Blackett & Foster-Designed c1926 Bayfront Manse in Elwood Lists for $3.5m+

Elwood is a unique pocket of the Melbourne bayfront; although situated between two of Melbourne’s earliest suburbs, St Kilda and Brighton, Elwood did not experience significant development until the time of Federation. Prior to the 1895 construction of the Elwood Canal, the suburb was the domain of uninhabitable swampland. The Canal was a mixed success and required hefty investment over the years, but the suburb of Elwood first saw the congregation of grandiose bayfront mansions followed by an inland development of California Bungalows, followed by inter-war and art deco homes and small-scale apartment blocks. ‘Ballatar’, one of the later bayfront mansions to be constructed in 1926, features the Spanish Revival architectural stylings popular at the time (and almost creepily similar to Carinya in Toorak and Towart Lodge, also in Toorak). Interestingly enough, Ballatar does not share an architect with either of those estates. Instead, it was designed by Blackett & Foster, noted Georgian Revivalists who departed from their traditional vernacular for a more seaside appropriate Mediterranean style. Today, the home has listed with $3.5m+ expectations.

A c1902 sales subdivision map of Elwood displays the prominent early mansions that line “Beach Road”/”Esplanade”, and the early home allotments north of Ormond Road. The map is considerably out of scale in order to make the home sites appear closer to the water. The approximate location of Ballater is outlined in white.

Ormond Esplanade was among the first stretches of Melbourne bayfront to give way to apartment blocks in the post-war years. Because of this, very few of the original single family homes exist on the road today making Ballater a slightly difficult home to comp. Thankfully, the home itself sold in a post-renovated state in late 2005 for $2.95m (and for $1.925m in 2001). The home has not been altered since its last sale. A smaller home on a 798sqm parcel at #67 sold earlier this year for $2.92m. A similar sized home on a 1,400sqm parcel at #31 sold in September 2010 for $4.2m, making Ballater’s $3.5m+ expectations seem almost suspiciously conservative. Mind you, Ballater’s 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom structure stands on a 1,045sqm corner block. Then again, give this home a Brighton address and the pricing would be far more aggressive, especially this season. There are handful of $8m+ Brighton properties currently floating on the market.

The listing: ‘Ballater’, 39 Ormond Esplanade, Elwood

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Radical Roundup: New & Notable This Week

VIC

• A two-storey weatherboard on Williamstown’s The Strand emerged on the market with modest mid-$2mil hopes. The Strand is Williamstown’s trophy street, not surprising seeing that its bayfront position offers some stunning views back to Melbourne’s CBD. The price record for the road was achieved back in May 2008 when 21 The Strand sold for $5.4m. Aside from that outlier, most homes trade between $2m and $4.5m, meaning that 27 The Strand is priced well (potentially a result of its shared driveway with a battle-ax development of townhouses at the property’s rear). Further up the road, 75 The Strand is looking for between $3m and $3.5m. Sweeney Estate Agents Peter Fox and Dean Stanley have the listing. 27 The Strand, Williamstown 

• Notable for its shockingly expensive listing price, a 50 acre chunk of non-waterfront land in Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula listed for $3.3m. Blane Paton of Paton Estate Agents has the listing at 1 Stanleys Road. If it gets that price, it will be the most expensive parcel of R-1 land sold in the suburb…it will also eclipse the price of any home sold in the suburb. 1 Stanleys Road, Balnarring

• An over-the-top listing in Bellarine still lingers on the market. It’s a tough sell: only three acres in an area where vacation homes command far more acreage, interiors that belong in four-star Russian hotel, and a $5m+ price tag. Prices that high on the Peninsula usually only occur in Curlewis. Nonetheless, Kay & Burton Albert Park agent Alex Schiavo is trying his best. The listing: 70 Greenhills Road, Bellarine

