Rathgar, almost the highest home in Hawthorn, listed with $5 million-plus hopes: Title Tattle

Rathgar, the 1886 Victorian mansion (pictured below) situated at possibly the highest point in Hawthorn, has been listed for auction with $5 million-plus hopes.

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It was built with two tiers of elegant verandas that offer extensive views across Melbourne.

The landmark five-bedroom, two-bathroom Italianate property is thought to have been designed by architect John Edmund Burke, whose works include mid-1890s shops near the Hawthorn Town Hall which was designed by John Beswicke who also designed Auburn Village shops.

In the past it's been the residence of the Consul for Belgium and a period as Woodhouse Grove' Girls' School.

Set within 1,650-square-metre landscaped gardens created by Jack Merlo, the house comes with solar/gas heated pool and spa and a flood-lit north-south mod-grass tennis court.

It comes with bathrooms designed in 2010 by Jane Riddell.

There are traces of a late 1980s bold renovation by Jane Scally that enhanced the rich period details inside.

At its 1993 auction it was priced with $900,000-plus hopes and sold at $1.36 million.

Its been listed for private auction on September 20 through Jock Langley at Abercromby's Real Estate Armadale.

Sales this year in Hawthorn have included the $5.75 million Friesia (pictured below), an 1888-built Italian Renaissance-designed house and one of Melbourne’s most captivating residences.

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The single-storey mansion was designed for the German consul William Brahe by architect John August Bernard Koch, who later designed Labassa in North Caulfield.

It’s been bought by Caulfield North couple Valeri and Irma Danilova. He hails originally from Makhachkala in the Russian Federation and resided in Sydney’s North Bondi in the early 1990s. He heads Australia's Quality Sheepskin Pty Ltd, whose core business is to supply raw sheep and lamb skins to tanners and dressers worldwide from its processing plant at Leongatha North in Gippsland.

The Hawthorn house was last traded in 1970 for $49,000 totally derelict – with no electricity, no hot water, no internal toilet, and the sky could be seen through most rooms.

It was sold by Kay & Burton agent Scott Patterson, who on its listing last November hoped to secure $6.5 million plus.

The property was inspired by the works of Filippo Brunelleschi, father of Italian Renaissance architecture in Florence.

It was been sold by Warwick Forge and his wife, Sue, who have been running the biennial Australian Landscape Conference for 10 years in a bid to bring together creative landscape designers from overseas and Australia.

Another comparable was $5.66 million last November on Kinkora Road when an 1895 Victorian mansion sold at Jellis Craig auction, with the Salter family outbidding three other bidders vying for the Batrouney family property. Set on 1,256 square metres in the Grace Park Estate, the two-storey house featured four bedrooms and two bathrooms.  

Kate Aujard from Pulse Pharmacies also sold her imposing Hawthorn residence (pictured below) earlier this year. With a tennis court in its 2,800-square-metre grounds, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom English-style house is set on Scotch Hill. It last traded at $9.1 million in 2007 when bought from head hunter David Dick and wife Sandra, so it represented a good test of Melbourne’s prestige market.

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Tim Picken and Scott Patterson at Kay and Burton never revealed the sale price, but Title Tattle quickly reckoned its was likely to have sold at around the realistic quote price of $8 million since its sold within two days of offers being due. Title Tattle has subsequently gleaned it sold to the O'Brien family for $7.9 million.  

In June a Victorian-style home sold for just under $13 million on Kooyongkoot Road, the prestigious address within the coveted Scotch Hill zone. It’s spread over a 2788 square metre block which includes a tennis court and swimming pool. But its seems the sale was on extended settlement terms. The property was last sold for $3.45 million in 2002. 

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There was another sale on Kooyongkoot Road (pictured above) in June, which was snapped up by Robert Steele and his wife, Kristen. Looking like it was built in 1880 it was actually built in 2001, thereby having the older-style grace but with all the mod-cons of today's living.

It was listed by Peter George, human resources director of strategic accounts at Talent2 recruitment agency, and his wife, Linda, a cookbook producer and food stylist, who were seeking expressions of interest over $6 million through Kay & Burton's Michael Armstrong. Mal James, the buyers' agent, reckon there was one oversight – when he suggested the vendors were obviously not car people. "Yes it has a double car garage, but it's a tight fit and it feels like the garaging for a $2 million home, not a $6 million home. But hey if you haven't got three Maseratis then you won't even notice what we are saying. Even though it's early days this will be one of the better rating homes of 2012 – great big family home on a very good block in a great position, " James noted. 

Meanwhile the former newspaperman-turned-adman Stuart Simson, and his wife Anne, are selling their Hawthorn home (pictured above), Hartland, with reported $3.3 million-plus Marshall White August 25 auction hopes.

Dating back to the 1880s, the Victorian mansion on Elmie Street has boasted high-profile residents being the family home of Major Lady (Winifred) MacKenzie, the first woman doctor of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, whose husband, Sir William Colin MacKenzie, was the founder of Healesville Sanctuary. A 1943 Argus report noted the family's residency on Elmie Street in a funeral report of her mother, Mariannie Smith. Her father, Arthur Norman Smith, had been the mayor of Hawthorn in 1898. He also authored the book,  The History of Hawthorn to 1895. A first edition with original red cloth and gilt title that addressed Hawthorn's early settlement to the 1880s land boom was for sale at last month's Melbourne Rare Book Fair for $500.

The grand residence features impressive period detail through a formal sitting room, formal dining, study and five bedrooms. There’s also a well-equipped country-style kitchen. They have undertaken the extensive renovation after they bought it almost 20 years ago. The Simson couple reportedly intend to downsize to an east Melbourne apartment.

Who will ever forget Avon Court in Shakespeare Grove, purchased by Autobarn boss Garry Dumbrell in 2009 for $20,250,000? It really was Hawthorn's highpoint when sold by the former Richmond Football Club president Clinton Casey and his wife, Leslie. Ross Savas at Kay & Burton hired Jo Silvagni to be the face of its print and video campaign. Avon Court had traded for $5.7 million in 2003 with a rumoured $9 million or more spent on building two new wings, a cinema, gymnasium, sauna, 10-car garage and replacement tennis court.