

tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes made history when he paid $100m for the heritagelisted 1.2ha sydney harbourfront Fairwater, buying it from the Fairfax family in Australia’s biggest residential mansion sale. the Atlassian co-founder’s redevelopment plans for Fairwater, the scene of many a society soiree when it was owned by lady (Mary) Fairfax, are yet to be revealed. Fairwater was on the market for less than two weeks before Cannon-Brookes snapped it up.

2 Price: $71 million Year: 2017 owner: scott Farquhar suburb: Point Piper, nsW the historic sydney harbourfront landmark elaine was on the market for several years before it was bought by Atlassian co-founder scott Farquhar, who was trading up from a large apartment in Pyrmont’s multi-tower Jackson’s landing. Built in 1863, the mansion, which is in need of total renovation, has been home to the Fairfaxes, one of Australia’s most famous media families. the sale ended more than a century of continuous Fairfax family ownership. At one point the 6986sq m estate was set to be carved up into four separate DA-approved residences but Farquhar’s purchase ensures it will remain one estate.

3 Price: $70 million Year: 2015 owner: Chau Chak Wing suburb: Vaucluse, nsW Developed by James Packer and his former wife erica, la Mer sold not long after the couple split. the mega mansion built across three amalgamated house blocks was under construction for three years. the now los Angeles-based erica Packer reportedly held a family Christmas function at the mansion before it sold. its owner, generous political donor, Chinese Australian businessman and property developer Chau Chak Wing, is best known for his $20 million donation to help fund the landmark Frank Gehry-designed business wing of the University of technology, sydney. he donated a further $15 million to the University of sydney.

4 Price: $65.25m Year: 2017 owner: Jerry schwartz suburb: Vaucluse, nsW 20

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A keen swimmer, cosmetic surgeon and hotelier Jerry schwartz bought the so-called Phoenix Acres because it has sydney harbour’s largest private pool. since his acquisition, schwartz has been busily renovating the property, raising the height of its tennis court to add more car parking and a home cinema, and building a tunnel from the house lift at street level to the harbourfront for ease of access. schwartz says he will extend the number of bedrooms from five to seven and is spending up to $10 million on the renovations. he has said that the renovations would be finished by Christmas: “the question is, which Christmas?” Phoenix Acres’ vendor was singaporean tycoon Chio Kiat Ow, who had decorated the house in a British Colonial style.

5 Price: $61.8 million Year: 2016 owner: Jiaer Huang and family suburb: Point Piper, nsW Once owned by society psychiatrist Dr Robert hampshire and his former wife sally, the fabled Point Piper trophy mansion Altona fetched nearly $62 million when it was sold to China’s billionaire huang family, who made their money from the paper manufacturing company shantou Dongfeng Printing, a printer for tobacco manufacturers and other industries. the two-level Victorian italianate-style mansion on 2400sq m was built in 1904. the ninebedroom and nine-bathroom Wunulla Road waterfront previously traded for $52 million to a family trust, Chaimovich investments. Recent attempts to subdivide the block, carving off the tennis court for $18 million, were blocked by neighbours. Altona’s previous owners also include Deke Miskin and his wife eve, who hosted many social events there, as did the handbury publishing family during their tenure.

6 Price: $60.66 million Year: 2016 owner: Andy Wenlei song suburb: Point Piper, nsW Once rented out to Microsoft’s Bill Gates for a cool $25,000 a week, the trophy waterfront mansion Portofino is now owned by a stock trader from the Chinese mainland, “Andy” Wenlei song, who bought the property from luxury car dealer Neville Crichton. Occupying a cove on Point Piper’s west-facing foreshore and neighbouring Aussie John symond’s three-level waterfront home, the tuscan-style residence has six bedrooms and a private jetty. Crichton paid $5.9 million for the 1500sq m site in 1994 and set about building a large residence complete with gym. the site was once owned by the hordern family of retailing fame.

7 Price: $60 million Year: 2016 owner: leon Kamenev suburb: Vaucluse, nsW the Ukrainian-born Kamenev made his fortune from the $470 million sale of Menulog, with the proceeds allowing him to upgrade to an amalgamated $80 million waterfront site in Vaucluse. Kamenev, who was schooled in siberia, bought four properties on Coolong Road, including the shein’s $60 million double waterfront, to build his dream mansion. some say it will cost him about $150 million, which would make it one of Australia’s most expensive homes. Kamenev paid almost $600,000 to demolish the four existing waterfront houses and their swimming pools. Although he fought state authorities to get approval for a French chateau-style dwelling and battled neighbours over its height, he has since switched gears and is

opting for a more contemporary-style mansion so large it will be under construction for at least 2.5 years. But the Ukrainian denies the house will be Australia’s most expensive on completion. “We are trying to make it reasonably cheap,” he recently told The Australian.

8 Price: $58 million Year: 2018 owner: richard scheinberg suburb: bellevue Hill, nsW Developer and former Great Keppel island owner terry Agnew sold his 1880s sandstone mansion Rona to the scheinberg family in a bid to downsize. Agnew has since paid $10.35 million in nearby Woollahra and has long attempted to offload Great Keppel island, which golfer Greg Norman had been helping him promote. Rona’s new owner, developer Richard scheinberg, is the youngest son of the late Albert scheinberg, who established McDonald industries.

9 Price: $57.5 million Year: 2009 owner: Chris ellison suburb: mosman Park, WA Mineral Resources chief executive Chris ellison shocked the country when he splashed out what was a record price for the 7654sq m Perth riverside property from billionaire mining heiress Angela Bennett a decade ago. ellison and wife tia got the property on saunders street, the most desirable street in what, along with two nearby streets, is known as Mosman Park’s “golden triangle”. the house included its own cinema, three buildings, and a private jetty and tennis court. the ellisons have since spent another $11.6 million buying two adjacent houses – a four-bedroom home also bought from

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Bennett and another five-bedroom place for $5 million. the latest acquisitions bring the ellisons’ total land holding to 9159 sq m and their total outlay to just shy of $70 million, with their combined estate more than three times the size of Altona in sydney’s Point Piper.

10 Price: $52.5 million Year: 2018 owner: unknown suburb: malvern, Victoria sold by art dealer Rod Menzies, the stonington Mansion set a record for a Victorian house by more than $10 million. the huge deal is understood to have been undertaken by an unknown Chinese buyer, who purchased the heritage-listed mansion that is the former Australian Government house in Glenferrie Road. the imposing house was home to Victoria’s governors for 30 years until 1931 and passed into private hands a decade before its sale for about $17.5 million. Menzies later acquired it in an off-market deal after it had been in the hands of Deakin University. the mansion was built in 1890 by Cobb & Co partner John Wagner and has also been used as a school and hospital.

Jim, as he is known, is a graduate of Macquarie University and group managing director of Aqualand. Before his purchase from Wayne Burt, Villa igiea was an upmarket rental attracting short-term tenants such as Beyonce, stevie Nicks, and the billionaire founder of Netscape Jim Clark and his wife Kristy. Built nearly a century ago for the Grace retail dynasty, it was home to the late industrialist sir Peter Abeles until his death in mid-1999.

12 Price: Around $50 million Year: 2018 owner: unknown suburb: Point Piper, nsW the buyer of the world-class contemporary mansion Routala, previously owned by Philipa Fell, wife of Rubicon founder Gordon Fell, has not been identified since it was purchased in late 2018. On the tip of sydney’s most exclusive peninsula, this contemporary waterfront residence was designed by Michael Dysart, with an additional transformation in 2016. With uninterrupted north-easterly harbour views across shark island towards the Manly skyline, the wonderfully private residence was bought by Fell for $28.75m way back in 2008.

Price: $52 million Year: 2015 owner: shangjin lin suburb: Vaucluse, nsW

Price: $47.8 million Year: 2016 owner: ray itaoui suburb: Vaucluse, nsW

Given its views of sydney harbour, the trophy seven-bedroom 1920s mansion Villa igiea was a natural choice for shangjin lin, philanthropist boss of prolific developer Aqualand. shangjin, or

sanity boss Ray itaoui and his wife Rachel were the surprise buyers of this Carrara Road mansion, designed by leading architect Peter stutchbury. Originally listed at $60 million, the

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mansion overlooking hermit Bay was picked up by Ray and Rachel itaoui at a $12 million-plus discount. Positioned on nearly 2000sq m, the house sports eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, vast decks and an infinity pool. Built in 2013, it has won residential design awards and was sold to the itaouis by financier Andrew ipkendanz.

16 Price: $43 million-$45 million Year: 2018 owner: sylvia Deborah myers suburb: rose bay, nsW

A street record for Coolong Road, Vaucluse, was set more than a decade ago when ivan Ritossa, the former expatriate global head of foreign exchange for Barclays, and his wife Marina forked out $47 million for this waterfront mansion. the property’s previous owners include sir Alexis Albert of the music publishing house. the house sits on 4100sq m and has a private beachfront.

sylvia and lawrence Myers upgraded from nearby Dover heights to buy the clifftop trophy home of lingerie entrepreneur Brett Blundy in a landmark 2018 deal. their five-bedroom mansion with gun-barrel views of sydney harbour reaped Blundy a pre-tax profit of up to $12 million, given he had not carried out any renovations. Built in 2012, the house has six bathrooms and eight car spaces. it includes formal and informal living areas, a home cinema, guest quarters, gymnasium, sauna, garaging for eight cars and a car-wash bay. A chartered accountant, lawrence Myers was the founding partner of MBP Advisory’s predecessor, Myers Business Partners, established in 1998, which grew to become the sydney firm now known as MBP Advisory.

Price: $44 million Year: 2010 owner: David and linda Penn suburb: Point Piper, nsW

Price: $40 million Year: 2019 owner: Gabriel and Alexandra Jakob (settlement due 2020) suburb: Point Piper, nsW

14 Price: $47 million Year 2008 owner: ivan and marina ritossa suburb: Vaucluse, nsW

Dentist David Penn and his lowes Manhattan heiress wife linda broke residential sales records with the purchase of this five-level faux italianate estate. Built in 2004, the house is on a 1543 sqm block and was previously owned by recruiter Andrew Banks. linda is the daughter of the late hans Mueller, who was behind the famous lowes menswear brand.

in 2019’s highest residential mansion sale, former Morgan stanley banker and now Westpac board member steve harker sold his Wolseley Road deep waterfront to entrepreneurs and childcare operators Gabriel and Alexandra Jakob in an off-market deal. the transaction eclipses the previous 2019 residential sales record of $38 million for a property in nearby Vaucluse, set earlier in the year. the Jakobs sold their childcare operation to found a family investment firm hyper Capital. With its curved facade, the Wolseley Road mansion is just up from the waterfront mansion of Aussie John symond which was once on the market for $100 million-plus. harker’s Wolseley Road property last sold for $2.1 million in 1993.

18 Price: $39.9 million Year: 2015 owner: Xiao bei shi suburb: Point Piper, nsW infrastructure and eco-resort developer Phillip Dong Fang lee and his wife Xiao Bei shi bought Mandalay back in 2015. At the time it was one of the biggest sales of a non-waterfront residence in sydney. the five-bedroom and five-bathroom house with seven car spaces was sold by tobacco executive Bill Webb and his wife Marijke. the three-level Mandalay has views of sydney harbour and the Opera house and is set on 658sq m. Mandalay has all the accoutrements of a luxury mansion, with gym, sauna, wine cellar and heated pool.

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retirement homes in sydney, Wohl took ownership of a mansion that had been refurbished five years earlier and featured limestone, American oak and Arabescato marble throughout. the harbourside pool patio also featured tasmanian tiger sculptures by Caroline Rothwell at the time of the sale.

27 Price: $36 million Year: 2017 owner: Andrew Potter suburb: Point Piper, nsW

19 Price: $39 million Year: 2017 owner: neville Crichton suburb: Point Piper, nsW Prolific mansion buyer and multi-millionaire luxury car importer Neville Crichton bought the 800sq m north-easterly parcel of land on lady Martins Beach two years ago. then known as Deauville (and reminiscent of architecture along the French Riviera) the existing threelevel mansion has since undergone a hefty renovation.

20 Price: $39 million Year: 2015 owner: lola Wang li suburb: Point Piper, nsW Once home to recruitment queen Julia Ross, Villa Del Mare, on more than 1500sq m, has sweeping harbour views. All five bedrooms have ensuites and there’s a self-contained apartment on the lower level. little is known about Ms li but records show she still owns the mansion, even though the federal government cracked down on foreign buyers a few years back.

21 Price: $38.8 million Year: 2018 owner: bob burger suburb: Vaucluse, nsW Commercial property developer Bob Burger bought this contemporary waterfront mansion on Coolong Road from Qiaorong huang, owner of a large Chinese supermarket chain. Just up from Ukrainian multi-millionaire leon 24

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Kamenev’s mega mansion, which is under construction, Burger’s five-bedroom house with four ensuites was designed by celebrated architect luigi Rosselli. the property has a tennis court, infinity pool and private jetty.

22 Price: $38.8 million Year: 2018 owner: ruslan Kogan suburb: toorak, Victoria the owner of online retail business Kogan.com, Ruslan Kogan, bought the Chastleton Avenue mansion from telecommunications executive investor Philip Cornish. Kogan set a record for toorak in the process, taking ownership of a mansion that spans 2600sq m on three blocks. the original asking price for the French-inspired sandstone house was an estimated $45 million.

23 Price: $38 million Year: 2019 owner: sunny ngai suburb: Vaucluse, nsW Plastic surgeon Michael Miroshnik scored a record price for this Vaucluse non-waterfront contemporary home on Fisher Avenue, selling it to ABC tissue Products heir sunny Ngai. Founded by the late henry Ngai, the company manufactures Quilton toilet paper among other products. it made close to $50 million profit in the 2018 financial year.

24 Price: $38 million Year: 2015 owner: li Hsien lee suburb: Double bay, nsW

Multiplex heir Andrew Roberts sold the 1145sq m property in a Double Bay cul de sac to artist li hsien lee, the daughter of wealthy Allied Group boss seng hui lee. the contemporary mansion was inspired by the work of Frank lloyd Wright. the property has 55m absolute water frontage and a palatial master wing with a limestone sunken bath. the house also has a polo pit with a bucking horse and rock climbing wall, as well as two large internal freshwater aquariums, a private jetty and a private desalination system.

25 Price: $38 million Year: 2017 owner: Qi Yang suburb, toorak, Victoria the little-know Qi Yang set a then Victorian record when purchasing the 1920s mansion Mowbray from former Mirvac director Marina Darling. the house was said not to be in top condition at the time of the sale, though the buyer was understood not to be keen to demolish the house that sits on a 5000 sqm block. Darling had acquired the property, which also includes a pool and tennis court, from venture capitalist Roger Allen for $4.9 million in 1995.

