Reputed $17 million Toorak sale takes the chocolates
Whispers of a $17 million Toorak sale all point to funds manager Ron Dewhurst selling his Landale Road mansion in an off-market deal through Kay & Burton earlier this month.
The home was built by Sir Macpherson "Mac" Robertson, of MacRobertson's Chocolates fame.
The initial report of its sale, just a day after contracts were signed, suggested a $16 million sale, which on finalisation could rank as Melbourne's highest sale this year.
It had stood at $12.5 million in Hawthorn.
The mooted Toorak buyer is the chief executive of listed pharmaceuticals supplier Ascent Pharmahealth Dennis Bastas and his wife, Georgina, who currently live in Brighton.
It would represent a quick relocation as their contemporary Brighton abode was only bought through Hockingstuart late last year and settled in January this year for $3.12 million.
The Toorak mansion had been listed by the head of global investment management at Legg Mason Inc., Ron Dewhurst, who now lives in New York.
At the time of its 2003 purchase Ron Dewhurst and wife Katie were returning from New York where he'd been with JP Morgan Fleming to give their children a Melbourne education.
They purchased the Landale Road home in 2003 from former television personality Steve Vizard for $6.4 million.Steve Vizard had bought Victor and Loti Smorgon's Landale Road house for $5.6 million in 2001 before the downsizing Smorgons moved into their Hotel Como apartment.
The Toorak home has up to eight bedrooms, a tennis court and a lift.
No official confirmation has yet been coming from Kay & Burton.
Noting the reputed sale, the buyers agent Mal James suggested the top of the top end in Melbourne was "by no means flying."
"It’s still on life support numbers-wise, but there is a pulse," he wrote on his website.
Robertson died in 1945 and in 1967 his heirs sold the company, which made Cherry Ripe, Freddo, Old Gold and Snack, to the English confectioner Cadbury.
