Latest news with #JellisCraig
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Crumbling Toorak mansion linked to royal family hits market
A once-grand mansion linked to the British royal family has hit the market in a state of disrepair, with a $4.75m-$5.225m price guide. Known as Cloyne, the 1926 Georgian Revival residence sits behind a semicircular driveway and lion-flanked pool on a 1025sq m block at 611 Toorak Rd. The home's spiral staircase, gallery-style landing, timber-panelled study and original colonnades remain intact, though extensive cosmetic works are needed after years of vacancy and halted renovation plans. The decaying property has heritage protections preventing demolition. Jellis Craig Stonnington's Michael Armstrong said the home protected by a council heritage overlay held 'enormous potential' for a buyer prepared to restore a piece of Melbourne's architectural and social history. 'Structurally, the home is sound,' Mr Armstrong said. 'Cosmetically, however, it presents a rare opportunity for a full-scale renovation, from the ground up. Many of the preparatory works are already in place. 'This is a start-to-finish transformation, and opportunities of this calibre are increasingly hard to come by in today's market.' Cloyne was one of Desbrowe-Annear's few original commissions in Toorak. The influential architect is best known for his early 1900s Chadwick Houses in Eaglemont and is considered a pioneer of Australian modernism. Mr Armstrong said the Toorak mansion holds significant architectural weight. 'His work is highly sought after, and this property in particular resonates with buyers who have an appreciation for his distinctive style,' he said. The home even has a distinguished lineage. The original owner Louis Nelken, was reportedly one of King George VI's butlers who married into the Melbourne elite Baillieu family. In the 1960s Melbourne playboy Don Busch renovated it in the 1960s before selling to Toorak businessman William Drever. Since then the home has been held by prominent local and international business elite. The Jellis Craig prestige agent said buyers would be securing a slice of Melbourne's social and architectural history and while Toorak's prestige market typically cools during winter, Armstrong said Cloyne had already attracted 'three or four' interested parties from Sydney and offshore, as well as multiple architectural firms. 'There's a clear appetite among buyers who want to honour the past while reimagining the future,' Mr Armstrong said. 'With a north-facing rear and expansive garden, there's massive scope to create something truly extraordinary at the back.' Toorak's median house price is currently $4.8m, according to PropTrack, and high-end sales have continued to perform through the colder months. 'Very few buyers have focused on preserving and enhancing these timeless homes,' Mr Armstrong said. 'This property stands out — it embodies classical elegance and architectural integrity, and it deserves to be restored with care and skill.' The five-bedroom home will go under the hammer at 12pm, June 7.
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Middle Park home with cathedral-style rear lands Melbourne's top auction of the week, $1m+ bonus
A Middle Park Edwardian has blitzed Melbourne's auction leaderboard with a $5.53m sale under the hammer that topped expectations by a whopping $1.53m. The four-bedroom home at 100 Wright St clocked up more than 100 groups through its doors, across a hotly contested four-week campaign before a trio of serious bidders sent it soaring past its $4.1m-$4.3m price guide. According to PropTrack's weekly sales results data, it's the highest publicly reported auction since 434 Gore St, Fitzroy, fetching $5.7m in the first half of April, a sign the market may be regaining momentum after a stop-start period caused by public and school hoidays around Easter and Anzac Day. Jellis Craig Port Phillip director Warrick Gardiner said the sale price well exceeded what the vendors and he had hoped for. 'It was an outstanding result for the owners,' Mr Gardiner said. ' 'It's a solid brick Edwardian with a north-facing rear and great street appeal, and that mix of period charm and potential really struck a chord.' Owned by the same family for 25 years, the home featured ornate Art Nouveau elements, a bay-windowed lounge room, soaring ceilings, tessellated hallway tiles, and a main bedroom on the ground floor. But what truly turned heads was the back end, a cathedral-like living space with timber-lined ceilings, arched windows and stained glass, inspired by ecclesiastical design. Mr Gardiner said while the rear renovation had been completed decades ago, most prospective buyers were planning to modernise it. 