$11m Toorak Listing Weirdly Makes No Mention of Its Courtyard

An aerial image of 8 Whernside Avenue (above) revealing its prominent central courtyard (a feature shared with its next-door neighbour); a floor plan of the courtyard home is below; also note the crazy tennis rivalries that must abound on the block…

A home that’s always piqued our interest from our Google Maps trolling has come to market, revealing itself and its prominent and unique (for Melbourne) courtyard-centric floor plan. The $11m+ home located on the prestigious Whernside Avenue (between the over-the-top Hopetoun Road and the slightly more subdued Albany Road) last traded hands in 2004 for $5m. The home has been renovated since then and now features extensive use of sandstone flooring both indoors and outdoors juxtaposed against dark window treatments that work well together. Oddly enough, the listing agents make no mention of the home’s most attention worthy feature - its courtyard - only flirting with the idiosyncratic architectural feature by referencing “views of the landscaped garden area”. C’mon guys, spit it out: c-o-u-r-t-y-a-r-d. More tragic is that the listing also fails to make any mention of the architect behind the project; we’d love to know. 

Surprising to some, the $5m sale of this property in 2004 makes it the priciest home to sell on the block, owing mostly to the fact that the 11 other homes have seldom traded. The petit road is home to some far more impressive homes, most notably the c1877 mansion ‘Whernside’ (née ‘Belcroft’), whose 1916 subdivision led to the creation of Whernside Avenue (see parcel map below). Also interesting is next-door neigbhour 6 Whernside Avenue also has a similar footprint with a prominent central courtyard, making these two side-by-side abodes somewhat anomalous in the Toorak real estate world. 

The listing: 8 Whernside Avenue, Toorak

Click below for more images of the property and a site plan.

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Traingulated Ermin Smrekar-Designed Postmodern Home on Bass Coast Lists for $5.5m+

San Remo, a town perhaps best known for being where the Phillip Island Bridge connects with the mainland, may soon have a different claim to fame: the region’s most expensive home. 135 Punch Bowl Road, an Ermin Smrekar-designed home that sits on just shy of 20 stunning acres of cliff top land overlooking the Bass Strait in bucolic isolation, is looking to be that home. Listing agents Matt Davis and Michael Gibson of Kay & Burton South Yarra are on the hunt for offers in the vicinity of the high-$5mils, which would clearly trump the priciest hobby farms on Phillip Island, which have traded in the low- to mid-$4mils.

The home is certainly the most daring of one of Victoria’s most prominent residential postmodernist architectural firms (the firm since splintered in 2007). If it wasn’t for some of the less-desirable interior finishes (ie. the sky blue carpeting, off-the-shelf refrigerator, and that awful “spa bathtub”), the home could seamlessly be transplanted to Malibu’s Broad Beach without compromising architectural cohesion. And seeing that a prominent South Yarra real estate agnecy has the listing over a local, regional player indicates the home’s justified ambition as a prestige weekender for cashed-up Melburnians. 

The listing: 135 Punch Bowl Road, San Remo

Click below for the original architectural images, floor plans, and more listing photos.

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A $20m Mansion Lists in Toorak; Comes With Awkward Video

A $20m+ listing emerged on the market last week on what has historically been considered the most prestigious stretch of St Georges Road in Toorak. Directly across the street from Toorak House, 16 St Georges Road is an early-20th Century self-described “Art Nouveau” (although it’s not Art Nouveau at all, “Arts & Crafts” would be more apt) estate sitting on a full one acre spread of land. The home has been extremely well-maintained; so much so that the Radical Terrace ventures to say the floor plan is mostly in original shape (save for the placement of the master bedroom). The home sold to the current owners in 1997 for either $4.4m or $5m, depending the source. It’s a fun listing for a few reasons: for starters, the home rests on what is today considered a large parcel of Toorak land. However, in its original state, it was one of many 1-acre parcels that sat north of Toorak Road in between far larger multi-acre estates, almost all of which have since been heavily subdivided. And although we can’t get our hands on an exact date of construction, it’s non-existence on MMBW maps date the home post-Federation. The exterior Arts & Crafts treatment speaks to a popular style of that era, but the lack of orientation to the outdoors and grouping of all public rooms at the front of the house indicates a slightly dated and thoroughly Victorian floor plan. A floor plan, mind you, that hasn’t changed much since. 