26 Price: $37 million Year: 2014 owner: Peter Wohl suburb: Point Piper, nsW the vendor of the Wolseley Road mansion was Ron Medich, the sydney businessman who was last year sentenced to 39 years jail for ordering the execution-style murder of Michael McGurk. Medich, a property developer, sold the house to aged care magnate Peter Wohl. the owner of summitCare, which owns nursing and

this three-level waterfront pad once owned by lachlan and sarah Murdoch sold for $33 million in January, 2017, and for $36 million nine months later to property developer Andrew Potter. it has spectacular views of sydney harbour and the city skyline, a private elevator, a stunning harbourside pool and a jetty to welcome guests arriving by water taxi. A series of sandstone terraces lead down to the harbourfront. Other previous owners of the three-bedroom, three-bathroom mansion include Neville “Croaky” Crichton.

28 Price: $34 million Year: 2019 owner: sanjeev Gupta suburb: Potts Point steel billionaire sanjeev Gupta picked up the 8-bedroom mansion Bomera, on 2308sq m at Wylde street, Potts Point, in mid-October 2019 a major deal for the sydney luxury housing market. Gupta had been renting a mansion known as Barford at nearby Bellevue hill for $30,000 a week from developer ian Joye. Bomera was sold by the Catelan family for almost triple the $12.5 million they paid for it back in 2013.

29 Price: $33.5 million Year: 2013 owner: Jerry Qiu Yafu suburb: Point Piper, nsW Affectionately dubbed the Bang & Olufsen house due to the fact it resembles a hi-fi system, the five-bedroom waterfront off Wolseley Road once attracted elton John as a potential buyer. it has been owned by Jerry Qiu Yafu since 2013 and was sold to him by media executive Bruce McWilliam and his wife Nicky.

30 Price: $32.4 million Year: 2008 owner: Jennifer Chen suburb: Point Piper, nsW the property once known as Craig-y-Mor was bought by Zeng Wei, the son of former Chinese

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vice-president Zeng Qinghong, and his wife Jiang Mei 11 years ago, though the title was transferred to the little-known Jennifer Chen. the couple had demolished the historic residence and built a mansion designed by architect stephen Gergely. the four-storey home has eight bedrooms, a swimming pool, library, lift and a basement garage with a turntable.

31 Price: $32 million Year: 2013 owner: matt Allen suburb: Darling Point, nsW Yachtie Matt Allen, a former investment banker who headed UBs in Japan during a long career in banking, bought the waterfront estate from sir William tyree. the Darling Point property occupies about 1800sq m, and includes a boat pen, slipway and thousand-litre tanks for boat refuelling. the house has six bathrooms and six bedrooms, and has been listed for sale since late last year. Other features include a one-bedroom guest house and boat shed with two jetties.

32 Price: $31.8 million Year: 2017 owner: Winky Chau, so Chun Chau suburb: Darling Point, nsW

suburb: bellevue Hill, nsW Keen yachtsman Wilson lee owns Ark 323, which featured the first all-Chinese crew to compete in the sydney to hobart race in 2016. he and his wife Baoyu Wu bought the Federation Queen Anne-style landmark residence leura from Ken and Christine Allen. the house sits on 4260sq m of land and is a heritage-listed former residence and school boarding house. it features eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, and an original ballroom with soaring ceilings.

35 Price: $30.5 million Year: 2018 owner: mu li suburb: bellevue Hill, nsW hong Kong’s li family, of luxury car dealership fame, bought this mansion from tom haikin and his wife lilly, whose Max Brenner Australian franchise recently went into voluntary liquidation. the lis did not need any registered finance to buy the Michael suttor designed estate on almost 3000sq m. the resort-like due north property has a championship-sized tennis court and gas-heated pool. there are four ensuite bedrooms, while the master suite has views to the sydney heads.

Price: $30.3 million Year: 2017 owner: John roth and Jillian segal suburb: Darling Point, nsW

Price: $30 million Year: 2014 owner: David singh suburb: Point Piper

Prominent company director Jillian segal and her property developer husband John Roth bought the house next door to theirs from hong Kong businessman hans-Rainer ehrhardt and his author wife hilda Ying ehrhardt. edgewater is next to the Darling Point residence segal and Roth have owned since 1986. Roth reportedly had an option to buy the harbourside house and planned to build a block of apartments across both properties. the plans were rejected after opposition from some local residents.

the chairman of waste management company Global Renewables, David singh, bought the waterfront residence from the simon family for about half the original asking price. the 933sq m property took eight years to sell after previously being owned by the late larry Adler and before him, Frank lowy. the large five-level concrete house has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, a boatshed, pontoon and an electric winch.

37 Price: $30 million Year: 2018 owner: samira Jeihooni suburb: rose bay, nsW the $30 million paid for a knock down and rebuild house by samira Jeihooni, wife of developer Arash tavakoli, shocked the market last year. Clearly it was the 1009sq m waterfront Rose Bay site with jetty that attracted her and not the 1960s house. the property was formerly owned by the late urban planner sonia lyneham.

39 Price: $29.5 million Year: 2018 owner: Clark and marguerite Perkins suburb: Vaucluse, nsW hotel mogul Jerry schwartz sold this imposing six-bedroom, 10-bathroom waterfront estate on more than half an acre to upgrade to Phoenix Acres nearby, where he has an even bigger harbourfront pool. schwartz, who is also a cosmetic surgeon, was not too keen on the 14th-century stone flooring – which was apparently imported from France – so he covered some of it with

Both the daughter and the wife of billionaire Chau Chak Wing snapped up the Darling Point trophy home from transport and logistics magnate terry tzaneros in an off-market purchase that was just shy of setting a record for the harbourside suburb. the six-bedroom mansion was designed and completed by Geoform Design Architects based on concept plans by architect Bruce stafford. it also features Grecian stone floors and eight bathrooms, as well as men’s and women’s change rooms for the pool and steam room.

33 Price: $31 million Year: 2018 owner: Alexander ma suburb: Vaucluse, nsW the Carrara Road purchase by then 29-year-old Alexander Ma, the son of hong Kong press baron Peter Ching-kwan Ma, was the second part of a $56 million transaction for two neighbouring houses. Ma paid former KPMG Consulting partner Michael ibrahim $31 million for a half-built house next to a $25 million house he had previously bought from Peter Comino. the expectation is that Ma will amalgamate the properties to build a large mansion.

34 Price: $30.8m Year: 2015 owner: Wilson lee, baoyu Wu 26

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Iconic Masterpiece ‘Hayven’ A property of immense stature built to a quality expected in the finest hotels, where truly no expense has been spared and every detail has been perfected, during a construction where budget was not a limitation. While the house is expansive and grand in its scale, its design brilliance lies in the home’s very human composition within this extraordinary scale. Designed as a series of smaller areas, flowing together seamlessly to create a coherent and spectacular space, ‘Hayven’ is just as comfortable for two guests as it is 200. It is a home that rivals some of the great 6 star resorts around the world from the 25 metre pool, accommodation for over thirty guests, commercial kitchen, caretakers quarters, two jetties, boat shed and tennis court!

32-36 The Anchorage, Noosa Waters FOR SALE BY TENDER Close December 11th at 4pm

Paul Arthur 0466 776 700 Adrian Reed 0409 446 955

carpet for warmth as part of his renovations. those renovations included a fully imported italian glass and marble lift servicing all four levels. the property sports a waterside pool, separate boat house and two separate guest quarters that were once slated for Jerry’s personal pilot’s use. A Narnia-like room has been excavated underground, to the delight of the couple’s three young children. Arched cathedral ceilings add to the property’s grandeur.

40 Price: $29.5 million Year: 2014 owner: bruce mcWilliam suburb: Point Piper seven West Media commercial director Bruce McWilliam has bought and sold several Point Piper mansions in the past decade, with this Wunulla Road home his biggest purchase. McWilliam bought the edwardian-era mansion from liquor magnate John Piven-large, who had paid $3.5 million for two properties in 1991 and combined them into one residence restored by architect espie Dodds. the six-bedroom house has its own sandy tidal beach on the harbour and a gas-heated 13m harbourfront pool.

41 Price: $29.25 million Year: 2007 owner: maxim Krok suburb: Vaucluse, nsW south African businessman Maxim Krok and his family bought tahiti, which has a starstudded past. it set a sydney residential record in 2007 when retailer Brett Blundy sold it, having bought it in 1999 from adman John singleton for $13.75 million. singleton had commissioned Maggi eckhardt to renovate the home, built in the 1960s by the architect Douglas snelling for the former Woolworths chairman sir theo Kelly. it had been a hawaiian-style residence set in tropical gardens above hermit Bay.

42 Price: $28.775 million Year: 2017 owner: unknown suburb: toorak, Victoria Once owned by media personality steve Vizard, the Orrong Road mansion was sold by ian Muir, one-time head of the Good Guys chain. Vizard sold the 3345sq m home for $17.75 million in 2007. it was built in the 1920s by stockbroker John Baillieu, grandfather of former Victorian premier ted Baillieu.

43 Price: $28.52 million Year: 2018 owner: mark and roleen michalowsky suburb: Vaucluse, nsW Billed as one of sydney’s finest waterfront homes, Deepwater is a north-east facing 28

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mansion that hit the market last year for the first time in nearly half a century. interiors are by American design guru thomas hamel, while landscaper Paul Bangay did the gardens which cover nearly 2000sq m, including about 20m of prime water frontage. Facing Parsley Bay, the mansion includes five bedrooms and bespoke cabinets throughout. Mark Michalowsky of tNsC bought the home from the family of the late developer Bernard lewis. Michalowsky sold his industrial gas business supagas for more than $300 million.

44 Price: $28.1 million Year: 2008 owner: Vaughan blank suburb: Watsons bay, nsW Former Glencore trader Vaughan Blank and his wife Jacqui own this 1928 built six bedroom house on the Watsons Bay beachfront known as Villa Porto Rosa. Covering nearly 2000 sqm the home features gardens all the way down to the white sand beach. Blank and hollywood film director George Miller, another Watsons Bay owner, were locked in a stoush over the redevelopment of part of Villa Porto Rosa with Blank emerging as the winner. Apart from the Watsons Bay holding Blank is a big investor in eastern suburbs real estate and paid more than $33 million for block of eleven art deco flats in edgecliff’s Albert street in late 2017.

45 Price: $28 million Year: 2013 owner: bob ell suburb: bellevue Hill, nsW Billionaire commercial and residential property developer Bob ell has long owned the stately Addenbrooke estate in Cranbrook Road, having bought it from fellow property

developer and yachtie Denis O’Neil and his wife Charlotte. ell traded up to the nonwaterfront Addenbrooke from his Potts Point penthouse. the sprawling property includes a swimming pool and tennis court.

46 Price: $28 million Year: 2015 owner: Quingling Wang suburb: Point Piper, nsW Property developer Julina lim sold this 1970s renovator on Wolseley Road to Quingling Wang complete with a development approval for a 650sq m mansion with major sydney harbour views. One of the benefits of the property is its 16m frontage to Wolseley Road. Alex tzannes designed the proposed home.

47 Price: $28 million Year: 2017 owner: Patrick Grove suburb: Darling Point, nsW Born in singapore, Patrick Grove is an internet and media entrepreneur who forked out $28 million for this knock-down and rebuild waterfront site. the Malaysia and singapore-based expat is planning a new residence on the exclusive peninsula site, given the existing house on its 670sq m block was built back in 1973. Plans have just been approved for the construction of a new two-level dwelling, including a non-trafficable rooftop garden.

48 Price: Approx. $28 million Year: 2018 owner: marcus levy and Vanessa sanchez-levy

suburb: Vaucluse, nsW hotelier Marcus levy and his wife Vanessa stunned the market last year when they picked up this five-bedroom house with deepwater jetty on 1412sq m. the vendors were Ray and Barbara Whitten who bought the property for a tiny $3.25 million back in 1992.

49 Price: $27.08 million Year: 2015 owner: Georgina black suburb: rose bay, nsW UK-based barrister Georgina Black bought the three-level home with views of sydney harbour Bridge from New York fund manager Alwyn heong. indah has five bedrooms and six bathrooms on 850sq m, and a living room floor spanning the width of the house. the house also has massive glass panes and a Bisazza glass mosaic tiled pool.

50 Price: $26.25 million Year: 2016 owner: sally and Phil Dreaver suburb: toorak Daniel and Danielle Besen set a record Melbourne property market price in 2016 with the sale of their towers Road mansion in toorak. Designed by architects Wood Marsh, the home is set on a 2300sq m block. it was a six-year project, and has four bedrooms, each with ensuites, a library, a media room, a wine lounge, and a sculpturally striking facade of raw textured concrete, scalloped in sweeping arcs. Source: CoreLogic and The Australian

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20 Hectare Private Coastal Retreat

The Camp, Rosedale NSW A delightfully sheltered hideaway, The Camp is nestled within 50 acres (20 ha) of magnificent spotted gum bushland on a scenic headland between Batemans Bay and Moruya. Cascading down and surrounding a gorgeous secluded beach just a three minute walk away, the property is both world class and unique. The residence is composed of a collection of six pavilions set in breathtaking natural beauty. Each designed to serve different functions, the superb structures accommodate five bedrooms, a kitchen and dining space, living area, and art studio. The buildings are carefully positioned in a creatively lit terraced garden of burrawang ferns bordered by rammed-earth walls, which provide privacy for each pavilion. They are arranged around open courtyards, creating a relaxed, alfresco living environment. The beautiful tree canopy overhead adds to the undisturbed and sequestered nature of the estate. The property is about 20 minutes from the two seaside towns, one of which has an airport. Canberra lies within two hours’ drive and a flight from Sydney takes 40 minutes.

Agent: David Matthew 0447 271 950

david@nirvanaproperty.com.au

Inspect: For sale:

By Appointment Expressions of Interest http://thecamp.cve.io

Agent: Ken Jacobs 0407 190 152 ken@kenjacobs.com.au

On the rise

Is a penthouse apartment the modern mansion? by lisa Allen n the prestige stakes, penthouse apartments could soon eclipse suburban residential estates as high net worth buyers clamour for knockout sydney harbour and Opera house views. Wealthy buyers, particularly foreigners, are increasingly plumping for the lavish interiors and the lock-up-and-leave convenience of a city penthouse over a suburban block, with its attendant security and maintenance issues. A sydney local has just trounced all Australian residential records, paying more than $140 million at lendlease’s One sydney harbour residential tower at Barangaroo south. For his money, the buyer has scored the top three floors of the tallest of One sydney harbour’s cluster of three luxury residential towers, designed by Pritzker Prize winner Renzo Piano. Developer lendlease has sold more than half the luxury apartments at Barangaroo south, with local buyers snapping up almost half the properties that have sold in an off the plan campaign. the Barangaroo south penthouse includes nine bedrooms, 8m high ceilings and 1600sq m of living space. there’s a private rooftop pool, spa and gymnasium, and lendlease boasts that the master bedroom is larger than most sydney homes. the previous Australian residential record stood at $100 million for a single residential transaction – a house. that record was set when tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes bought the sydney harbourfront estate Fairwater. lendlease and Crown Residences are remaining tight-lipped about Barangaroo buyers, so there are likely many more highpriced sales yet to be revealed. But next on the top-five list of known record off-the-plan apartment sales is a duplex residence in Crown Residences’ development at Barangaroo that cost multi-billionaire James Packer $60 million two years ago. the development’s interiors will certainly be an attraction, with crystal pieces for its chandelier lighting sourced from the Crystal Valley outside Prague as well as marble imported from thessalonki for the master bathroom’s walls. to date, $450 million worth of apartments have sold in the 82-apartment tower. it will also include a casino and a hotel, with residents apparently keen to take advantage of the 24-hour services, including room service, that the luxury hotel offers. 30

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Another apartment in the Crown Residences Barangaroo development has also sold for $40 million, to venture capitalist Bob Blann. that deal on the whole-floor apartment, which was struck in 2018, is the third-highest known apartment sale on records. in Melbourne, media mogul Antony Catalano paid about $30 million for a 650sq m penthouse in developer tim Gurner’s yet to be completed st Moritz development in st Kilda. Catalano’s sevenbedroom penthouse with two pools and four living rooms will crown the multi-tower development, designed by Fender Katsalidis and set on the landmark former Novotel site in st Kilda. the fifth-highest sale on the apartment front is the $27 million wealthy businessman Robert salteri paid for an apartment at sydney’s Opera Residences back in 2016. For their money, salteri and wife Kelly scored a four-bedroom penthouse at Circular Quay. the couple, who are downsizing from their house on sydney’s lower North shore, are obvious converts to apartment living.