NSW

• Situated on the iconic whitewashed escarpment behind Bondi Iceburgs, 14 Notts Ave listed with $7m+ hopes. It’s point-blank north-facing views and four-car garage redeem the fact the home only has two bedrooms. Bethwyn Richards and Jennifer Pooley of McGrath Eastern Suburbs have the listing. The home last sold for $2.85m in Dec 2000 (purchased from the Packer family, it seems) and for $2.1m before that in Oct 1998, both large prices for those days. If 14 Notts gets the price they want, they’ll still be shy of the $9m record for a Notts Ave property when Apt 3 and Number 8 Notts Ave sold in July 2006. 14 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach

• Bondi Beach’s top-end sell-off continues, this time with yet another apartment in “The Bondi” at 152 Campbell Parade. The north-facing Apartment 702 is looking for the mid-$6mils. Next door neighbour Apt 701 achieved a sale of $6.75m in 2009 and Apt 802 directly upstairs nabbed $9m in Feb 2010 (it had a sizeable terrace, it should be noted). D’Leanne Lewis of Laing + Simmons Double Bay has the listing and she’s insisting on calling it “The Sub-Penthouse.” 702/152 Campbell Parade

SA

• A 2007-built limestone-clad Gilberton mansion ‘reminiscent of some of the most majestic homes in England and Europe’ listed this week with $4m+ hopes. Listing agents Marina Ormsby and Peter Veitch Toop & Toop Real Estate are keeping the exact address confidential, but they couldn’t help but leak the home’s prestigious position on Edwin Terrace, often considered South Australia’s best street. The 950sqm home comes with a lift, self-described “grandiose” rooms, and a “fastidiously” landscaped yard. Bring your valium, that sounds stressful! The listing: 9A ‘Confidential’ Edwin Terrace, Gilberton

WA

• A 9-year old (although, really, it looks far older) McMansion in South Perth has re-listed on the market this week after unsuccessfully spending 7 months on the market with an $8.25m ask last year. Listing agent Pamela Wilkinson of Acton South is trying her luck with similar pricing hopes: Domain reveals indicative $8.5m+ hopes. The home is situated on Hopetoun Street, one house back from the River, and has some dead-on north-facing views of the city. Beyond that, it’s your typical Perth abode. Check out the interior photos to see what we mean. And for the record, the home (or parcel of land?) last sold for $1.2m in May 2001. 15 Hopetoun St, South Perth

Inter-War Brighton Estate ‘Lanark’ Listed with Weirdly Modest $6m+ Hopes

Back in 1916, a tract of land north of Dudley St and west of St Kilda St in Brighton was subdivided into 18 allotments. St Ninians Rd was extended north to provide access to six of these lots, the featured home at 24 St Ninians Rd being one of them. As late as 1925, the land at number 24 was still vacant (and listed in the Rate Book as having a value of £37 and owned by a speculative developer Edward Leo Robin. At some point in time between 1930 and 1937, Robin built and sold number 24 to James Millkin, the home having a value of £213 in the 1937 Rate Book. According to a Council Report siting the historical significance of the home, 24 St Ninians ”is a double-storey Georgian Revival rendered brick residence with a hipped roof of glazed terracotta tiles, penetrated by a tall face brick chimney. The symmetrical front facade has repetitive fenestration of twelve-pane double-hung sash windows, flanked by louvered shutters. The projecting entry porch is in the form of a Classical portico, with grouped Tuscan columns supporting a decorated frieze and cornice. The portico is finished with a balustrade which forms a balcony at the upper level.”

Thankfully for architectural posterity, the home that is today referred to as ‘Lanark’ is in tact and extremely well-maintained. Listing agents Alex Schiavo and Stewart Lopez of Kay & Burton Brighton go to lengths to make mention of the celebrity (Paul Bangay) garden and Thomas Hamel interiors. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom home rests of a 15,300 sq ft block of land on the inland side of the bay-fronting St Ninians Rd in arguably one of the more prestigious sections of Golden Mile Brighton. There are bay and city views from the top level of the home (although, without pictures, who’s to say?!?). A floor plan would greatly assist our evaluation, but in lieu, we deem the indicative $6m+ expectations surprisingly reasonable for a street that recently (Nov 2011) clocked in a $7.5m sale for a home on a slightly smaller block of land (the same home sold for $8m two years prior).

The listing: 24 St Ninians Rd, Brighton