$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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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!

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.

Two Unique Multi-Family Plays in South Yarra

Now we turn back to the most liveable suburb (South Yarra) in one of the world’s most liveable cities (Melbourne). Michael Gibson and Andrew Baines of Kay & Burton South Yarra have an impressive 4-unit apartment block listed with $7m+ expectations. Situated directly across from the Botanical Gardens with a prime street address for apartments, the loft-like interiors are pretty damn impressive. 

Also on the chopping blocks (and also listed by Kay & Burton’s Michael Gibson, alongside Nicole Gleeson) is the 81-room Albany Hotel site. It features an impressive Toorak Road-fronting mansion and a mid-century modern extension lining Millswyn Street. 1-23 Millswyn Street is asking $8m+. It is co-listed by CBRE’s Scott Orchard and Mark Wizel.

Sounds like some easy, instant yields to me. A good buy, methinks.

The listing: 129 Domain Road, South Yarra

The listing: 1-23 Millswyn Street, South Yarra

A $44m Mansion in Toorak? Sure, Why Not?

Considering Michael Gibson and Ross Savas of Kay & Burton South Yarra are unjustifiably asking a similar price for 1 Towers Road, the number isn’t too outlandish. That said, the latest coming from The Age is that Harry Stamoulis, who set records in January 2010 when he acquired the Baillieau family estate at 39 St Georges Road for $24m, has demolished the insignificant “federation-style” home on the significant plot of land to build a mansion that will be “more than $20m to complete.” Krongold Construction and Bruce Henderson are behind the build and design, so I’m forecasting an apartment block-looking house; which I guess is totally appropriate for St Georges Road…

Weirdly, The Age articules compares the potential of Stamoulis’ mansion size to the Myer family’s Cranala and the recently sold Miegunyah mansions, both far from the largest homes in the sacred suburb of Toorak. 

Raddest Garage of the Day All-Time

Is it a car park? An outdoor living room? A home gym? Regardless, we like what this South Yarra double-fronted terrace has to offer. Listed by Nicole Gleeson and Michael Gibson of Kay & Burton South Yarra, 58 Tivoli Road has an understated Victorian Italianate facade hiding a well-renovated terrace. All yours for $2.5m+

The listing (and more pics): 58 Tivoli Road, South Yarra

Things We’re Over: Wayne Gillespie

Seriously, Melburnians treat Wayne Gillespie as their very own Rosario Candela. But whereas Candela designed some of New York City’s most elegant apartment blocks, Gillespie’s claim-to-fame are cardboard boxes on Toorak’s court streets (usually near Hawksburn village in bowels of Toorak). Nonetheless, estate agents (like Matt Davis and Michael Gibson of Kay & Burton South Yarra) see the Gillespie pedigree as some magic claim to fame that will instantly sell their properties. 26 Woodside Crescent, a pretty damn prototypical Gillespie creation, hit the market today and possesses all the bland hallmarks that make Wayne so desirable; just check out the floor plan: I think I drew something like that in Year 4! 

The ask? $2m+

The listing? 26 Woodside Crescent, Toorak

Other notably awful Gillespie’s on the market include 4a Ormsby (Toorak) listed by Lachlan Castran of Castran Gilbert and 11 Grosvenor St (Portsea) listed by Lloyd Robinson of RT Edgar Portsea.