From top: st moritz; barangaroo and opera residences

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14 Sutherland Avenue, Ascot, Brisbane Unrivalled beauty, stunning Victorian home with a Queensland touch

4.5

All the romance of a bygone era Magnificent C1886 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Windermereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rests on a significant estate-like 4,664m2 in one of Brisbaneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dress-circle avenues. It sits embraced by park-like manicured gardens designed by Paul Bangay and sprawling lawns with pool and full size tennis court. The home has been carefully restored and then complemented with a lavish array of high-end finishes. Deep verandahs wrap around the residence whilst interiors boast timber floors and high panelled ceilings. Centrepiece marble provincial-inspired dream kitchen with quality Wolf and Sub Zero appliances and large island/dining bench. Living zones include a grand formal lounge and dining, sprawling living and dining and versatile lower level. The lower level includes a rumpus, study area, media space, kitchen, wine cellar, sauna and powder room. Deluxe bathrooms, 2nd powder room, central deck with pizza oven and barbecue, ducted a/c, intercom access. Gated and secure, gardens with significant trees, abundant storage areas plus triple lock up garage.

Agent: Gail Havig gail@hjre.com.au Havig & Jackson Real Estate 0418 721 467

Inspect:

By Appointment

For sale: Expressions of Interest

Agent: Darren Curtis darren@kenjacobs.com.au 0406 761 840

by John stensholt. illustrations by Alex Hotchin

trophy rooms The rich are different – and where they choose to live is, surprisingly, not all about a water view

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the illUstR AtioN RooM

ustralia’s most popular suburb with the country’s richest people does not have prime waterfront views, easy access to the airport for landing one’s corporate jet or luxury skyscrapers, though the local restaurants are excellent. Forget a view of sydney’s harbour Bridge or the ability to board a superyacht only metres from your front doorstep. No suburb in the country features a greater concentration of members of The List: Australia’s Richest 250 than Melbourne’s toorak. What toorak lacks in flash and pizazz it makes up for with easily the highest property prices in the Victorian capital, and a collection of mansions that offer large grounds for their owners, with plenty of room for tennis courts, swimming pools and immaculate gardens. At least 23 of the 250 wealthiest people in the country call toorak home, and unlike sydney’s prime harbourside suburbs, such as Point Piper and Vaucluse, it does not have a natural geographic advantage. instead, toorak is seen as a place to live when one has truly “made it” in Melbourne. Billionaires such as John Gandel, lindsay Fox and Alex Waislitz live in toorak, but even their holdings look relatively small compared with some of the flashier properties in the country’s west, where billionaires tend to flaunt their wealth more than they do in conservative Melbourne. take Perth’s Mosman Park, which is most famous for Chris ellison’s $57.5 million mansion, bought from billionaire Angela Bennett in 2009. ten years later that is still Perth’s most expensive property deal – and one of the most costly in Australian history – but the suburb also has one of the largest collections of the Richest 250 living there, including Ralph sarich and Rhonda Wyllie. But Australia’s richest youngsters – Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and scott Farquhar – rule the rich property stakes, at least for now. inseparable at work, the duo have paid a combined $170 million for adjacent mansions in sydney’s Point Piper. here is the breakdown of just exactly where Australia’s richest people have bought and extended their trophy homes.

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VICTORIA

oorak is clearly the place to be for Melbourne’s monied elite, with the suburb home to billionaires such as retail magnate John Gandel and trucking king Lindsay Fox, who has put on many a famous party at the Irving Road property he has owned since the 1970s. Fox and another 22 members of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 live in Toorak, ranging from long-established residents such as billionaire Paul Little to Jayco caravans owner Gerry Ryan and young property developer Tim Gurner. The Toorak elite have bought well. According to calculations The Australian used for the 2019 edition of The List, the average house owned by each of the 23 in Toorak is worth an estimated $23 million – meaning collectively the Toorak wealthy are sitting on combined assets worth close to $400 million. Those houses were bought for an average price of $8.5 million and the average year they bought in was 2004 – meaning that the Toorak dwellers have more than doubled their money in that time. Big purchases by The List members in Toorak include a five-bedroom, six-bathroom contemporary residence on Hopetoun Road with a tennis court and swimming pool, bought by Gurner last year for $17 million. That house cost slightly less than the $19.25 million Chemist Warehouse co-founder Mario Verrocchi paid members of the Smorgon family for a six-bedroom trophy home including a pool and tennis court in late 2014. Nearby suburbs are also popular. They include South Yarra, where property developer Larry Kestelman is building the luxury $800 million Capitol Grand building. Kestelman has dubbed it “the tower of power” and has installed David Bromley as the artist-in-residence. By early next year Kestelman himself will move into the penthouse apartment, a residence that could be worth up to $50 million on the open market. For now though, perhaps the most impressive and costly apartment in Melbourne held by a member of The List is the East Melbourne penthouse owned by commercial property developer Sam Tarascio. It occupies the higher levels of its building and was reported to be valued at $15 million in 2007, though at least one agent has said it is worth up to $30 million given its proximity to and views of the Melbourne CBD and surrounding skyline. While Toorak and nearby is generally the place to be for the city’s wealthiest citizens, the most expensive house in the state – and potentially the country – is found about five kilometres north in Kew, where the historic home Raheen is situated. Bought by the late Richard Pratt and his wife Jeanne in the early 1980s, the Italianite mansion on Studley Park Road was formerly owned by the Catholic Church and had been the official residence of Archbishop Daniel Mannix and four other archbishops before its sale. The Pratt family added a large, modern glass-encased wing designed by Glenn Murcutt and the residence now houses Jeanne Pratt and her billionaire son, Anthony, and his family, who also spend a portion of the year in their New York penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. Raheen, which sits on grounds measuring more than 11,218sq m, has been estimated to be worth at least $100 million if it were ever to go on the market. Its historic wing and gardens are also used for charity events as well as political and business fundraisers. Not content with the current building, the Pratt family is in the midst of a $9.5 million extension that will extend it all the way to Yarra Boulevard and is subject to height restrictions agreed to with a nearby hospital. The new wing is effectively a third home on the estate, and comprises four new bedrooms and five bathrooms, plus a retreat space that acts as a segue between the two modern structures. When all renovations and extensions are completed, it is estimated that Raheen will be worth well north of $100 million.

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NSW

uch is the drawing power of Sydney’s harbourside suburbs, including Point Piper, Vaucluse and surrounds, that a relatively new entrant to the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite is said to have paid at least $38 million for a mansion that does not even offer waterfront access. Sunny Ngai, who with his family inherited ABC Tissue Products from late father Henry last year, was reported to have shelled out that sum for a designer mansion in Vaucluse’s Fisher Street in September. The three-level home was bought by plastic surgeon Michael Miroshnik for $7.15 million in 2014, and while it has been extensively renovated the steep increase in price shows just how hot Sydney prestige property can be. Ngai will have several members of The List as near neighbours, including apartments king Harry Triguboff, who lives with his wife Rhonda on a 5200sq m amalgamated Vaucluse block on the waterfront. The Meriton boss’s house is even bigger than the $80 million 4270sq m block put together by Menulog founder Leon Kamenev down the road. Late last year, Kamenev won a three-year battle to build a huge mansion across four neighbouring properties he bought in early 2016. Construction of the four-level home with pool, gym and multiple terraces is costing at least $10 million. Vaucluse has also become famous for the $67.25 million waterside mansion Jerry Schwartz bought last year. It has a 25m pool – the largest private swimming pool on the harbour. Schwartz is planning to take a wrecking ball to the existing Gone with The Wind-style residence, and will spend at least $5 million on renovations that include raising the level of the tennis court to make room for a home cinema, six-bay garage and storage. There will also be a tunnel and lift to connect the street all the way down to Parsley Bay, where the boathouse and private jetty sit. Yet Vaucluse would probably be overshadowed by nearby Point Piper, where Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes paid $100 million for the late (Lady) Mary Fairfax’s Fairwater in 2018, a year after his co-founder Scott Farquhar shelled out $71 million for the Elaine estate next door. The pair have surpassed billionaire Frank Lowy in wealth terms, but the Westfield co-founder lives alongside on Wolseley Road, commonly referred to as Australia’s most prestigious street. Point Piper accounts for the most members of The List: Australia’s Richest 250 who live in Sydney, and most are long-term holders in the suburb. Lowy and his wife Shirley paid $310,000 for their waterfront home in 1971 and bought son Stephen Lowy’s house next door for $1.3 million 20 years later, demolishing it to extend their own residence with a tennis court and home cinema. Jack Cowin, the fast food king behind the Hungry Jack’s franchise and majority owner of Domino’s Pizza, has lived on the street since 1980, when he paid $750,000 for his house, while Paul Lederer, the former owner of Primo Smallgoods, paid $26 million for his house two doors from Lowy in 2008. The average value of a house in Point Piper held by members of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 is calculated at $60 million, which is close to the price paid by the son of Huang Bingwen, the family patriarch behind China’s paper packaging manufacturer for tobacco-related products Shantou Dongfeng Printing, for the waterfront mansion Altona in late 2016. That average is well and truly exceeded by the house owned by Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond, who tried to sell his multi-level sandstone, cement and glass mansion and was offered $100 million but decided to retain it. It sits across 2685sq m and has six bedrooms, two swimming pools and 75m of water frontage. But the price for Altona was exceeded by Chau Chak Wing in 2015 when he clinched a $70 million deal for the mansion of billionaire James Packer and his former wife Erica in Vaucluse. Dr Chau had previously owned in Hunters Hill, another suburb extremely popular with Sydney’s wealthy. Billionaire Lang Walker is among the six members of The List who live there, having bought a waterside home in Crescent Street for $4.2 million in 1987.

Aus t r A li A’s 10 0 be s t m A nsions THE L IST 2019

their latest acquisitions bring the ellisons’ total land holding to 9159sq m and their total outlay to just shy of $70 million, with their combined estate more than three times the size of Altona in sydney’s Point Piper wA

QUEENSLAND

live Palmer clearly loves the Gold Coast suburb of Paradise Point, which includes the luxury sovereign and ephraim islands and their mansions that feature direct water frontage and boat access. Palmer and wife Anna live in a King Arthurs Court mansion bought for $9.5 million in May 2010. the house includes at least six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a 22-car basement with a wine cellar and cool room, as well as a swimming pool and a 12-person elevator. But the billionaire mining investor has also, along with several other family members, shelled out $18.3 million for no less than 11 other Point Paradise houses in recent years. last year he spent $12 million on a hamptons-inspired fivebedroom, five-bathroom property on prestigious hedges Avenue at Mermaid Beach that also features a gym with a boxing ring and a climate-controlled wine cellar. hedges Avenue is considered one of the best addresses on the Gold Coast, though nearby Albatross Avenue in Mermaid Beach is also salubrious. it is there that in 2009 billionaire pokies king Bruce Mathieson bought a six-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion with a 10car garage and direct beach access for $18 million – which was about $15 million below the asking price of the vendor, Globe international founder stephen hill. Albatross Avenue is also where the billionaire owner of Moose toys Manny stulpaid a Victorian cattle farmer $25 million for the holiday home tidewater in 2016, though Main Beach has three members of the list in Con Makris and tony and Christina Quinn residing there. in Brisbane, the rich are scattered through various suburbs. Property developer Kevin seymour and Flight Centre co-founder Graham turner live in the same street in the historic riverside inner suburb of teneriffe, while scott hutchinson paid $7.65 million for a riverside unit in Kangaroo Point in 2010. 34

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SoUTh AUSTrALIA

urnside in Adelaide’s east is the somewhat unlikely home of most south Australians found on the list – Australia’s Richest 250, though they are all from the same family. the three brothers behind the big success that is the Peregrine Corporation – Khalil, samer and Yasser shahin – all reside in the suburb, having each paid less than $1 million for their respective homes bought more than 20 years ago. Others on the list living in Adelaide’s prestige suburbs include meat baron Chris thomas, who resides in toorak Gardens, and shopping centre owner Nick DiMauro, in Wattle Park, while fitness duo Kayla itsines and tobi Pearce live in the inner-western suburb of lockleys.

hris ellison keeps a relatively low profile in the business world as the boss of AsX-listed Mineral Resources, a mining services company. But 10 years ago he shocked the property market when he purchased a Mosman Park mansion from the mining heiress Angela Bennett for a whopping $57.5 million. ellison and his wife tia gained a 7654sq m Perth riverside property on saunders street, the most desirable street in what is known as Mosman Park’s “golden triangle”, which includes two nearby streets. the house was the most expensive in the country at the time of the deal, and included its own cinema, three buildings, and a private jetty and tennis court. the ellisons have since spent another $11.6 million buying two adjacent houses – a four-bedroom home for $6.625 million also bought from Bennett and another five-bedroom place for $5 million. the latest acquisitions bring the ellisons’ total land holding to 9159sq m and their total outlay to just shy of $70 million, with their combined estate more than three times the size of Altona in sydney’s Point Piper. there are six billionaires and members of the list who live in Mosman Park. they include Rhonda Wyllie and Nigel satterley, a property developer who also bought the historical Chiritta in Peppermint Grove, which dates from the late 1890s, for $17.5 million in 2013. Peppermint Grove is also where mining prospector Mark Creasy lives, while billionaire Gina Rinehart lives in Dalkeith. Andrew Forrest, meanwhile, has spent $15 million on developing a new house in front of his stately takuara mansion in beachside Cottesloe. the 21-room limestone mansion was bought for $16 million in late 2015.

ACT & TASMANIA tasmania’s only representative on the list, Dale elphinstone, lives on a rural block near Burnie in the state’s north-west. in Canberra, billionaire terry snow lives in Deakin, traditionally one of the national capital’s most upmarket suburbs.

