Rafferty's place not exactly cheap as chips: Title Tattle
The former Pittwater retreat of actor Chips Rafferty, set on a 2,538-square-metre block at Lovett Bay north of Sydney, has been listed for sale. The deep waterfront bushland property (pictured above), which is accessible only by water, has been listed by the Dunn family after 24 years of ownership. It had been the home of Rafferty, otherwise known as John Goffage, and his wife, Ellen, in the late 1940s.
The rugged movie star of The Overlanders, a tale about the hardships of Australian outback life, paid 1205 pounds for the land and built a home amid towering gums. The Dunn family purchased the first of their two Sturdee Place holdings, with beach and jetty, in 1987 for $550,000. It has been listed by Belle Mona Vale agent Mary Rowley, who expects $4 million plus for the three-bedroom house with a prized northerly aspect. It comes with sandstone steps leading to terrace with a built-in turbo barbecue. There’s also a king-size guest cabin.
The last big sale of a home on the shores of the neighbouring Elvina, Lovett and Towlers bays was the 1920s four-bedroom sandstone house Maritana, which fetched $6.25 million on Elvina Bay in 2007. It is set on a 2,380-square-metre Douglass Estate holding, which sold through Agency by Alison Coopes. It had a 52-metre-wide waterfront, a sandy beach, jetty and boatshed in beautiful gardens with sandstone terraces. Surrounded by vast stretches of national park, Maritana was built using jarrah, kauri and spotted gum by the Gibsons of retailers Foy & Gibson. Lovett Bay is named after John Lovett, who settled there in about 1836.
Ever-so-close NSW State of Origin coaching hero Ricky Stuart and his wife, Kaylie, have $2.5 million plus hopes for their Vaucluse, Sydney property (pictured above) –a little less than the $2.75 million they paid in 2006. Built 10 years ago, the attached two-storey Derby Street house has harbour views. The couple have it listed through Raine & Horne Double Bay agent Michael Pallier. The Stuarts and their three children are renting at Cronulla, where the couple would understandably like to buy, The Vaucluse residence has until recently been rented to a British banker at $2000 a week. When the Stuarts tried to sell 12 months ago through another agent, they wanted $3 million.
The long-retired Pickles Sydney auctioneer Storm Jacklin has spent $2,055,495 on a Noosa riverfront retreat, underlining the continued shift away from the Queensland holiday destination being almost exclusively for Melbourne's suntanned rich and famous. The Noosa Quays apartment on Noosa Sound was bought from Peter Chegwyn, the former News Ltd finance director. No idea how though how they calculated the sale price of the three-bedroom house, which was on the books of Beverley Donoghue Select Properties with $2.2 million hopes for less than a month. Its sale price equates to a nice 8.75% annual growth as Chegwyn, best remembered as chairman of Pacific Sports Entertainment and owner of the Brisbane Broncos, had paid $445,000 in 1992 after trading up from his $275,000 Noosa Heads unit.
Kardinia Park, the Sir John Sulman-designed Katoomba house (pictured above), has been bought for $2.25 million by Blue Mountains tourism operators George Saad and Huong Nguyen. It was sold recently, having been listed with $2.5 million-plus hopes through Century 21 The Village Leura agent Beris Anderson. It was the first time the nine-bedroom house on a two-hectare Birdwood Avenue holding had been sold since it was built in the late 1880s when a 2.8-hectare block was bought for 300 pounds. It was designed for the Young family, who were the founders of Bundaberg Sugar.
Sulman, a distinguished architect who died in 1934, had a house in Lawson. He sought to design an Australian style, not based on Gothic or Queen Anne. The heritage-listed residence Kardinia Park, initially known as Khandala, comes with a door featuring family height measurements dating back through the decades. It was sold by David Young, who initially sought $5 million plus buyers in 2009. Saad and Nguyen’s property portfolio includes Echoes and the stately Lilianfels Hotel. Huong Nguyen also co-owns the Hydro Majestic Hotel at Medlow Bath, which after its lengthy refurbishment is set to reopen in 2012.
The former English Test cricketer Adam Hollioake, who helped create the television series Australia’s Greatest Athlete, has had his Sovereign Island, Gold Coast building block sold for $1.3 million. Hollioake, who played four Tests for England in 1997-98, and 35 one-day internationals from 1996-99, bought the Paradise Point property in 2004 for $2.3 million from land subdivider Lewis Land. It had been initially listed by the Melbourne-born Hollioake with $4 million hopes in 2007.
Set on Knightsbridge Parade East, Sovereign Islands, the 703-square -metre block has a 20-metre broadwater frontage with views stretching to the far reaches of the broadwater and national parkland. It was described as one of the best blocks in the prestigious street by its selling agent David Vertullo from the Professionals. The ever-positive Hollioake, who spends much of his time on philanthropic fundraising for the needier, and tweeting, still sees the Gold Coast as the land of opportunity.
Plastic surgeon Robert Drielsma and his wife, anaesthetist Debbie Hong, have spent $9.85 million to buy the Bellevue Hill residence Carrabah (pictured above). The property had been listed with $14 million hopes. Carrabah is a three-level remodelled 1930s P&O-style Drumalbyn Road house.
The couple have yet to sell their Tony Masters-designed Tamarama house (pictured above). The contemporary, three-level Wolaroi Crescent property fetched a record $6.1 million in 2004 when sold by the Point Piper-bound investment banker Gordon Fell. The four-bedroom house, built in 2000, sits in 500 square-metre m gardens landscaped by William Dangar. It comes with pool and spa, and direct access to Tamarama Gully Park and then the beach. About $8 million was being sought through Pauline Goodyer at GoodyerDonnelley Real Estate in conjunction with David Vereker at Belle Property on its April listing.
Title Tattle aims to tell you as soon as we know – often before it happens – so the word from Bonnie Doon is that the holiday shack near Lake Eildon in Victoria that featured in the comedy movie The Castle is set to be withdrawn from the market, and the place is to be spruced up. The serene holiday home of the Kerrigans might even get a shed out the back with a billiard table, Dean Shipley at RT Edgar Yarra Valley suggests. Sydney property investor Richard Moseley secured the property for $169,950 in 2006 and has wanted to sell the two-bedder 115 kilometres from Melbourne since early 2011. It might return to the market in spring.
And don’t say that Title Tattle told you, but apparently a Mosman house that sold in 2008 for $5.5 million has quietly resold at $4.41 million. Not quite the full Tudor stockbroker-style residence, or a pioneering merchant’s mansion, but nonetheless imposing enough for the 20% price drop to quickly impact on the aspirations of other vendors around the Middle Harbour suburb. Set overlooking Clifton Gardens, it got a rave review in the News Ltd press during its marketing.