The interiors are of a certain indiscriminate period, but thankfully Kay & Burton alongside Goldeneye Media produced a video that helps us viewers better understand the lifestyle associated with such a residence. The four minute video titled ‘Imagine a Place’ features a happy blonde-haired, white-skinned family playing with a labrador retriever, meeting foreign dignitaries, and hosting dinner parties with name cards! All in, it’s four minutes of our life we’ll never get back. And there wasn’t even any of the fun homoeroticism (and vague diversity?) of Goldeneye’s previous film that apparently helped sell Portsea’s Ilyuka for $26.5m last year. 

Ross Savas of Kay & Burton has the listing: 16 St Georges Road, Toorak

More listing photos below!

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‘Yarroma’ Softens Its Palette, Adds Ensuites, and Tries Again with $10m+ Hopes

‘Yarroma’, located at 12 Coppin Grove in Hawthorn’s uber prestigious St James Park Estate, has listed once again. This time, the c1871 James Conlan-designed mansion comes with a refreshed interior, a “new” master bedroom, and seemingly more subdued pricing expectations: $10m+, if Domain is to be trusted. The mansion’s new listing struck us for two reasons: 1) any home in the St James Park Estate holds a certain kind of staying power unrepeatable even in the most blue-blooded pockets of Toorak; and 2) when any home undergoes a base-level interior refurbishment after failing to sell, it signals to the Radical Terrace a certain kind of interior design demand en vogue at the top end of the market. And to begin with the latter, what is the market indicating? High Victorian is out; a minimalist (and white) homage to past is in. That, and bedrooms demand an ensuite if to be taken seriously; the master bedroom requires a bedroom-sized closet; and a butler’s pantry reigns over a laundry room. It’s all a very intuitive, albeit simple, renovation to bring Yarroma up to snuff in the modern age of real estate luxury. 

But perhaps the most important before and after lies in the floor plan:

Current floor plan above reveals a complete master suite, with a secondary bedroom converted into a closet, the subdivision of an unnecessarily large laundry room into a laundry room + butler’s pantry, and the opening up of the living room to the kitchen. Also note ever bedroom now contains an ensuite. 2010 floor plan is below.

And to all the NIMBYs out there, you may be familiar with this property for the recent scrutiny of the owner’s plans to develop an adjacent chunk of Yarra River-fronting land into luxury townhouses. The Radical Terrace sees both sides of the story. Firstly, the owner - Peter O’Brien, aquarium planner extraordinaire - tried in vain to sell the entire property as one chunk with bullish $18m+ expectations at various times over the last 2 years. The market did not respond in kind. So what’s a man supposed to do? His $10m idea for luxury townhouses is, in our opinion, no less obstructive to the Yarra River than the development of a mega mansion, which is no doubt the other option for the 3/4 acre piece of land.

That said, what we do respect is the single-family nature of the St James Park Estate. The 1870s subdivision of land was Melbourne’s first significant concentrated development of mansions and remains to this day the highest concentration of larger than life housing in the metropolitan area. The opening in 1860 of the then-named “Richmond Bridge Road” enabled the settlement of Hawthorn on the high ground of the Yarra by the city’s elite. The parcel lines were large enough to accomodate hefty mansions, but small enough not to face the piecemeal subdivision that whittled down many of Toorak’s most impressive multi-acre estates in the 20th century. There’s more juice to the story of the St James Park Estate, both in the past and present, but for now, here’s some historic map porn to enjoy:

An 1870s parcel map above. Yarroma is situated in parcel “54”. 

The oft-referenced MMBW map of 1890 showcases a partially developed St James Park Estate (above), and Yarroma zoomed in (below).

A map at the time of Federation shows a built-out, but still young, neigbhourhood.
 

A quick aside: seeing that the home was built in 1871, and presuming that the exterior has remained unchanged since construction, this may very well be the earliest use of the Hawthorn brick treatment that the Radical Terrace knows of. Can any reader help confirm or refute this claim?