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28 ROSS CRESCENT

SUNSHINE BEACH 3

offermann.com.au

Few properties facing the Coral Sea and the patrolled waters of Sunshine Beach have such a wonderful north eastern orientation. Taking centre stage, this light infused elegant residence delivers jaw dropping uninterrupted ocean views from paved terraces and glass enclosed viewing platforms. Start your day with an invigorating surf, beach walk to the village for a memorable meal, or simply sit back and watch the oceans many moods.

Auction 1 December 10am Agent Roark Walsh 0437 447 804

NOOSAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOME OF PRESTIGE PROPERTY

The super AGeNTs These real estate professionals all have two things in common: a fascination with people and property, and a passion for what they do. Our round-up includes those agents who have topped the sales around Australia this year and in years past

NiC WAlKeR

by Jonathan Chancellor

Bill Malouf Bill Malouf has carved out his career in real estate after working in the family hotel business in sydney’s western suburbs for two decades. “i asked for a desk at lJ hooker and if i did not prove myself in six months they didn’t have to pay me,” he recalls. “i’m still here!” Malouf has been their top national sales person 19 times since the mid-1980s and in 2006 entered the lJ hooker hall of Fame. he says he’s been challenged in the current market by the unethical practices of some rival estate agents intent on securing their listings. “i do strongly believe that our industry needs to be cleaned up,” he says. “i’m finding that agents are so desperate for the business they are giving vendors unrealistic expectations. i don’t believe we are viewed by a lot of other professions as credible and honest people.” Availability of stock in the eastern suburbs has dropped by around 45 per cent compared to two years ago, says Malouf, who is the top seller in sydney this year. in conjunction with Christie’s international agent Ken Jacobs, he secured the off-market sale of the Point Piper waterfront of Westpac board member steve harker, for around $40 million, to the start-up investor Alexandra Jakob and her 36

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entrepreneur partner Gabriel Jakob. he also had a hand in the recent sale of the heritage sandstone mansion Bomera, on the Potts Point clifftop. it reportedly fetched around $34 million when bought by the steel baron sanjeev Gupta, who will soon vacate his Bellevue hill rental, Barford. Malouf sold it, along with agent Clint Ballard, for leanne Catelan, the daughter of the late RP Data founder Ray Catelan, who paid $12.5 million for it six years ago. Malouf has a passion for the water – “Any free time i may get throughout the year i love to spend on or close to the water,” he says – and his greatest successes in real estate have been on the harbour. in 2007 he secured the national price record for a single home with Routala, a harbourfront home at Point Piper sold for $29 million to Rubicon founder Gordon Fell and wife Philippa. the year before, he and then colleague Brad Pillinger sold the “Bang and Olufsen” house nearby to the McWilliam family for $24 million. Malouf now works with his son, David. “We clash,” he says, “but we also bounce off each other.”

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Brad Pillinger

PHILIP GOSTELOW

NIC WALkER

Brad Pillinger’s only career has been in real estate. He started in residential at Double Bay in 1995, having been at Gilmour Commercial at Parramatta for the previous five years. “My parents were insistent I get a start without any of my dad’s influence,” the son of the late industry doyen Ron Pillinger recalls. “I was inspired into this industry.” His highest sale came in 2017 when Portofino in Point Piper fetched $60.66 million for the car dealer, Neville “Croaky” Crichton. “It took a year to do,” says Pillinger. “It was great fun as the property is amazing. The vendor and purchaser were such entertaining personalities.” He relished working with the conjunctional agent Bart Doff. Since then he’s sold another in Point Piper for $50 million-plus for the Fell family. His first waterfront for $8.25 million came in 2000. “The buyer was offered $65 million last year,” he says. Pillinger recalls that he and his father talked endlessly about how to improve at sport, academic pursuits and how to execute difficult sales. “The thrill of the sale is always fantastic regardless of price point and regardless of how many times I do it.”

ViVien YaP

William Porteous, Perth’s biggest name in real estate for four decades, worries that the computerisation of the sales process presents the biggest challenge to the art of salesmanship. “No one ever sits down and eyeballs anyone anymore – it’s all email and text messages,” he laments. But he loves the globalisation of the market, and being able to contact anyone instantly wherever they are in the world. He began his journey in real estate in 1971, working for Alan Bond at Bond Corporation. “Even though I was not employed as a salesman, I went into a 100-unit development and sold three properties on my first day,” he says. This year he secured WA’s biggest sale – a family estate on Mosman Park’s Chidley Way that fetched $12.05 million. He sold the house next door two years ago for $21.5 million. Porteous has regularly held state, and national, house price records. In 2009 he sold a Mosman Park compound for a then record $57.5 million. The Swan River’s mansion mania saw Porteous hold another Australian record too. It was a home on Jutland Parade, Dalkeith, sold in 1980 for $4 million to the mining speculator Danny Hill.

Perth agent Vivien Yap is the number-one female principal selling agent in the Ray White network, as she nears $1 billion worth of property over her still short career – she only moved into real estate in 2012. Her biggest sale came last year, when she sold a block of land on the Swan River for $17 million. The 6580sq m Oswal family holding was once home to the never completed mansion dubbed Taj on Swan. “It had been languishing on the market for more than a year due to all the negative press,” she says. “For me, it was a massive sense of pure relief mixed with excitement that I finally did it.” Yap had to deal with local as well as international buyers, as well as vendors’ representatives in Dubai, India, US and Sydney. She joined Ray White in 2017, having been at LJ Hooker, where she had been recognised as its top-selling principal, the first time the award went to a woman. She had spent more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. “I saved money from my first pay packet to buy my first property,” she says. “I have always believed in property as an asset class.”

PHILIP GOSTELOW

WilliaM POrTeOUS

T H E AUST R A L I A N

Aus t r A li A’s 10 0 be s t m A nsions THE L IST 2019

Steve YannarakIS

seAN DAV eY

ChRis CReR AR

tasmanian agent steve Yannarakis, who heads st Andrews estate Agents hobart, believes one of the best preparations for real estate was training as a property valuer. “this is an incredible grounding,” he says. “i am still amazed at how many agents have little to no idea of how property ownership works.” he says if he could change one thing about the industry, it would be to have higher education and training standards for agents. “Better-informed agents have better credibility with sellers and buyers alike,” he says. “training in ethics, property law, valuation methods and demographic trends.” Yannarakis secured tassie’s biggest sale in the past 12 months, selling a Battery Point home on the hobart riverfront, for $4.4 million. he says it was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to acquire one of hobart’s most significant residential properties. set on a 1175sq m Derwent River block, the home dates from 1896, with an extension added in the mid-1990s. “Not a big price by Point Piper or toorak standards, but by tasmanian standards, where recent price growth has been impressive,” Yannarakis says.

rICHarD anD SOPHIe LUtOn

Ben Collier, one of the founders of the Agency, specialises in prestige real estate in sydney’s eastern suburbs. he has secured records across many suburbs, including Centennial Park, Bellevue hill, Paddington and Woollahra. “i never take for granted that i’ll obtain a listing, nor do i take for granted securing a sale,” he says. Collier arrived in sydney in the early 1990s from Grafton and real estate is virtually all he knows. “i knew i wanted to enter real estate in the Paddington and Woollahra markets, and so i spent four weeks researching who were the four most proactive agents in the area,” he recalls. the leading McGrath Partners agent James Dack was one of those four. “i called him every day for weeks.” Collier was offered work experience and became a sales assistant two years later. the biggest sale of his career came last year, in conjunction with veteran agent Bart Doff, when the trophy home Rona in Bellevue hill sold to the scheinberg family for $58.3 million. late last year Collier sold a Coolong Road, Vaucluse, property for $38.8 million and this year he secured the sale of a tivoli Avenue home in Rose Bay for $23.5 million.

Richard luton founded his own real estate company in Canberra two decades ago, partly out of uncertainty about his three daughters gaining employment. Now daughter sophie is his colleague, and the pair hold the mantle for securing the highest house price in the ACt in the past 12 months – a $4.5 million sale in Forrest. in 2017 they set the house price record in Deakin, selling a terry Ring-designed home for $5.75 million and topping the previous suburb high by $1.45 million. Richard, who grew up on a farm in the snowy Mountains region, says it’s not an easy job but it is a very rewarding one, both morally and financially. “Getting to know so many people, assist them moving into their next stages of life and creating lifelong clients and friends is an amazing combination,” he says. he says he combines old-school approaches with innovation. “there will always be the importance of the simple old ways – communication, negotiation skills and empathy – but you need to be able to incorporate change into your style and business with an ever-changing industry.”

NiC WAlKeR

Ben COLLIer

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KEN JACOBS

RUssell shAKesPeARe

NiCK CUBBiN

Ken Jacobs is arguably Australia’s leading prestige agent, with consecutive national house price records to his name. he says he’s working on the next. the Christie’s international principal has secured the past three top sale prices in sydney: the $70 million sale of the Vaucluse home la Mer, on behalf of casino tycoon James Packer and his then wife, erica, in 2015; the $71 million record sale of Double Bay’s elaine to Atlassian billionaire scott Farquhar, in 2017; and the neighbouring Fairwater to Farquhar’s business partner Mike CannonBrookes a year later for $100 million. his sales include taking prices through the $20 million barrier when Boomerang, a spanish Mission home on sydney harbour at elizabeth Bay, was sold in 2002 for $20.7 million. “Prior to real estate i was licensed with the NsW health Department as an optical dispenser but, excuse the pun, i couldn’t see it as my future,” he says. “Real estate offered a diversity that intrigued me.” he says the industry has evolved but it’s still “fundamentally about people, not property. People and what motivates them have not changed.”

SArAh hACKEtt

Brisbane agent Matt lancashire holds the Brisbane house price record. in 2016 he sold the city’s most expensive property, at Kangaroo Point, for $18.48 million. this topped his earlier sale, when Balaam in hamilton was sold for $11.8 million in 2015. “Nothing beats selling a property for a client for a record price,” the principal of Ray White New Farm says, adding that the new world of technology has been a “game changer”. lancashire’s love of real estate includes building a few houses himself, the most recent in teneriffe, where he gained national coverage for his “Bat cave” style gym. he moved into real estate in 2006, landing his first job with agent cum auctioneer haesley Cush, and believes his apprenticeship as an electrician helps gives him an edge. “i have a thorough understanding of how construction works,” he says. there’s only one thing he would change about real estate, he says: how easily agent licences can be obtained. “i believe they give away licences way too easily,” he says. “i think they should regulate who comes into the industry. Real estate agents have that bad name because there are cowboys in the market.”

Brisbane estate agent sarah hackett recently secured Brisbane’s highest price for a house sold at auction, and the top sale of the year. the Bulimba riverfront went for $8.4 million. “it was a beautiful family home on a large parcel of land on the riverfront,” hackett says of the five-bedroom residence. the Place Bulimba managing director says the best feeling is when she secures a great listing. “that is really the hardest part,” she says. “A beautiful home in a great position will have a lot of interest from prospective purchasers, so when the sale eventuates it’s kind of a pat on the back for the process but the exhilaration is when you first get appointed.” hackett sold her first property working as a receptionist at a real estate office more than two decades ago. she dropped out of university where she was studying science before her real estate career took off. “A number-one lJ hooker agent suggested i try real estate and said she believed i would be excellent at it,” she says. her highest apartment sale came in 2016, when she sold in the city for $8 million. the data shows it sold to Kevin Rudd and therese Rein.

RUssell shAKesPeARe

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In a league of its own’ One of Australia’s largest & most private Mansions. Build to the highest standards sprawling across 5 of the best North facing Knightsbridge blocks of land, with 106 metres of sheltered water frontage. Designed by Brunei Royal Family architect Bayden Goddard, 100-year-old Chateau look, Full concrete construction, 250 screw piles drilled into the bedrock to withstand time and be passed to generations. Multiple formal and informal dining and living rooms, Lake Como style 30 m pool. This home is FIRB exempt meaning overseas buyers can buy with no visa restrictions. Sovereign Islands is a super exclusive 24 hour secured gated community on the Gold Coast.

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Sean CuSSell

DAV iD sOl M

JUl i A N K NGM A

Professionalism and negotiation skills are what set the good agents apart, especially in a tough market. that’s the view of Christie’s international, Prestige homes of Victoria principal sean Cussell. Recently Cussell has been credited with two of Melbourne’s highest ever sales, a recordsetting off-the-plan deal, plus the off-market sale of Melbourne’s priciest residence. “Both of these sales are confidential,” he says. “they were created from matching private clients, off market, through my private client register.” he is credited with securing Melbourne’s highest sale in the past 12 months, the $30 million off-the-plan penthouse in the yet to be built st Moritz complex in st Kilda, to the former Domain boss Antony Catalano. stonington, the Malvern mansion of art dealer Rod Menzies, sold to Chinese interests for a Victorian house price record of $52.5 million, with the local press giving credit to Cussell and the Kay & Burton agent Michael Gibson. the 1890s home, built by Cobb & Co partner John Wagner, bettered the previous $39 million record for a toorak sale in 2017.

Grant GIOrdanO

sydney agent Alison Coopes, who runs her own agency, Agency by Alison Coopes, wears the mantle for the highest house price sale by a woman in real estate. she has sold the Point Piper trophy home Altona twice – first for $52 million in 2013, then again three years later for $61.8 million, both times in conjunction with listing colleagues. she also secured the highest sale in 2016, a $47.8 million Carrara Road, Vaucluse harbourfront. Coopes was working in recruitment in the mid-’80s when the Richard ellis agency engaged her to find someone capable of marketing the Quay, the first off-plan sydney CBD high rise to be marketed. “After i presented candidates they approached me to ask if i would take on the role instead,” she recalls. she went on to work in Double Bay, for laing and simmons, lJ hooker and Ray White. Coopes says the biggest change she has seen in the real estate industry is that sales are now all about the agent, not the agency: “it is very personalised and the owners look long and hard at your track record and performance.

south Australia sotheby’s principal Grant Giordano said that the thrill of the sale once motivated him, but now there’s more to it. “As you grow in the industry, the adrenaline rush is replaced more by feelings of relief or empathy on behalf of your vendor,” he says. “securing their financial future is extremely gratifying.” Giordano recently secured Adelaide’s third-highest house sale, at more than $6 million. there was also a seven-bedroom beachfront mansion in tennyson that he sold for $5.2 million. his biggest sale in the past 12 months, however, was in switzerland, when he sold a home on a lake in Versoix for nearly $10 million. After gaining some property experience in the Us, he moved to Australia. “i wanted to apply what i’d learned in exclusive toorak,” he says. After sales totalling $50 million in 18 months, he relocated to head up the sotheby’s Adelaide office. his latest prestige listing is a 2013-built heathfield home in the Adelaide hills designed by Woods Bagot, that won the south Australia institute of Architects best New home category in 2018.