'That part of the home isn't original Edwardian, but it was clearly done with care,' he said. 'It just needs a refresh now, and most of the interested parties were looking to do exactly that.' The Jellis Craig Port Phillip director said the home attracted a mixed buyer pool, including downsizers from large blocks in the eastern suburbs who were drawn to the single-level layout and ground-floor main bedroom, and young Middle Park families upgrading from smaller cottages. 'That created a bit of a pressure-cooker effect,' Mr Gardiner said. 'When you have multiple buyer groups recognising the same value, that's when things really take off.' Mr Gardiner said the home's red-brick facade and original leadlight were the biggest visual drawcards, while its rare 408sq m block and zoning for Albert Park College sealed the deal for many. 'Middle Park is notoriously hard to get into,' he said. 'There's not a lot of home's like this and people hold for generations, you've got the beach at the end of the street and the CBD 2.5km away. 'Once you're in, you don't want to leave … it's the kind of property you wait decades for.' The winning buyers were a downsizing couple from Melbourne's leafy east, seeking something character-filled, but more manageable. Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
East Geelong: California bungalow in Golden Triangle hits sweet spot for commuters
For 13 years, vendors and recent empty nesters Wes and Anita Truscott have called this spacious, converted Californian bungalow in East Geelong home. 'Myers St is beautiful,' Wes Truscott says. 'The many beautiful homes on wide, tree-lined streets – both Myers and those surrounding it – make it a real oasis to come home to.' And it was this, the green, quiet area and the property's central and convenient position in East Geelong's 'golden triangle' that initially attracted the couple to the home. New era dawns for Geelong's 'most iconic home' 'The location is second to none,' Mr Truscott says. 'It's within easy walking distance to everything you need, including the botanic gardens, Eastern Beach, and Geelong city. 'Throughout the years, we walked to the city for work. And when the kids were young, they walked to school, a few blocks away.' Its proximity to East Geelong village, schools, hospitals, and two train stations – South Geelong and Geelong – makes it the 'ultimate commutable location to Melbourne,' says lead agent Marcus Falconer, from Jellis Craig Geelong. The home, at 310 Myers St, East Geelong, also offers benefits and flexibility for hybrid workers. 'The floor plan is incredibly versatile,' Mr Falconer says. 'You can have up to five bedrooms or alternatively up to four living zones, so for those who want that perfect work from home and commute balance, the beauty is they have everything they need to make this happen.' Many classic period features of the timber Californian, such as stained glass windows and in-built fireplaces, have been retained, while renovations by the previous owners and recent updates by the vendors have generated additional space and updated the home with modern conveniences. 'When we bought the home in 2012, it had been renovated to include a rear atrium and expansion of the back living room and kitchen,' Mr Truscott says. 'Recently, we have upgraded the bathrooms, kitchen, flooring and painted inside. It's now pretty much a fully renovated, brand-new home.' This seamless blend of traditional and modern features, including floor-to-ceiling windows, a floating staircase and high-quality appliances, is one of the vendor's favourite features of the home, along with the lifestyle they have helped shape. 'During winter, sitting in front of the fireplace with a glass of red is divine, and we have loved sitting in the secluded garden and often ate and entertained outdoors,' he says. 'In the warmer months, opening up the house brings in the garden and gentle summer breezes. We will really miss living there as it offers an incredible lifestyle.' Mr Falconer will auction 310 Myers St, East Geelong, at noon on May 24 with a $1.5m price guide.