The listing: Yarroma, 12 Coppin Grove, Hawthorn.

Click below for more before and after imagery and other listing photos!!

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Calling All Fitzroyalty: Reinvented Terrace for $2.5m+

A well-renovated 1865 terrace in a CBD-close Fitzroy location appeared on the market today with $2.5m+ expectations. The 3-2-1 (3-bedrooms, two-bathrooms, 1-car space) mullet house is well-staged by all accounts: stunning master bedroom with one of the largest ensuite bathrooms we’ve seen in a terrace, beautiful use of material, solid landscaping, good quality recessed lighting. However, more interesting than the renovation is the fact that the home has changed little - if at all - since it last traded hands in October 2007 for $1.907m. Back in 2007, a terrace of ordinary proportions flirting with the $2m mark in Fitzroy was anomalous, and perhaps only possible on the “East Melbourne-side” of the suburb where this terrace is located and where one could trick themselves thinking they were purchasing a city pied-a-terre. However, with the much publicised prestige bump of Fitzroy (hey: hipsters grow up and make money, too), wanting $2.5m+ five years later doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised the home is listed by Melbourne power brokers Kay & Burton South Yarra who have recently flirted more and more with northern suburbs listings. 

The listing: 30 Gore Street, Fitzroy

Click below for more photos and a floor plan showing off the very large master ensuite!

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Radical Renovation in South Yarra for $2m+

A terrace on the highly desirable Murphy Street is listed with expectations around $2m+. The home last traded hands in 1994 for $405k and has been recently transformed to include top-of-the-line appliances and materials. The green landscaping in the front shifts the focus away from the awkward off-street car parking spots. However, is the renovation radical enough to justify such lofty price hopes? Without a master ensuite (the home only has one bathroom), the home is really banking off its prestigious location on Domain Hill. Melbourne super agents Michael Gibson and Matt Davis of Kay & Burton South Yarra have the listing.

The listing: 53 Murphy Street, South Yarra

Walter Butler Designed Toorak Estate Lists for $14m+

Michael Gibson and Matt Davis of Kay & Burton have nabbed yet another Toorak trophy listing. This time it’s ‘Halstead’ at 12 Lansell Road. Halstead was constructed in 1916 for Frances Clements in an Arts & Crafts style with a parapeted roof, projecting eave, and paired columns that reveal a South Asian/Dutch Colonial influence rarely found in Melbourne. Until mid-century, the home blended well with its neighbours, all of which were set back dramatically from the street. And although Halstead maintains its commodious setback to this day, apartment block encroachment on both sides make it more of an oasis and less of a consistent streetscape. Most features of the heritage-listed home have been well-restored since it last sold in September 2007 for $11m in rather tired shape. 

The home now has an indicative pricing around $14m+, sits on 3/4 of an acre, and comes with rear lane access to a 4-car garage. It’s floor plan is well laid out and, although the rusticated stucco exterior is historically accurate, it makes the home look the creation of the 1970s and not 1910s (the rear extension likely was a late-20th C addition). Kudos for good landscaping; jeers to that freaky-ass seraph statue. 

Click below for more photos, floor plan, and listing information.

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Kay & Burton Land Yet Another Toorak Trophy Listing

Kay & Burton have landed yet another Toorak mansion listing. Of the 20 properties currently listed in Toorak above $5m, Kay & Burton can stake claim to 12 of them. The latest of their offerings is 779 Orrong Road and the price is $8m+.

The listing is most definitely a flip. Last sold for $6.8m in May 2010, the current owners have thankfully ripped out the unsightly portico, Keating-era flooring and carpeting, and modernised the kitchen (BONUS: see 2010 listing photo below). It was a pretty basic renovation; but it works. The four-bedroom inter-war home is situated in a more understated precinct of the suburb, but is still just a stone’s throw from 3 Towers Road, currently the most expensive home listing in Melbourne. Future owners can also claim bragging rights to a tennis court (albeit one that sadly plays tennis tetris) and a quirky pool and backyard that were also improved from the 2010 sale. Andrew Baines and Ross Savas of Kay & Burton South Yarra have the listing: 779 Orrong Road, Toorak