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Real estate hotshot Gavin Rubinstein has mastered his lucrative Sydney territory as only someone born to it could and says the business is all about exposure by milanda rout. Portrait by nic Walker

two of the properties sold by Gavin rubinstein, above. the agent, opposite, pictured at Point Piper

the whizz-kid Gavin Rubinstein is not your average real estate agent. the 32-yearold has taken out the top NsW agent award in the Ray White group seven times and has sold houses with pricetags up to $22 million. the nation’s most expensive real estate – sydney’s inner-east harbourside suburbs – is his hunting ground, and he has mastered it with 5am starts, cold calls and the help of a new tool: instagram. “this business is all about exposure,” he tells The List, sitting on the patio of a harbourside mansion in Point Piper with a perfect gun-barrel view of the city and the harbour Bridge. he is accompanied by his personal videographer and photographer, who capture every key moment of his life for instagram. “i think the more eyeballs or people who know about a property being sold the better; it just makes practical sense, right? And the number of multi-million dollar homes i have sold off instagram is insane. it is a phenomenal way to do business today.” Rubinstein, who has more than 22,000 followers, says he has always worked with social media during his decade-long career – before instagram, it was Facebook – and says it’s the perfect platform to deliver news of sales and future listings to the “right sort of” following. “Fifteen to 20 years ago, if you sold a property for a really good price you’d have to go through the Rolodex and call up

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all the neighbours,” he says. “hi, Mr or Mrs smith, i just wanted to let you know we sold 5 X street for X amount of dollars. that’s how you get business, by people seeing you sold a property for a good price and then wanting to engage your services. so back then, you would have to make thousands of calls. Whereas today, if you have built up a really good following of the right sort of people, you can let 10,000 people know about your sale through the click of one button called upload. if used properly it is extremely powerful.” the Bondi-born Rubinstein says he also puts a big proportion of listings on the platform, including regular “sneak peeks” of his highend properties. “so i regularly get contacted before a campaign actually starts and often we are doing a deal before the campaign kicks off,” he says. he posts photographs plus videos of the homes – often with himself as host – as well as pictures and footage of him and his team. he is always impeccably presented, and this too is documented for social media. he takes selling to the next level. it is a long way from where he started. Rubinstein’s first job, at 13, was at his local McDonald’s. his dad was a pharmacist, his mother worked in the beauty industry and he grew up in Bondi, sharing a room with his brother. “i saw my father work extremely hard, late, late nights and back to back. so that comes naturally to me,” he says of his decision to go into the workforce at a young age. “And i have always liked being independent. My parents were never in a position to financially assist or support, so i thought, i have to go get it for myself. And it has been the same pretty much ever since.” he struggled at school – “i didn’t enjoy it” – but finished and headed to europe with his mates for a gap year. On arriving in london, he met up with a friend of a friend, Nick house, who owned several high-profile nightclubs. “he offered me a full-time job,” recalls the agent. “i ended up staying for two years.” Rubinstein worked in the promotions department, and dealt with demanding clients who were paying thousands of pounds to secure a table at the nightclubs. it made him realise the value of good customer service but also of marketing, the power of media and generating buzz. the now 32-year-old had always been encouraged to try real estate while he was at school (friends thought it suited his personality) and on his return to Australia he decided to give it a go. he was hired by Ray White in Double Bay as a personal assistant to two agents. After a couple of years learning everything he could, he graduated to agent. “it was then i started to discover i could get momentum, i could feel the momentum, i could see the future,” he recalls. “so i thought, let’s give it a crack, and then three years later, i got the award for the number-one agent in NsW [for Ray White]. Just last week, i got that award for the seventh year in a row.” he credits an extremely strong work ethic for his success, as well as a serious number of phone calls. he still remembers his first sale – a townhouse in Vaucluse that sold for $615,000 – which came about through conversations he had as a personal assistant. “the main function of my role was to generate leads,” he recalls. “i was almost like a glorified telemarketer. i would just get on the phone and dial for dollars. i would completely cold call absolutely everyone and anyone in my core trade area, which is the harbourside eastern suburbs. i would nurture these leads to the point of them becoming sales down the track. You would get crazy amounts of rejection but rejection didn’t seem to faze me, because the goal i was working towards was always very clear.” those conversations paid off for one of his most outstanding sales – a triple, in fact, that included houses worth $9 million, $9.5 million and $8.5 million. it started with a cold call Rubinstein made while still a personal assistant, to a woman in the $9 million house. he developed a relationship with her so that when she wanted to sell, she came to Rubinstein. “And then, from that sale, i ended up selling the neighbour’s house about three doors down for $9.55 million. i then sold the buyer’s house for $8.55 million,” he says. “that was probably one of my most memorable sales.” After 10 years at Ray White in Double Bay, Rubinstein has left to set up his own practice. titled Ray White the Rubinstein Group, his firm has taken a number of the “phenomenal” team members from Double Bay with him as well as adding a few new agents. “i am super excited about this chapter and the challenges that lie ahead,” he says. “i pride myself on being able to demonstrate to the client why i am the person for the job because of the value i can add. And i’ve made a bit of a habit in the past decade of standing out by doing things just a little differently from my competitors.”

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ar grander now than it was even after its 1884 boomtime completion, the heritage italianate mansion Raheen in Kew ranks as Melbourne’s best-known privately owned trophy home. While its philanthropic chatelaine Jeanne Pratt, widow of billionaire packaging businessman Richard Pratt, welcomes appreciative guests into its grounds, the red brick Raheen is one of the city’s most tightly held homes. it last sold 38 years ago for $2.567 million. the Pratts bought it in 1981 from the Catholic Church, which had owned it for 64 years. it has only had four owners. Raheen sits among the select few admired homes that are seemingly off limits to buyers in the capital cities around Australia. these are family homes, occasionally intentionally hidden from the public by hedges, that are very much family heirlooms. their alluringly exclusive status enhances their eventual selling price, should another family ever get the opportunity to purchase. swifts, in sydney’s Darling Point, was keenly desired when its two-decade ownership by the Catholic Church ended in the mid1980s. But horse trainer Carl spies had an in with the church and nabbed it for $9 million, then a national non-waterfront record. swifts had been one of sydney’s most admired trophy homes since it was built in the 1880s for the tooth brewery family, with its soirees regularly gracing the newspapers’ social pages. the Gothic Revival home was the talk of the town when the tooths sold it to their brewery rivals the Resch family in 1900, when Robert lucastooth went to the UK to sit in the house of lords. the Moran healthcare family have seen themselves as swifts’ “custodians” since 1997 when they paid $12 million to the mortgagee after spies had become overextended. the mansion had fallen into disrepair. “two days after we exchanged contracts the ceiling collapsed,” shane Moran recalls. the property is expected to remain in family ownership for a very long time to come, he says, noting there is still work in progress. “it is all good fun, but you have to be a little mad .... my wife calls it a big black hole,” he says. the Moran parents, the late Doug and his widow Greta, spent $14 million over the first two years restoring the home, which has a ballroom purposely built bigger than the ballroom in the NsW Governor’s residence. A rare Fincham & hobday has been installed in the ballroom’s organ loft. Christie’s international agent Ken Jacobs, who last sold the home, says swifts would rank as a special property anywhere in the world. “A sandstone castellated gothic revival mansion on more than three acres of level land within 4km of an international CBD is rare by world standards,” he says. “the fact that it has survived and been revived, and has an ownership history ranging from beer barons to the Catholic Church, introduces another interesting dimension.” Carved into the façade is the tooth family motto Perseverantia Palmam Obtinebit – “Perseverance gains the prize”. Just down the Darling Point pensinsula, the Bushells tea family has owned Carthona since paying £10,500 in 1941, and the third generation of the family is in residence. the 1840s home was built by the NsW surveyor general, sir thomas Mitchell. Nerida Conisbee, chief economist with realestate.com.au, says owning an old, stately home is a symbol of wealth and status. “those who are wealthy enough to afford them in the first place usually don’t have any financial imperatives to sell them, instead passing them on through generations to other family members who appreciate the sentimental value,” she says. “the number of luxury homes in Australia is limited, especially those in amazing, sought-after locations, so it’s appealing to be able to hold onto them to showcase your wealth. housing in most parts of Australia gains value over time, so purchasing expensive luxury homes is a way to park money with good investment incentives.” No amount of money can wrest the most prized homes from their fortunate owners. Nearing a century of ownership is Cranlana in Melbourne’s toorak. Formerly known as Fyans lodge, the home of Charles Mills from the Uardry pastoral run, it was bought by department store founder sir sidney Myer and his wife Dame Merlyn (nee Baillieu) in 1920. the Clendon Road home was remodelled, providing much needed work during the 1930s Depression. Cranlana’s ballroom wasn’t exclusively used for entertaining 46

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secret house business The tightly held mansions of Australia’s wealthiest families rarely come to market by Jonathan Chancellor

Melbourne’s elite either. son Kenneth Myer’s wedding to Prudence Marjorie, née Boyd, saw 800 Myer emporium staff attend a party in 1947. Dame Merlyn resided at Cranlana until her death in 1982, some five decades after sir sidney’s death and it is still owned by the Myer family and used with philanthropic intent. Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes continued a charitable tradition when Double Bay’s Fairwater last month hosted the Australian ireland Fund garden party overlooking seven shillings Beach. the tech startup billionaire, a co-founder of the software giant, bought the harbourfront home, settling the recordsetting $100 million acquisition without any initial mortgage. it was the home of the late media family matriarch, lady Mary Fairfax, and last traded in 1901 for £5,350. the neighbouring elaine had been sold by the family in 2017, also signalling a baton change. that was bought by Atlassian’s cofounder scott Farquhar for a then record $71 million. the previous Australian record had been set at Vaucluse, where Chinese wealth secured the newly built hillside home of James and erica Packer. the Chinese born buyer, Dr Chau Chak Wing, the chairman of the Guangzhou-based property development company Kingold Group, had long held Australian residency. Contemporary homes have particular appeal for Chinese buyers. Mortgage broker John symond had two leading agents head off to China in 2016 to seek buyers for his Point Piper home Wingadal, built in 2007 after the earlier demolition of the Guilford Bell-designed hordern family home. it didn’t sell, notwithstanding a $100 million-plus offer. Billionaire trucking magnate lindsay Fox owns two of the best homes, in sydney and in Melbourne, plus a clifftop weekender at Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula. On sydney harbour, the Fox family has Boomerang, the elizabeth Bay waterfront bought for $20 million from cleaning entrepreneur John schaeffer in 2005. it was three years earlier when the home broke through the $20 million barrier. When the Fox family moved to enclose the exquisite wrought iron front gates, sydney City Council sought occasional public access. Boomerang, now in 4200sq m of Myles Baldwin gardens, dates from the 1920s, when the wealthy music book publisher Frank Albert paid $25,000 for land within the elizabeth Bay house subdivision. Albert commissioned architect Neville hampson to design the home in the popular hollywood architectural style, spanish Mission, at a cost of £60,000.

Clockwise from above: boomerang, in sydney’s elizabeth bay, one of the homes of trucking magnate lindsay Fox; swifts in Darling Point, owned by the moran family; the Pratt family seat raheen, in melbourne’s Kew; Cranlana in toorak, owned by the myer family

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lindsay and Paula Fox retain eulinya, a heritage-protected arts and crafts home in toorak they bought in 1978 for $570,000 from the lady mayoress, lady lilian Coles, wife of sir Arthur Coles of the supermarket family. the home had been designed by english architect Walter Butler in the 1920s for sir William McBeath, chairman of the state savings Bank. A 1927 edition of Australian Home Beautiful described the 22-room mansion as “a 20th century interpretation of old english architecture”. Most of the grander houses of Melbourne aimed to emulate the greater houses of Britain, although many were also influenced by trends in NsW, tasmania and even india, the architecture professor Miles lewis has noted. there were some 1200 houses with 20 or more rooms across Australia, most in Melbourne, at the end of the 19th century. lewis has followed the decline of the boom-time Victorian mansion, noting it began in the 1893 financial crash. “Not only did mansion building largely stop, but demolition and conversion began,” he wrote, calculating the decline to 515 grand homes by the 1930s. “some had been demolished to free up their sites for subdivision, but it was more common to subdivide around them.” the demolition peak occurred around 1955. “it was in the following year that the National trust acquired Como, and so, tentatively, the tide began to turn. today most of the true mansions that survive are in some sort of public or institutional ownership. “Only odd examples like Raheen, Coonac and sebrof are privately occupied. And most have lost their grounds,” he noted of the remaining 19th century homes in his essay “housing and status in Victoria Victoria”. there are a number of reasons these trophy homes do finally trade, and occasionally it is because there’s no choice. the last time

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the hermitage at Vaucluse sold was in 1975 when the hemmes family paid $500,000. it was a credit squeeze fire sale by Dick Baker and his wife, a former Miss California, following the 1974 collapse of his property development company Mainline. Pub baron Justin hemmes has recently renovated the heritage-listed Gothic residence with the aid of architect Brian hess of hess hoen and landscapers Michael Bates and Daniel Baffsky. toorak’s Coonac has twice been sold under bank instructions, first in 1893, when owner John Robb saw the Federal Bank foreclose after his rural losses. then, after the early ’90s recession, property developer livio Cellante and his wife Josie lost the home. One of toorak’s largest landholdings, Coonac last sold in 2002, to the transport and logistics magnate Paul little and his wife Jane hansen. its $14.5 million sale made it Melbourne’s then most expensive home. sebrof, on Orrong Road, Armadale, was in the hands of the education Department for decades, between 1959 and 1986. it was built for the Forbes family (sebrof backwards) to a design by Dalton & Gibbons in 1886. the family had sold by 1892. the home last sold in 2008 through Kay & Burton agent Ross savas, who says Melbourne has long had a “mentality of keeping and handing it down – far more so than sydney. “We have also seen the influx of the overseas buyer coming and buying their initial home, then not selling, but often buying another. these combined factors are creating a bottleneck.” the acquisitions can also create a compound, not that it is a new pursuit. in sydney’s Bellevue hill it was sir Frank Packer who set about amalgamating his fiefdom. he bought Cairnton for £7500 in 1935, spending a further £28,000 on five separate purchases to

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Clockwise from above: the interior of moorak, long the home of the salter family and now coming up for sale; the Hermitage at Vaucluse; moorak’s exterior; lindsay Fox’s melbourne mansion eulinya

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expand the holding in the 1960s. sir Frank’s son Kerry expanded it further in the late 1980s and 1990s by buying four more houses at a cost of more than $8.4 million. historians point to the compounds in medieval Venice, which offered a sense of family solidarity, defensive in intent against personal vendettas. the Pratts spent $3.5 million to buy an adjoining 4700sq m in 2006 as they went about sympathetically updating and extending the estate, bringing it into the 21st century. there are now three buildings on the 1.6ha estate, with Raheen 2 built in 1993 to a design by Glenn Murcutt. Australia’s richest man, Richard Pratt’s son Anthony, who now runs the family empire Visy, founded in 1948, undertook a $9.5 million renovation and Bates smart extension in 2015, creating Raheen 3. the original mansion dates from the 1870s, when the Carlton Brewery founder edward latham built what was then known as Knowsley. Barrister and politician sir henry Wrixon and his wife lady Charlotte, daughter of financier henry “Money” Miller, completed the home that became known as Raheen, meaning “little fort” in Gaelic. the Wrixons opened the home to raise funds for the Victorian ladies’ Work Association, which assisted women in distressed circumstances. it stayed with the Wrixons until 1917 before it was bought by the Catholic Church to accommodate Melbournes most notable archbishops, including Daniel Mannix. there was a 1960s subdivision After the Pratts purchased it, Jeanne Pratt embarked on her vision to transform it into “a cultural, business and social hub”. For the homes of mums and dads, who mostly move to accommodate more children, recent resale data from Corelogic shows that houses sold for a profit have been typically held for a decade or longer. those that sold for a loss had been typically held for less than six years. the most common reason for listing a trophy home is the death of the family patriarch or matriarch. the prized homes that last sold in pounds almost always carry a wow factor, attracting headlines when they are listed. held for nearly six decades, Armadale trophy home Moorak has been listed by the salter family matriarch, now in her nineties, for November 29 private auction. it traded for £20,000 in 1961. the home was built in 1888 for warehouseman William Walker. “the house represents the affluent and turbulent settlement of these boom-era estates,” the Victorian heritage Register reads. “every city has them – those handful of homes in those handful of streets that evoke a sense of yearning from just about everyone who passes by,” Abercrombie agent Jock langley says. “Moorak oozes heritage, provenance, nostalgia, and an understanding they simply don’t, and can’t, make them like this anymore. “this is the choicest of locations, where every square metre is prized real estate ... a 2000-plus square metre private escape with a magnificent 1880s italianate homestead, soaring trees, flower and fruit gardens, a gorgeous old glasshouse, a lovely shady pool, and a coachhouse at the bottom of the garden. “For the past 59 years, Moorak has been one family’s treasured home. spend a little time here and it’s easy to see why.”

