Good Guys' Andrew Muir buys acclaimed Guilford Bell designed Baillieu House, Sorrento
Two Guilford Bell-designed homes on the Point Nepean Road on the Mornington Peninsula have been up for sale.
Off market, the acclaimed, though very private, Guilford Bell-designed 1958 Baillieu House at Sorrento recently sold for $19 million.
Property Observer gathers the off market $19 million private treaty buyer was Good Guys boss Andrew Muir and his wife Emma.
It ranks as one of 10 Victorian dwellings featured in Neil Clerehan’s important 1961 book Best Australian Houses, which illustrated cutting-edge residential design of the day. Of the 10, at least three have since been demolished.
Photo: Baillieu House, Sorrento. Source: Best Australian Houses.
Its heritage status was considered in the Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria in 2010. The study decided that any house that has been included in Best Australian Houses should qualify for automatic inclusion.
"These are considered to be of architectural significance at the state level, for their ability to demonstrate what was considered, at that time, and by one of Australia’s leading authorities on residential architecture, to be the best modern houses in the country," the report advised.
The report also noted it was surprising none of the seven survivors were protected by an individual heritage overlay.
The Guilford Bell house was sold by Antony Baillieu, formerly of Mt Elephant at Derrinallum, after his mother, Elizabeth Baillieu died in early 2007.
There is another Guilford Bell-designed house currently for sale on the peninsula at Portsea. Offers for Binnum close 12 November.
Its a cliff front property with frontage from Point Nepean Road to Weeroona Beach reserve.
The recently renovated home, Binnum that sits within a Paul Bangay-designed garden at 3840 Point Nepean Road has been offered by Mitre 10 CEO, Mark Laidlaw. Set on about 2,023 square metres, it is for sale (pictured above) through RT Edgar Real Estate Portsea agents Warwick Anderson and Ilze Moran.
The unconfirmed price expectations of about $8 million for the property that offers north-facing views over Port Phillip Bay and to Portsea Pier.
The Muir's Toorak home is another former Baillieu house, designed by H.D. Annear in the mid-1920s. It was retained for four generations by members of the Baillieu family.
It was bought from Steve Vizard for $17.75 million in 2007.
Andrew Muir's late father, Ian Muir, built The Good Guys franchise from a single shop in 1952.