BEFORE/AFTER:

Marcus Martin Original - ‘Towart Lodge’ - Lists in Toorak for $9m+

A rare occurrence for our Radical Terrace readers: two Marcus Martin-designed properties on the market at the same time (one of his South Yarra creations is currently on the market with $7m+ hopes). Martin was the architect of choice for Melbourne’s moneyed set in the inter-war years, and this listing is prototypical of the Spanish Revival vernacular he so commonly employed. The home, although on busy Toorak Road, is sufficiently set back from the thoroughfare (and the Number 8 tram) and rests in a decidedly residential pocket on the high ground of Toorak Road between blue chip St Georges Road and Heyington Place. Towart Lodge has been extensively renovated, so much so that it appears most interior detailing (ceiling and floor treatments) have been stripped, but it’s impossible to tell what shape the interiors were in when the current owners moved in. Michael Gibson (of course) and Gowan Stubbings of Kay & Burton South Yarra have the listing. The listing can be found here: 607 Toorak Rd, Toorak

Toorak’s Tussle of the ($30m) Towers Continues:

The question that’s puzzling all the parents waiting to pick up their beloveds from Melbourne Grammar and St Caths’ is which Toorak mansion on Towers Road will crush the Melbourne property record so rudely stolen by an apartment block house in - wait for it - HAWTHORN*! Next door neighbours 1 Towers Road and 3 Towers Road in Toorak remain on the market, both hoping to break the $30m mark that has yet to be bumped in Victoria. Both abodes come with fancy listing websites (#3 with its own vanity URL and logo), but our post today comes because we finally dug up some floor plans of #3 from an old article by The Age’s Simon Johanson.

3 Towers Road floor plan:

Not only do the two properties share a suburb, a price, a street name, and a fence (read: gigantic wall), they also share the same estate agency: Kay & Burton South Yarra. #1 is listed by both Michael Gibson and Ross Savas, #3 just by Savas. For what it’s worth, we at the Radical Terrace think #1 is the better of the two. But we also believe #3 will find more solid expat interest (read: cashed-up Chinese buyers).

The Listings:
1 Towers Road, Toorak
3 Towers Road, Toorak 

*Property obsessors take note: The Radical Terrace is maintaining that ‘Avon Court’ at 18-20 Shakespeare Grove in Hawthorn is Melbourne’s most expensive sale (circa $25m). We are not including the $26.5m sale of Ilyuka in Portsea, Victorian record-holder, as being in Melbourne.

Toorak’s ‘Carinya’ at 61 Clendon Rd Lists for $15m+

The marketing video may have surfaced last week, but today a Toorak icon - Carinya (but not the Pymble-located ‘Carinya’ of past Radical Terrace posts) - listed with admirable $15m+ expectations through Kay & Burton South Yarra’s Michael Gibson and Cher Coad. The Spanish Mission mansion sits on over an acre of land in a mansion precinct of Toorak with some very notable neighbours, next door at ‘Coonac’ was a former Melbourne sale record holder. The 1925 estate was designed by Beaver & Purnell, minor Melbourne architects of the period. Based purely on the absence of interior photos of the house, we suspect it’s in need of some TLC. It won’t quite beat the pricing of 1 Towers or 3 Towers Rd, but it won’t be far off. We eagerly await more information on the listing. 

The listing: ‘Carinya’ 61 Clendon Rd, Toorak

Note: Photos courtesy of BingMaps and Kay&Burton film stills

UPDATE: Now with listing photos and FLOORPLAN!

Rosecraddock Has a Price…And It’s $15m

The Caulfield North mansion ‘Rosecraddock’ has a special place in the Radical Terrace’s heart: it was our first post. Back then, we couldn’t crack what the listing price was, but we guessed a $10m price. However, after contacting agent Nicole Gleeson of Kay & Burton, we’ve discovered they want a whopping $15m. I mean, yes, it’s a stunning renovation, but if the home sells for anywhere close to that amount, it will most certainly break the records for a home south of Dandenong Rd/Princes Hwy and east of St Kilda Rd/Brighton Rd. But considering the home is still lingering on the market deep into autumn, we expect Nicole Gleeson will be revising her price hopes soon. Check out the colourful history of the mansion here. 