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Brunswick East by Milieu Homes for Hospitality

We’re proud to share that Brunswick East by Milieu received a tick of approval on the ‘Design Excellence Scorecard’—a new program initiated by Moreland City Council. The Moreland Design Scorecard exists to improve the quality and liveability of medium and high-density housing in the area. This is a vision we share wholeheartedly, and we’re humbled to be the first recipient of this commendation. Brunswick East by Milieu is the only project thus far to meet all four benchmarks on 1 environmental impact, 2 building design and construction, 3 accessibility, and 4 community benefit. FOR INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT AND THE ‘DESIGN EXCELLENCE SCORECARD’ VISIT MILIEUPROPERTY.COM.AU OR CALL PATRICK COONEY ON 0408 527 248

ProPerty by design After a brilliant career in fashion, Collette Dinnigan has turned her creative talents to another profitable passion

by David meagher

ollette Dinnigan has always done the unexpected when it comes to her career. in 2013, and with annual sales of $14 million, she shocked the fashion industry by announcing that she was going to wind up her premium fashion label. After 24 years in the notoriously cut-throat fashion business, she was arguably Australia’s most successful designer – she was the first to show in Paris – and instead of selling the business, which she insisted at the time was profitable, she said that she wanted to move on and spend more time with her family. No one would have predicted at the time that her newfound love of domestic life would be the basis of a second brilliant career. home is not just where Dinnigan’s heart is these days, it’s also the source of her considerable wealth. since she shuttered her fashion business, Dinnigan has bought and sold more than $50 million worth of real estate making her one of our most successful house flippers. in 2015, she bought a former Masonic hall in the sydney harbourside suburb of Watsons Bay for $6.25 million, which she then transformed into a family home and sold 18 months later for $9 million. in 2016 she bought an estate in Avoca in the NsW southern highlands for $4.5 million and then sold it, after renovations and additions, two years later for $7.25 million. she promptly bought another estate in the southern highlands – in Bowral – last year for $3.5 million, which she is currently in the midst of renovating. When completed, the new Bowral property will include a main residence, a three-bedroom freestanding guest cottage, a studio, a pool house and guest quarters. the Bowral property was purchased, she says, after she and her husband, travel entrepreneur Bradley Cocks, sold their Avoca home somewhat unexpectedly. “initially we wanted to rent out the place when we moved to italy, but someone came along with an attractive offer and so we thought [selling] it was the best thing to do,” says Dinnigan. “And then we realised we had so much stuff that i needed to find somewhere to store it and i wasn’t really looking for another house, but we immediately realised the potential this place had. And so we bought it and settled simultaneously … and of course i couldn’t help myself and had to start improving it.” 50

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Colette Dinnigan at the guesthouse of the property she is renovating at bowral in the nsW southern Highlands, above

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Dinnigan has also in recent years purchased a $7 million house in Darling Point in sydney’s eastern suburbs; a beach house in Rosedale on the NsW south Coast for $950,000; and two investment terraces in inner-city Paddington for $1.9 million and $2.2 million respectively – as well as an apartment in her new hometown, Rome and a rural estate near Ostuni in Puglia in italy’s south. All up, she says, she has bought and sold “about a dozen” houses, along with her retail stores and her surry hills fashion warehouse and studio. Dinnigan insists, however, that you have to read between the lines about the gains she has made buying and selling property, and that she doesn’t flip houses just for a quick profit. “When it’s reported in a newspaper you only ever read about the bought price and the sold price – you never read about what was spent on it and the quality finishes and fixtures that were paid for,” she says. “i don’t lose money on my houses, although i always seem to go over budget. But people who buy a house i’ve renovated do so knowing that’s it is something that is really good quality and will stand the test of time. i try and do everything in a cost-efficient way in the long run but maybe not necessarily in the short term, like installing solar power and bore water like we’ve done here and at Avoca – that costs a lot of money.” Dinnigan’s knack for property investment was evident from her very first purchase – a two-bedroom cottage in sydney’s surry hills she bought in 1995 for $315,000. she sold the house five years later for $620,000, almost doubling her money. soon after, she bought her first retail store in William street in Paddington for $625,000, and the surry hills warehouse and studio for $1.2 million. in 2002 she set a record for Paddington, paying $4.1 million for a house in Underwood street that she sold in 2011 for $7.3 million. Dinnigan sold her William street shopfront last year for $1.6 million to tailor Patrick Johnson and earlier this year accepted an offer of $6 million for the three-level surry hills warehouse, which is slated to be transformed into apartments. she has also bought property in Milton on the NsW south Coast (a house that is available for holiday rental), a waterfront home in the exclusive coastal enclave of Palm Beach in sydney, which she sold to actor

sophie lee in 2014 for $3.2 million, and a second Paddington residence, bought from the Paspaley family in 2009 for $4.45 million, which she sold in 2015 for $6.5 million. More recently, however, Dinnigan and her husband have focused their property obsession on refurbishing a centuries-old farmhouse in Puglia, about an eight-minute drive from the picture-postcard whitewashed town of Ostuni. According to Dinnigan, it was the sale of her warehouse in surry hills that gave her the resources to buy and renovate the 3ha italian estate. the transformation from rundown farmhouse to luxury villa is almost complete and, as well as being a holiday house for Dinnigan and her family to enjoy, the four-bedroom house with swimming pool will also be available for short-term rental. “it’s too much of an investment for us to use just once or twice a year,” she says. “it’s got a lot of space, a chef’s kitchen, a big swimming pool, an outdoor pizza oven and an organic vegetable garden. Our plan with Puglia was always to rent it out.” While Dinnigan may have a deft eye for spotting untapped potential in houses and designing and managing renovation projects in Australia, her experience of doing the same in italy has been a challenging one, but ultimately rewarding, she says. “Oh my god!” is her first response to being asked what it’s like to renovate a house in southern italy. “it’s everything. it’s the work ethic, it’s the language, the mentality and the craftsmanship. i definitely learned a lot from the experience,” she says. “Builders there don’t do carpentry and i didn’t realise that, and i thought i had employed my builders to do everything. About six months ago i said, where are all the beams and where are the doors and so on. ‘Oh no that’s a different builder, that’s a carpenter,’ they told me. About half the house is wood and i quickly realised i had only been quoted on things that were being built in stone.” Dinnigan initially thought the project in Puglia would be a twoyear build, but it has taken nearly four years. she managed the project from her base in Rome, where she lives with Cocks and their young son hunter, flying to Puglia once a week to check on its progress. When she is in Rome, she wakes each morning to text messages from her builders and contractors in Bowral with images of

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opposite page: the former masonic Hall at Watsons bay that Dinnigan transformed into a family home and sold for $9 million. left and above: Golf House apartment interiors. below left: the balcony of one of two penthouse suites at bannisters hotel, mollymook

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the works in progress for her to approve. Then when she’s in Bowral, close to where her daughter from her relationship with Richard Wilkins is at boarding school, her Italian team start texting her around dinner time. Dinnigan and her family have been renting in Rome – a multilevel house with a rooftop terrace near the Colosseum – and only recently purchased a two-bedroom apartment near Campo di Fiori. It took more than two months for the vendor to accept Dinnigan’s offer, she says, and in the meantime, she had re-signed the lease on the Colosseum house. The apartment “has beautiful wooden beams and stone floors and a small outdoor terrace,” she says, “so we will renovate it and rent it out.” Apart from a financial play, Dinnigan’s revolving property portfolio has also been as much about her interest in interior design. She designed the interiors of all her stores and the workspaces for her fashion business. And she has also completed interior design projects for clients such as Bannisters hotel in Mollymook, where she created two penthouse suites, and the interior schemes for a recently completed apartment development in Surry Hills called Golf House. “I’ve always enjoyed interior design, and it’s just been my instinct to choose all the furniture and the finishes and fixtures and colours for all my houses, but when I closed my fashion business I just found I had more time to do it,” she says. “And like anything, if I’ve got more time I work twice as hard, I don’t cut back.” The relationship between client and interior designer can end up being fraught at times and Dinnigan says she has found the best way to avoid that happening: she makes herself the client. “I’ve always wanted to do interior design work for clients but I’m not a good person to just facilitate things,” she says. “A client would need to instinctively trust my ideas and my judgement. “People have often asked me to design their homes, and I spend

a lot of time consulting with them and then they take the ideas and go away and think they can do it better. I think it’s turned out that I’m probably best to do houses myself and then sell them. That way people get a quality home and in essence people get my interior design for free,” she says. Dinnigan has a proven track record when it comes to buying, renovating and selling houses for a tidy profit, but she says there is no simple formula to how she does it. “I think what I am good at is finding a place that has a very homely feeling,” she says. “I think you definitely get more experienced with each house that you do, but each place presents a different set of problems. Every house I’ve had has been very different from another and I’ve loved realising their potential and giving them a new life.” Quality is a word she comes back to throughout our conversation, and her one tip for people aspiring to make a career out of buying and selling houses is to worry less about size and more about quality. “If something is going to have your name to it, then you want it to be the best quality,” she says. “I think it’s better to have a smaller floorspace and spend more money on the fittings and finishes, rather than having a bigger floorspace just for the sake of it and spending less and cutting corners.” With their Puglia project almost completed and ready for guests next summer, Dinnigan says that she and Cocks would definitely consider buying and developing another property in Italy, and that their dream is to one day to own and design a boutique 20-room hotel – possibly somewhere in Tuscany, or near the coast, or even in Australia. And after a successful 24-year career as a fashion designer, retail is never far from her heart. “I think it would be amazing to have a hotel and to also have a store of some sort and to be able to sell all the things that I have discovered and used in my houses, such as the fabrics and the brassware and the tiles etcetera. It’s a dream Bradley and I have and I’m sure we’ll get there one day.”

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A 19th century Georgian mansion in country NSW is being lovingly transformed into a lavish showpiece by owners intent on creating their dream home

by lisa Allen. Photographed by tom Ferguson

ith its abandoned gold mine, extensive nursery wing and grisly old butchery, the 220 acre Rosedale Farm estate seemed an odd choice for a couple of city boys intent on a slick renovation. But interior stylist steve Cordony’s dream home was indeed the rundown, 1877-built Georgian mansion Rosedale – once a thriving 3300 acre cattle station deep in the heart of the NsW Central West. Cordony and his partner, Coca-Cola Amatil sales executive Michael Booth, are gradually converting the estate just outside the scenic township of Orange into a stunning country showpiece, complete with chandeliers imported from France and wallpaper shipped in from Paris and los Angeles. the pair are now more than two-thirds through the renovation of the grand double-storey house just outside the historic mining town, which is also home to their english cocker spaniel, louie, a pair of black and white shire (a British breed of draught) horses, and various ducks, geese, chickens and guinea fowl, as well as Pedro the peacock and lucy, a 280kg pet pig. “i wanted a big, old white house,” says Cordony, a scion of sydney’s Cordony construction family. “We almost bought a place in Berrima, NsW – it was more of a humble cottage – but then we saw this and fell in love with it. it’s definitely a much bigger project but it’s our dream home. “We were searching for three years; we bought this place within three weeks.” since Cordony and Booth bought Rosedale in 2017, around 27,000 trees have been planted in its english-style gardens; the artificial lake has been relined and the grounds manicured to within an inch of their life. the former stables have been converted into a grand poultry house, with a full-time caretaker minding the farm animals when Booth and Cordony are in sydney. On advice from a landscape architect, the pair have unfurled the

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owners steve Cordony and michael booth with their dog louie. rosedaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sumptuous interiors include the original flooring and cedar doors. the vintage chandeliers were imported from France and the wallpaper from europe. Cordony sourced the wooden furniture from upmarket auction houses

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house garden from 1.5 acres to an enormous 9.5 acres, planting lush vegetable plots. scores of lombardy poplars, elms, liquid ambers and maples dot the grounds, while topiaried buxus in large ornate urns line the entranceways. hardy ornamental pear trees are ranged along the driveway leading from the dusty old backroad up to the grand house. “We have planted these english-style trees to get the true four seasons,” Booth says. inside, the renovation continues apace, helped along by glittering vintage chandeliers imported from the south of France and the latest european wallpaper. “By the time we are almost dead the place will start to look beautiful,” Cordony laughs. But he is being coy. Rosedale’s renovated rooms boast sumptuous decor, with the construction work helped along by Cordony’s father Chris and brother Adam, both seasoned builders. With the help of a local builder, Rosedale has been rewired and plumbed and its eight bedrooms have been reduced to six. the homestead’s fireplaces have been swept, and many of the mansion’s poky rooms were opened up to achieve a cleaner layout. this is to better show off the wooden furniture Cordony has sourced from upmarket auction houses such as Vickers & hoad and Graham Geddes Antiques. Among the pieces is a magnificent ebonised armoire, which takes pride of place in Rosedale’s just completed dining room. Upstairs, Rosedale’s nursery wing is being converted into a grand master bedroom suite for the pair, who preside in the glamorous sydney beachside suburb of tamarama during the week. A Carrara marble clad ensuited bathroom with stone mosaic floor tiling has been installed. the pair have torn down the house’s old wallpaper, redesigned the main kitchen in shaker style, with French oak, Ralph lauren lighting and bespoke deep charcoal green cabinetry. there’s also a sumptuous new downstairs loo papered with the latest creation from Paris. the dining room’s wallpaper has been sourced from the london- and istanbul-based iksel decorative arts company. “everyone loves this wallpaper in the dining room,” Cordony says. “it could have been so polarising, but it works; everyone from the builder loves it.” Mercifully, given that Rosedale costs up to six figures a year to run, the homestead’s original wooden floors remain in situ, but many of the decorative cornices disappeared at the hands of the previous owners. in another bonus, the homestead’s original cedar staircase and cedar doors are still in good condition. Cordony, who is the style director for Belle magazine, admits that one of the first things he and Booth did was rip up the mint and turquoise staircase carpet in a bid to introduce a more monochromatic palette. “[the previous owners] were simple people; they lived simply,” he says diplomatically. however pinning him down on the interior style he is employing at Rosedale is not so easy. “i wanted to contemporise the home,” he says. “My look is a dichotomy between contemporary and traditional. i wanted a sense of theatricality. i am not hamptons, nor am i Cape Cod. i don’t want my style pinpointed. Cordony does concede that he is a fan of luxe hotels, particularly highly acclaimed interior designer Kit Kemp’s Firmdale hotels, saying he loves the chintz. “i will put a chandelier above the new bath, to introduce an ultra-luxe element,” he says. But the drought has cruelled Booth’s plans to open an onsite nursery and at great expense the pair have dug seven bore holes throughout the property, looking for water – to no avail. One of the reasons they plumped for Orange was its propensity for consistent rainfall but that is not the case at present. they are also intent on renovating Rosedale’s old servants’ quarters, which presently house the large meat room, store rooms and a kitchen at the rear of the main house. the plan is to convert the section into two luxurious self-contained spaces for paying guests. they also envisage hosting private events at Rosedale, including significant birthdays, weddings and corporate functions. such has been the success of the property’s interior that Booth is scouring overseas real estate magazines and listings for a similar restoration project. “Michael is already looking for a place in italy,” Cordony says with a grin.