News.com.au
11-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
REIV: Melbourne's best bang for buck suburbs revealed in median prices by the square metre
Melbourne's best value suburbs are a core of Dandenong Ranges hubs where big blocks have been shielded from development. While home prices in Narre Warren North routinely tip into multimillion-dollar ranges, the sprawling size of those houses means the median cost for a square metre of land is just under $400. The Real Estate Institute of Victoria figures show nearby Upwey is the next cheapest pocket at $810.5 a square metre, giving the area serious bang for buck contrasted with the wider Melbourne median at about $1550. PropTrack: See what your suburb will be worth in 2030 The city's most affordably suburbs were next, including Melton and Melton West. But the suburbs giving buyers the least amount of property for their purchase price are headed by inner-city hubs, with Richmond's typical house costing $6,569 a square metre. Toorak, home to the city's multimillion-dollar highest overall median house price, didn't even make the top 10 — thanks to its typically larger than average blocks of land. REIV president Jacob Caine said the huge variation in prices per square metre around the city reflected areas that best delivered for those seeking a cosmopolitan lifestyle. In Richmond, he said it was often less about what was under the roof and what was around the corner — with the hefty price for each metre a part of the premium needed to access these areas. Jellis Craig Richmond's Luke Schickerling said Richmond's position as Melbourne's highest price per square metre would have been influenced by a large number of its smallest homes being sold in the past year as investors stepped away from Victoria. But there were still plenty of people who saw value in the area for its easy access to the CBD and Melbourne's sporting precincts. Most recently he said most of those purchasing were usually familiar with the area and often empty nesters, though there had been rising demand from those relocating from overseas recently. Bell Real Estate director Elliot Bell said areas like Narre Warren North and Upwey were appealing more to families seeking value for money. 'A lot of the area is nearly impossible to subdivide as it's a green wedge zone,' Mr Bell said. 'A lot of the foothill suburbs, they are from Melbourne's inner north, Fitzroy, Brunswick and Northcote, and it's usually a younger crowd. And it's a lot of young families and professional couples.' The agent added that with very limited numbers of homes coming to the market in the area most of the time, the area often achieved solid growth — and rarely reflected the lows set by wider Melbourne housing markets. 'We've been telling people for years how good the value is in the area,' Mr Bell said. Property Home Base buyer's advocate Julie DeBondt-Barker said Narre Warren North was already showing up in a lot of the metrics investors look at, suggesting it was not only good value today — but could be primed for future growth. MELBOURNE'S BEST BANG FOR BUCK SUBURBS Narre Warren North — $399.8 Upwey — $810.5 Melton — $826.2 Melton West — $826.4 Montrose — $876.7 Melton South — $929.2 Broadmeadows — $972.8 Laverton — $991.8 St Albans — $1,000.0 Doveton — $1,036.3 All prices are median cost for a square metre MELBOURNE'S PRICIEST SUBURBS BY THE METRE Richmond — $6,569.1 Elwood — $6,337.2 Armadale — $6,168.4 Prahran — $5,449.7 Hawthorn — $5,247.3 Malvern — $5,183.6 Brunswick — $5,095.4 Canterbury — $5,000.0 Footscray — $4,806.8 Brighton — $4,777.3 All prices are median cost for a square metre SOURCE: REIV
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Reserve Bank rate cut forecast linked to Melb auction results that shot $300,000 past reserve
Multiple Melbourne homeowners have been left with shock home sale results that will see them walk away six figures better off than expected. In one of yesterday's most unexpected sales, a four-bedroom Victorian era house delivered a $1.175m result despite only having an $880,000 reserve price. In its first sale since 1946, the 16 Station St, Coburg, home had been the residence of the same family since the 1930s — when the moved in to it as tenants, before going on to purchase it off their landlord. Nelson Alexander's Ryan Currie recorded an $840,000 opening bid, with five bidders subsequently jumping in. In the end the bidding came down to a couple with a chihuahua, and a young man with his parents in tow. It went to the couple, but that didn't stop the underbidder heartily congratulating them afterwards. But Mr Currie said even more prospective bidders had cooled on the property overnight before the auction, choosing not to bid. 'It had the train line behind it, and while it had good bones, a number of people decided not to go so hard,' he said. Mr Currie added that it seemed with the prospect of an interest-rate cut in a week's time while some buyers had lost their nerve, a result $295,000 above expectations showed others had clearly felt that now was the time. Another blow out result in Ferntree Gully also left the vendors and agents in shock, in a further sign the market is anticipating home values to rise with future rate cuts. Jellis Craig's Andrew Luke had four bidders pursue 27 Stringybark Close, three of them downsizers. 'And they were cashed up and just ready to go,' Mr Luke said. While the home had a $1.4m reserve, the top of its price guide, the buyers had other ideas — driving the sale to a whopping $1.78m. 'All of the buyers had said prior they couldn't go much past the advertised price,' he said. 'But in my preamble I said to everyone 'buy now', as if it's a half a per cent cut in May, we know that when interest rates go down, prices go up.' The agent added that home sellers with a single-level floorplan were particularly well placed for strong sales.