Toorak Mansion is “Pseudo”-Impressive

Not all property in Toorak was created equal; Michael Gibson and Ross Savas of Kay & Burton South Yarra remind us of this fact with their latest listing, the circa $13m 59 Hopetoun Road. According to the Gibson and Savas’ babblings, the property is a ”pseudo-classical residence evokes timeless grandeur with its subtle blending of Roman, French and Art Nouveau styles combining to create an icon” for Toorak. We couldn’t have said it better. But that’s not all! “The Grecian principles of symmetry and proportion that inspire the architect-designed grounds extend to a grand interior…[including] the delights of the indoor aquarium.” Because, really, nothing says Grecian principles of symmetry like indoor aquariums and a 5-car underground garage.

There are few better locations than Hopetoun Road for this manse; it’s one of the few places in Toorak (aside from “Lower” St Georges Road) where you can get away with building a Templestowe Temple within walking distance to the tram. 

The listing: 59 Hopetoun Road, Toorak

Marcus Martin-designed 1930s Mansion in South Yarra Lists for $7m+

A large Spanish Revival home on South Yarra’s Marne Street listed today with a fittingly large expectations of $7m+. The architect behind the asymmetric edifice is Marcus Martin, the prolific society architect (the Mark Sutter of his day, if you will) of the inter-war years in Melbourne. Martin’s signature Spanish Revival style reflected the overall trend in Australian society to emulate the stylings of Hollywood design; Australians finally began to look to the climactically similar California for design inspiration instead of the outdated Victorian aesthetic that previously dominated the suburban landscape. Marcus Martin’s homes (and country homesteads) featured exceedingly “modern” interiors of the time.

But back to 3 (or 7?) Marne Street. The single family home is now on a motley street dotted with homes and apartment blocks from every notable architectural period in the Australian domestic tradition. The 6 bedroom home sits on a large 1,110 sqm block with an indoor swimming pavilion. It needs a hefty renovation to match the price, but its architectural pedigree justifies the expense. Michael Gibson and Andrew Baines of Kay & Burton South Yarra have the listing.

The Radical Roundup: What’s Good (and Renovation Worthy) in the Low $2-mils

VICTORIA
Coburg: 25 The Grove
Rad because: Hawthorn brick and boom-time architecture? Check and check. These bones be good.
The deets: John Sheldrick of Hocking Stuart. $1.8m+*
*Needs some extra love

Malvern East: 66 Central Park Road
Rad because: One of the best renovations of a Federation we’ve seen. Pair that with a prime Gascoigne Estate location in Malvern East (the better of the Malverns) and SCORE!
The deets: Michael Armstrong of Kay & Burton South Yarra has the listing. $3.5m+
**This is our post-renovation option :) 

Toorak: 4 Matthews Court
Rad because: Unfortunately for Toorak, most of the 1960s-era mid-century modern “court” residences (homes situated on subdivided cul-de-sacs replacing the multi-acre 19th century estates) have been replaced by frightening McMansions. Enter 4 Matthews Court. 1960s bones-at-their-best. In need of a slight refresh.
The deets: of Marshall White. $2.2m+

NEW SOUTH WALES 
Vaculuse: 32a Fitzwilliam Street 
Rad because: WTF? A church-turned-scout-hall on primo Fitzwilliam Street? Bizarre, but it’s true. Not sure what this can become; but calling all dreamers!
The deets: Michael Pallier of Raine&Horne. $2.2m+

Birchgrove: 61 Louisa Road
Rad because: Louisa Road is Birchgrove’s Wolseley Road. However, most of the best estates are situated on the non-Harbour Bridge view (west) side. Therefore, this park-front pocket on the eastern side of the road is a rare one, with ample room for growth
The deets: Reg Window (real name?) of Richardson & Wrench Balmain. $2m+

Glebe: 13 Avenue Road
Rad because: This home cries at night. Crying for a great renovator. It’s a Late Victorian (with a bit of Federation flair!) in Glebe’s prestigious Toxeth Estate. Someone jump on it, fast!
The deets: Michael Glynn of McGrath. $2.25m+