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Blue horizon This serene clifftop home captures the essence of the beach house’s power to mesmerise its occupants by David meagher. Photography tom Ferguson

i Perched on a cliff, the house has uninterrupted views of the Pacific ocean

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in his novel Mostly Harmless, the last in the hitchhikers series, the author Douglas Adams wrote: “A beach house isn’t just real estate; it’s a state of mind.” As an escape from the pressures of day-to-day life, a beach house should lift the spirits and put one in a position of calm and serenity. it’s a conjuring trick this house on sunshine Beach at Noosa, in Queensland, performs with extraordinary ease. Designed by the late Australian architect Kerry hill, the Ogilvie house, as it’s known, won the Australian institute of Architects Robin Boyd award for residential architecture in 2003. the house is perched on the top of a cliff overlooking the long, white stretch of sunshine Beach with uninterrupted views across the Pacific Ocean and is actually a permanent family home rather than a holiday house. it’s no coincidence, however, that it looks – and feels – more like a luxury resort than a traditional house. hill, who was born and educated in Perth but spent most of his working career based in Asia, is best known as the architect of several of many of Aman’s exclusive resorts, from tokyo to Bhutan to Bali and sri lanka. the Ogilvie house is one of only a handful of private homes designed by hill, who was awarded the Australian institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2006 and died in 2018 at the age of 75. From the moment you walk through the heavy, pivoting, timber door from the street, the house imparts an immediate feeling of tranquillity. On the ground floor, a gallery-like space with a central reflecting pool showcases an impressive collection of Australian art, and glimpses of the Pacific Ocean can be caught through the three hotel-style guest bedrooms that occupy the same level. in fact, because of the stepped

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there are framed ocean views from almost every room in the house, and a blending of indoor and outdoor space

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floor arrangement of the house from the edge of the cliff to the rear boundary, and the blending of indoor and outdoor space, there are framed ocean views from almost every room in the house, even those at the very back of the building. the design of the Ogilvie house has been said to be reminiscent of the famous California Case study houses of the 1960s rather than a typical Queensland house, because of its use of steel and concrete and its flat roof. hill’s work, particularly for Aman, was a mix of modernity and minimalism, and showed an acute understanding of the regional characteristics of particular locations he was working in. While this house is as far from a typical Queenslander in vernacular as possible, it is still a building that responds to its subtropical environment. the Ogilvie house is at once open and permeable, private and enclosed. Walls and doors slide away and disappear. it’s a style of building perfectly suited to Queensland coastal living. And just as in a luxury resort, the idea of self-sufficiency seems to have been integral to hill’s design too. the house is planned so that once you are there, every amenity you might need is to hand. there’s a pool, a gym, a library, a cellar, a caretaker’s residence, a private path to the beach, and enough cold storage to last an entire season. this house is a beach house by virtue of its location and it captures the spirit of luxurious seaside living with elegance and calm, made possible by the fusion of private indoor and outdoor spaces, all enclosed by courtyard walls. if a beach house is a state of mind, it’s little wonder the Ogilvie family have chosen to make this one their permanent home.

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i it was a dream brief for interior architect Blainey North: total freedom to create a new family home in the sydney suburb of Vaucluse. the client was Roxy Jacenko, the PR maven who has become a celebrity in her own right, and all she wanted was a sanctuary from a hectic life. North did the rest. “i have worked with Blainey for many years now,” Jacenko says. “she first did a house for me in Woollahra way back when i was single, and she has also done my office. And the thing with Blainey is i don’t need to be involved. she has a vision. And she delivers on it each and every time. i need to work with people who know their craft and have confidence in it, and just go and do it. that’s why i like working with Blainey, because you can just leave her to it.” Jacenko and husband Oliver Curtis bought the property in Vaucluse for $6.6 million in september 2018 after living in an apartment in Bondi for five years with their two children, PixieRose and hunter, and the family dog. the couple wanted more space for their brood, and they were attracted to the “kid-friendly suburb” as well as the stunning views of the harbour from the property’s top floor. “When we bought it, my vision was paint, carpet and just freshening it up. Clearly Oli’s view was very different from mine and we ended up with basically a new home. i seem to be more frugal than him,” Jacenko says, laughing. “that said, what we have now is a house that i don’t see myself moving from for the next 10 years. And for me that is unusual, because i was brought up where my Mum and Dad developed property and you would move every five minutes, so i lived quite a gypsy lifestyle.” Jacenko reached out to North to redesign the interiors of the house and Curtis became the onsite project manager over the eightmonth build. “We have worked with Roxy for more than a decade,

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b r e at h i n g space Fitting the creation of a new family home into a hectic life means trusting the process to the experts – which is exactly what Roxy Jacenko did

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Clockwise from far left: entrance hall and stairwell; living room; roxy Jacenko; two views of the dining room

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Clockwise Clockwisefrom fromtop topleft: left:two twoviews viewsof ofthe the study; study;the the‘beauty ‘beautyroom’, room’,with withpart partof of Jacenko’s Jacenko’sextensive extensivehandbag handbagcollection; collection; the themaster masterbedroom bedroomwith withits itsviews viewsover overthe the harbour; harbour;geometric geometricrug rugin inthe thebeauty beautyroom room

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this this being being our our fourth fourth project project with with her,” her,” says says North. North. “she “she trusts trusts our our process processand andgives givesus usthe thewonderful wonderfulgift giftof ofdesign designfreedom. freedom.the thebrief brief was was to to reskin reskin the the interior interior of of the the house house and and to to create create aa sanctuary sanctuary from from their their contemporary contemporary and and fast-moving fast-moving lives.” lives.” North North did did this this by by using using white white French French panelling panelling on on the the walls walls throughout throughout the the house, house, black black oak oak floors, floors, and and marble marble in in the the kitchens, kitchens, bathrooms bathrooms and and fireplaces fireplaces as as well well as as other other touchpoints. touchpoints. “We “Wewere weretaken takenby bythis thisidea ideaof ofimposing imposingaanew newsense senseof ofopulence opulence through through very very simple simple and and almost almost brutalist brutalist detailing,” detailing,” she she explains. explains. “the “the interior interior isis quite quite interesting interesting as as the the addition addition of of contemporary contemporary French French panelling panelling imposes imposes repetition, repetition, bringing bringing order, order, opulence opulence and and aa sense sense of of calm calm to to the the interiors. interiors. itit isis reminiscent reminiscent of of traditional traditional French French interiors interiors and and yet yet isis then then purposely purposely juxtaposed juxtaposed against against contemporary contemporary matte matte black black walls walls and and black black marble. marble. this this radical radical contrast contrast isis almost almost cinematic.” cinematic.” the the interior interior designer, designer, who who isis known known for for her her work work on on private private residences residences as as well well as as hotels hotels around around the the world, world, says says her her team team even even coined coined aa term term for for the the aesthetic. aesthetic. “Brutal “Brutal decadence, decadence, as as we we have have selfselfnamed named the the concept, concept, describes describes the the referencing referencing of of modernist modernist architecture, architecture, yet yet executing executing highly highly detailed detailed moments moments of of decadence decadence within within strong strong geometry geometry and and form,” form,” she she explains explains from from New New York, York, where where she she isis travelling travelling for for work. work. “We “We see see this this project project forging forging aa new new refined refined design design aesthetic aesthetic that that isis both both highly highly detailed detailed like like traditional traditional classic classic architecture architecture yet yet completely completely modern modern in in its its aesthetic aesthetic value.” value.” there there were were also also aa few few specific specific requests requests from from Jacenko: Jacenko: aa beauty beauty room, room, aa cinema, cinema, an an infrared infrared sauna sauna and and plenty plenty of of space space for for the the

children children (they (they have have their their own own bedrooms, bedrooms, bathrooms bathrooms and and playroom playroom downstairs downstairs with with aa “hoseable “hoseable floor” floor” for for Pixie, Pixie, who who likes likes to to make make slime). slime). When When The The List List spoke spoke to to Jacenko, Jacenko, she she had had been been in in the the house house for for aa few few months months and and how how she she lived lived in in itit had had surprised surprised her. her. “You “Youwill willlaugh laughat atthis thisbut butititisisactually actuallyhow howmuch muchiidon’t don’tuse usethe the space,” space,”she shesays. says.“it’s “it’sfunny, funny,iihad hadall allthese thesevisions visionsfor foraabeauty beautyroom, room, an an infrared infrared sauna, sauna, aa gymnasium, gymnasium, aa cinema, cinema, and and yet yet the the only only time time i’ve i’ve actually actually sat sat in in the the cinema cinema ii fell fell asleep. asleep. “You “You go go from from being being in in aa small small space space to to aa large large space, space, but but then then you you end end up up only only using using aa couple couple of of rooms. rooms. they they are are mostly mostly the the kitchen kitchenand andthe thebedroom, bedroom,because becausethat’s that’swhere whereiineed needto togo goto tosleep! sleep! But But itit isis nice nice to to know know you you have have everything everything there.” there.” the the house house does does provide provide aa much-needed much-needed sanctuary sanctuary from from Jacenko’s Jacenko’scrazy crazylife, life,and andshe shesays saysshe shehas hashad hadthe themost mostjoy joypottering pottering around around the the garden garden with with her her children children on on the the weekends. weekends. itit isis also also about abouther herfamily familynow nowbeing beingable ableto tohave havesuch suchaabeautiful beautifulhouse houseafter after aa few few tumultuous tumultuous years years (Curtis (Curtis went went to to prison prison for for insider insider trading trading and and Jacenko Jacenko herself herself battled battled cancer). cancer). “there “there isis aa luxury luxury about about having having those those extra extra spaces,” spaces,” she she says. says. “For “For me, me, it’s it’s aa sense sense of of achievement. achievement. We We hit hit the the lowest lowest of of the the lows lows when when Oli Oli went went to to jail jail and and ii went went from from being being aa person person with with three three properties properties to to having having one one property property because because we we had had to to sell. sell. “i “i now now have have aa sense sense of of achievement achievement because because we we are are back back on on our our feet feet and and this this house house isis testament testament to to that. that. so so while while ii don’t don’t need need an an infrared infraredsauna saunaand andiicertainly certainlydon’t don’tneed needaagym gymor oraacinema, cinema,for forme me itit shows shows we we are are back back on on top.” top.”

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by lisa Allen. Photography by mark roper

Urban lUxe When architect Rob Mills converted a rundown Melbourne warehouse into a residence he drew on European traditions of space and aspect to transform it into a true city mansion 66

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the brass-lined door frames are among the many significant design features

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Converting a rundown cardboard factory on the edge of a treelined park into a contemporary mansion complete with a european Ash-lined winter room, inspired by an english manor house or swiss ski chalet, is no mean feat. Just ask internationally acclaimed architect Rob Mills. Mills is only too happy to reveal the intense pressure he faced when he set about reconfiguring the old warehouse in the upmarket Melbourne suburb of Armadale. “there are no excuses when you design for yourself, if you are an architect,” he says. “if it’s not really good you are exposed, your skills are exposed. there is nowhere to hide.” Mills employs 30 staff in his architectural practice in Prahran, Melbourne, and in sydney’s Woollahra, where he has six major harbourfront homes on the drawing board. Comparing himself to a humble shopkeeper, he says that to win work as an architect you must display your wares. “And the results have to be exceptional to induce clients. in that way you can get commissions to do other exceptional projects.” Mills received no less than 10 commissions from Armadale house, attracting clients from the trendy northern NsW idyll of Byron Bay to the sydney waterfront suburbs of Mosman and Vaucluse. in Victoria, Armadale house enticed clients from south Yarra, Armadale and Portsea, as well as cashed-up customers from Flinders near Red hill. “these are some of the best commissions in the country,” he says. Contemporary in design, Armadale house sports 3.4m high ceilings and grand spaces. “it’s a scale you would find in a traditional house, not so much in a contemporary one,” Mills says. “in the european tradition, i put the living rooms on the first floor to give us the most beautiful views 68

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the former cardboard factory in Armadale has been transformed into a contemporary mansion, with high ceilings, curated furniture, stucco ceilings and wall finishes, glazed skylights and stone floors sourced from Verona. opposite: the european Ash-lined winter room

across the park, with the city beyond. So you look out into the treetops of the plane trees of the Union Street Park.” For Mills, the most significant design points include brass-lined door frames, stucco ceiling and wall finishes, and glazed skylights running the length of the building, while a restored grand piano is a counterpoint to the curated furniture. Taking a good two years to construct, Armadale House uses stone floors from a sixth-generation quarry in Verona with a grey and white veined marble as well as traces of brownish-red. The fully interconnected five-bedroom house incorporates a two-bedroom apartment. “I did that apartment because I imagined one day that I would move to the smaller apartment and my children would live in the house, or I would rent it out,” says Mills. Despite the pressure, he says he has achieved his aim, which was to design Armadale House as an urban residence. “I was keen, however, to ensure that there is enough light, that the materials push a strong design ethos and, moreover, that it becomes a family home as opposed to a bachelor pad.” It has the best of living in the city, and the convenience. “I wanted a great family home that allowed us to have a country destination in addition,” Mills says. “So you can pull the front door closed and go to the beach or overseas without the burden of having to water the garden or mow the lawns. It’s a true city residence.” The architect divides his leisure time between the city and his Lorne beach house, known as Ocean House, whose design also caused him grief. He is saving to build a fishing shack on another property he owns in the Victorian High Country’s Howqua Valley, where neighbours include cattlemen. Despite the stress, he says the projects won’t be the last he designs for himself. “I like to do things perfectly,” he says. “I am a proud man.”

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h O M E AWAY FROM hOME Pricey luxury is demanded these days by families for their beach getaways. They can may look authentically Australian, but inside are the mod cons you’d find in a luxury resort. Everything from the motorised blinds, pool temperature, even the woodfired pizza oven, is controllable via smartphone, right down to keeping the mozzies away. For busy executives, the beach has long been the popular go-to summer spot, and that means stellar prices are being paid by Jonathan Chancellor and Joel robinson

MORNINGTON PENINSULA & BELLARINE PENINSULA, VICTORIA the tightly held clifftop homes on the Mornington Peninsula, just an hour or so from Melbourne, have long been admired from the bay. Mostly hidden behind hedges, the now largely rebuilt limestone homes with their private bathing boxes seem a charmed world where business, property and the society pages overlap every summer. in recent decades the property focus has moved to prestigious inland offerings. Cattle farms have been subdivided into smaller acreages snapped up by equestrian lovers and wine aficionados. the late former managing director of Nylex Corp sir Peter Derham oversaw a 16ha Red hill south property where the cattle were replaced with vines. he and wife lady Averil Derham established Red hill estate winery in 1989 and it’s still a go-to wine destination. earlier this year, former ANZ Bank chairman Charles Goode and his wife Cornelia offloaded their weekender next door for $6.5 million. Red hill south was the site of the peninsula’s biggest sale in 2018. the $16 million property, sold through Rob Curtain at Peninsula sotheby’s, was bought by Mark healey, son of billionaire eddie healey, who made his money building UK shopping centres. the 6.5ha estate includes a full-sized arena and stables. An art lovers passion holds the record price inland at Flinders, set when entrepreneur Daniel Besen and his then wife Danielle sold the award-winning Miramar for $17 million. the Wood Marsh-designed home was described by Curtain as “land art by the sea”. Andrew Muir, the former boss of Good Guys, bought the seven-bedroom home. the Mornington Peninsula record has been untouched since 2010, when former Computershare director Michele O’halloran sold ilyuka, on the Portsea clifftop, for $26 million to investor John higgins. this year has seen a near-$20 million sale with Moonya, a 2800sq m Portsea clifftop home sold by Zenith interiors founders John and Jenny Fischer. On the other side, on the Bellarine Pensinsula, Corio Bay doesn’t have the same cachet, but at Curlewis, a modern weekender (above and above right) created for Aaron Kanat, former MD of hugo Boss, sold for $5.6 million in 2017. 70

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BYRON BAY, NSW Melbourne and sydney buyers tussle with Brisbane buyers for offerings at Byron Bay. Of course the headlines are all about Chris hemsworth and assorted hangers on, including Matt Damon. the town attracts Australian and international celebrities, most looking to rent but some keen to snap up a long-term chilled getaway. “it’s a bit like Aspen with waves ... plenty of visitors from the high end to the hipsters,” says one owner. the business buffs have mainly come from Melbourne in recent years. sussan Group fashion company founder Naomi Milgrom has snapped up four holdings. Anthony eisen, chief executive at AfterPay, and stephen Ring, who oversaw the sale of the swisse vitamins giant for $1 billion, are other owners. Former sydney-based teen magazine publishing entrepreneur Deke Miskin and wife eve have preferred their Wategos Beach house since they sold Altona, their $52 million Point Piper home. the record-setter on Byron’s Marine Parade dress circle was recently sold again – to eli havas, wife of F45 training founder Adam Gilchrist, who paid $18.85 million. that represented a small rise on the $15.68 million paid in 2006 by former ticor Developments director Danny Goldberg, who is now chairman of private equity firm Dakota Capital. the Marine Parade trophy Whalewatchers (above), named after its position overlooking Watego’s Beach, remains for sale through lJ hooker agent liam Annesley, who is seeking $14 million to $15 million.

SUNShINE COAST, QUEENSLAND holidaymakers descend on Noosa every spring and summer, but its consistent climate ensures it’s a year-round tourist spot. they head to sails and locale on hastings, and a lucky few will retire at night to their own apartments on the prestige hastings street. there are just under 200 units along the beachfront strip, and local agents report that between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of buyers there come from outside the state, most from sydney and Melbourne. Noosa’s planning laws have preserved the village’s charm, banning high-rises, traffic lights and billboards. Apartment complexes are limited to four storeys,

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meaning supply will be restricted. three of the four apartments in First Point at little Cove, the first point after hastings street, fetched more than $1 million before hastings street passed the mark. the first sale was in 1987, when the first-floor penthouse sold for $1.3 million. the block, which has direct beach access, is so tightly held there hasn’t been a sale there since 2004. One of the three-bedroom apartments is a $1950-a-night holiday rental and is always booked out. the first hastings street apartment sale to pass $1 million came five years later. A three-bedroom penthouse in the First Point la Mer block sold for $1.03 million. it resold late last year for $7.2 million. Recent sales have included the $5.5 million starlight suite in the Netanya beachfront resort on hastings. Richardson & Wrench calculate about 80 per cent of its hasting street purchases have come from other states. the penthouse sale follows a bull run of hastings street activity, crowned by an $8.25 million record sale of a three-bedroom apartment in twenty three hastings earlier this year. A record $11 million is being sought for an apartment in Noosa Court through tom Offermann Real estate agent Roark Walsh. At sunshine Beach down the coast it’s primarily houses that make waves. Big-name sports stars have attracted attention to both areas, and they tend to own homes rather than apartments. Austrian tennis champion thomas Muster has built a number of homes in the three decades he called Australia home. One of his most impressive, Cintimani, is the first, built in the mid-1990s in the hinterland. he created a championship tennis court, a replica of Flushing Meadows in New York, and sold the property for $7.6 million in 2002. Fellow tennis star Pat Rafter held the sunshine Beach record last year when he sold his beachfront home (left) for $15.2 million when the family moved to Byron Bay. he and his wife lara built the seven-bedroom home in 2010 after paying $9.5 million for the 1285sq m block in 2006. two weeks later, in 2018, the Rafter sale was broken by a residence further up the beach (far left) that fetched $18 million. Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber has owned a hilltop Noosa retreat since buying it from Muster for $4.9 million in 2011.

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PALM BEACH, NSW

MARGARET RIVER, WESTERN AUSTR ALIA Margaret River is the jewel in Western Australia’s long coastal crown. the tourist spot, some 265km south of Perth, is set between the indian Ocean and its many vineyards. the Augusta/Margaret River shire boasts a coastline with 120km of beaches, bays and rocky points and its real estate market has been more resilient than Perth’s during the recent extended downturn, given its stronger population growth. it has also been buoyed by some 700,000 visitors a year, with internationals making up 20 per cent of visitor nights. the holiday home buyers are predominantly from Perth, as well as expats based in Asia who don’t mind the short flight back. eagle Bay is considered WA’s most exclusive holiday enclave, with just 20 of its 280 properties being absolute beachfront. Prices peaked in 2007, when Mosman Park’s Angela Roberts paid $10.75 million for a 2650sq m northfacing beachfront marketed as the best homesite ever offered in the southwest of Western Australia. longtime Oil search boss Peter Botton upgraded this year to a $2.9 million home, having first bought in 1999. the Forge Group co-founder Andrew ellison upgraded last year to a $3.7 million home. Alan and Kylie Briery, from the mining services company, paid $4.4 million in 2012 for Kennebunkport, a beachfront homesite that property developer Warren Anderson had bought in 1989 for $420,000. lloyd Zampatti, the late former managing director of swan Brewery, was among the first to buy there when he secured his family’s beachfront block in 1980. NAB chairman Michael Chaney and wife Rose also have an eagle Bay beachfront, which they bought for $390,000 in 1989. they sold Wallcliffe house on st Alouarn, Margaret River (pictured above) after it was lost in the fires of 2011. the destroyed 1850s Georgian homestead sold in 2016 to Alexandra Burt, the daughter of iron ore magnate Michael Wright, and she has expressed interest in building a high-end hotel. there is a nearby st Alouarn listing of a 2005-built pavilion-style home (pictured above) designed by local architect theo Matthews, set on 1.5ha. Mint Real estate Claremont agents Peter Clements and Caro Cunningham are seeking $4 million. 72

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Palm Beach, grandly likened to the hamptons by some residents, is the weekend playground of the harbour city’s wealthiest. Just 45km from the harbour, the end of the Barrenjoey peninsula on the northern beaches offers a choice between the ocean and Pittwater. On Pittwater, there are 74 tidal waterfront homes, 25 deep waterfronts and 87 sandy beachfronts, on iluka, Waratah and Barrenjoey Roads. there are 35 beachfront reserve houses along Ocean Road. the pricey coastal retreat first went past $1 million in 1981 when the late media billionaire Kerry Packer bought a 4000sq m beachfront reserve retreat. Daughter Gretel got the property when the family assets were divided. it was transferred with a value of $24 million in late 2015. the highest on-market sale was in 2012, when car dealer laurie sutton spent $22 million on the trophy home Kalua. the hordern family reputedly sent its architect to hawaii to copy the Dillingham plantation residence before building the home. Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has a weekender, as do fund manager Rob luciano (house above), agribusiness boss Doug shears and venture capitalist Bob Blann. the most recent big-ticket sale was Palm haven, a Barrenjoey Road waterfront compound with Phillip Cox-designed homes. it sold for around $20.5 million to the Roche family, founders of Nutrimetics, through lJ hooker. Palm Beach was named after the Cabbage tree palm livistona australis. the southern end of the beach was known as Cabbage tree Boat harbour on maps dating back to 1832. in the 1940s the Barrenjoey headland became a mecca for young sydney artists. some formed the nucleus of a small artists’ camp that lasted until the 1960s. these days the bohemian vibe has gone. Mel Gibson moved on after the filming of Tim in the late 1970s but some film industry veterans, including Peter Weir, David elfick and Rebel Penfold Russell, remain. hollywood stars fly in to rent. Nicole Kidman has holidayed there, paying around $40,000 a week, and Mick Jagger, John Cleese and elle Macpherson have also stayed. there have been land tax issues too, with land valuations soaring in recent years. Prime spots can see owners pay more than $100,000 per annum if it is not their principal residence. the 2.6sq km locality typically sees some 50 house sales annually. Days on market is at 99 days, although some like former Crown boss Rob Rankin’s hillside block of land is yet to find a buyer.nearly 12 months after being listed. the median house price is $3.342 million, according to realestate.com.au, and new builds are ensuring growth in value.

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outlook by Jonathan Chancellor

he big question for all owners, sellers, buyers and agents is whether the rebound in luxury house sales will continue, stabilise or be a dead cat bounce in 2020. everyone on the internet has an opinion on what will happen, and when, where and how much. these opinions attract both likes and nasty trolling. “When people are uncertain, they need really good advice,” international property commentator Brad inman told luxury estate agents last month. “You need to be smarter than the internet about market conditions,” he urged. he said the most successful estate agents need emotional, technological and market intelligence. “luxury agents, any agents, need to have a deeper understanding of what their clients need and how to go deeper into the market than those clients could on their own.” it’s clear, however, that the premium market is leading the nascent recovery, says tim lawless, Corelogic’s head of research. sydney and Melbourne showed a 4 per cent rise in dwelling values across the upper quartile of the market through the september quarter compared with a 2 per cent lift across the lower quartile. the stronger price growth across the premium sector comes after it copped a larger correction in the two previous years. sydney’s top quartile properties still sit 13 per cent below their peak while Melbourne’s are still 12 per cent below their peak. lawless says most market recoveries have shown a similar trend, “with the early phase of the recovery cycle starting in the blue-chip markets and growth eventually rippling out to more affordable areas”. the current spring market is certainly very quirky. there’s no doubt some capital city prestige sales are exceeding boom-time values, but there’s an equal number that just can’t jag a buyer. What is both assisting and hampering the market is low levels of stock on market and those off-market pocket listings. Corelogic estimates that overall there were 375,000 settled house and unit sales over the past year, some 18 per cent below the decade-long average. the 2019 sales turnover hasn’t been this low since 1997, in part due to the downturn in consumer confidence as the wealth effect moved into reverse during the housing downturn. it especially affects those entrepreneurs who have held off on home upgrades and acquisitions as they await a firm indication of the state of the economy. Guy Debelle, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s deputy governor, recently commented on the low turnover having had a number of macroeconomic impacts, including on overall consumption. “Our standard estimate of the wealth effect is that a 10 per cent fall in housing prices leads to a 1½ per cent fall in household 74

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While the price rebound at the luxury end is promising, in these uncertain times property buyers, sellers – and agents – need to arm themselves with the best market intelligence to stay ahead

consumption over time,” Debelle says. he says with prices starting to grow again, housing turnover so far had only picked up a little. “We may get a better sense of which has been the bigger drag on consumption – wealth or turnover,” he says. there is no doubt that luxury buyers are willing to spend a lot more than ever before. And across each of the capital city markets, house sales with a value within the 2 per cent of the market account for around 5 per cent of all house transactions. lawless recently looked at the top 2 per cent of values. in sydney that involves houses above $3.2 million and $1.8 million for units. that’s $2.3 million above the sydney house median and $1.1 million above the unit median. Volumes are down 40 per cent on 2017. the Woollahra municipality’s $8.16 million just pipped Mosman, where the top 2 per cent have a value of $7.79 million. in Melbourne it is no surprise that the City of stonnington has the most exclusive houses, at $6.88 million, followed by Melbourne at $3.94 million then Boroondara at $3.9 million. Overall the top 2 per cent of values in Melbourne were at $2.5 million-plus for houses and for units it is $1.2 million. that is $651,000 above the unit median and $1.8 million above the house median. Brisbane is the only capital city topped by a regional location, with pricier trophy home sales. the top 2 per cent at Noosa on the sunshine Coast was tracking at $1.87 million, while Brisbane houses were at $1.52 million and the Gold Coast $1.33 million. Western Australia’s most expensive municipalities were led by Peppermint Grove at $3.82 million, followed by Cottesloe’s $3.35 million and Nedlands’ $3.11 million. south Australia’s Burnside municipality showed a $1.66 million value as did Unley, with Walkerville at $1.55 million. in hobart’s top two percentile range is anyone with a house worth more than $1.035 million and in Canberra, more than $1.477 million. Darwin is the only capital city where the 98th percentile for a house is less than $1 million, at $878,000. like houses, apartment volumes are lower in all capital cities. the top 2 per cent of the market for units sits below $1 million, in every capital city except sydney and Melbourne. interestingly Adelaide’s prestige apartment market was the highest transacting in terms of the percentage of overall sales. some 9 per cent of apartment sales were in the top 2 per cent of the Adelaide market. Across the capital cities luxury estate agents are noticing an emerging trend of new money. While they’re not dominating the market as they are in the Us, these younger millionaire buyers have often made their fortunes in technology iPOs or acquisitions. they are in the mix along with the top end of town, overseas buyers and old money, but they are part of the transformative times for the industry. these young millionaires have different personal and business networks than do traditional buyers, and are more likely to reach out to an agent on social media than via traditional channels.

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