Artists Patricia Piccinini and Peter Hennessey get sweet deal selling in Fitzroy: Title Tattle

Artists Patricia Piccinini and Peter Hennessey get sweet deal selling in Fitzroy: Title Tattle
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 8, 2020

Boutique property developers Bob and Margaret Rose have sold what’s considered the best pied-a-terre in Australia. Using limestone from Western Australia, their three-bedroom, four-bathroom Point Piper harbourfront (pictured above and below), listed through Ken Jacobs from Christie's International in conjunction with LJ Hooker Double Bay agent Bill Malouf, was constructed seven years ago.

The French Provincial-style house snugs closer to the harbour than neighbouring residences that are built behind the traditional building set-back.

The Wunulla Road property sale price hasn’t been disclosed, but it’s understood to have fetched about $15 million for the couple, who are building at Darling Point. The north-westerly oriented 582-sq-metre holding comes with views from the Harbour Bridge across to Shark Island and north towards the Heads.

The block cost $5,594,000 in 2000. Its deep-water jetty is shared with the next-door Altona estate.

Title Tattle would have thought the Roses’ house perfect for the downsizing executive headhunter Julia Ross, but apparently she won’t be buying until she sells her Point Piper non-waterfront Villa del Mare (picture above and below), the vast limestone hilltop palazzo on 1,508 square metres. Villa del Mare's $21.5 million non-waterfront price record when sold to Ross by Nati and Miki Stoliar in 2005 was bettered in 2008 when businessman Ben Tilley sold Craig-y-Mor, a neighbouring house on the non-waterfront side of Wolseley Road, for $32.4 million to Jiang Mei, the wife of Zeng Wei, the son of Zeng Qinghong, a former influential vice-president of China.

Now they say Ross wants more than $40 million through Ken Jacobs of Christie's International and LJ Hooker Double Bay's Bill Malouf. But the marketing campaign – overseen by the spin maestro Max Markson – got off to a shaky start when one local publication compared its envisaged $40 million plus pricing to the supposed $44 million sale of the nearby even more imposing Villa Veneto, which of course sits on the harbourfront, not the hill. Those in the know reckon Villa Veneto’s complicated secretive sale price documentation would show closer to $52 million, which would make Ross's hopes more attainable.

Artists Patricia Piccinini and Peter Hennessey knocked back $790,000 when their 150-square-metre two-level apartment (pictured above) in the old MacRobertson chocolate factory in Fitzroy went to auction last weekend through Nelson Alexander agent Peter Stephens. The couple paid $410,000 in 2000 for the property. There had been a $780,000 vendor bid placed by Stephens, who was  quoting $780,000 to $850,000. It sold soon after auction at an undisclosed price. It was between 1993 and 1996 when the historic MacRobertson Chocolate factory warehouse, just off Smith Street’s shopping and entertainment precinct, was developed by Barcor Pty Ltd into warehouse shells.

Macquarie Group director Laurie Macri and his wife, Christine, are seeking more than $9 million for their five-bedroom South Coogee oceanfront house. The Bunya Parade house has been listed through McGrath agent Bethwyn Richards. It was last sold in 2005 when offloaded by entrenpruer John Singleton and his then wife Julie through McGrath agent James Dack for $7.5 million.

The three-level palace is a glass, concrete and steel residence, standing on an 800-square-metre clifftop block overlooking Wedding Cake Island, designed by architect Renato D'Ettore for his sister Yolanda and brother-in-law Orazio Camuglia. Title Tattle recalls the house, laden with polished travertine marble, was a 10-year labour of love for Orazio, a former toy importer who gave up his business and took out his owner/builder licence to oversee its construction, completed in 1999. The house received a commendation in the NSW Institute of Architects' Wilkinson Award for 2000. Its international renown was enhanced when the late celebrity snapper Herb Ritts flew in to take photos of the then Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman for their Eyes Wide Shut promotions at the property.

Channel 7 Sunrise sports presenter Mark Beretta has adjusted his Mosman house price expectations. He’d previously been seeking more than $2 million for the property (pictured above). Beretta has been wholesome in his praise for the Sydney suburb, saying it was a really nice, quiet area that was safe and secure. Beretta, who comes from a family of plumbers, and his wife Rachel have been at the property since 2005 when they paid $1.47 million. More than $1.9 million is being sought through Piers van Hamburg at McGrath Estate Agents. It’s a single storey house on a 610-square-metre block.

 


 

Brick manufacturer Gilbert Habla, owner of Habla Kilns, has listed Havelock House in Hawthorn (pictured above) through Marshall White agent James Redfern, who is seeking expressions of interest of about $3.5 million until November 29.  Habla and his wife, Janie, renovated the house after buying it in 1997. The 1899 house features a reception hall and ballroom. It has six bedrooms, two study areas and five bathrooms.

The Micos family, whose glass and aluminium company supplies windows to major development companies including Mirvac and Meriton, have snappily sold their three-bedroom Grantham, Potts Point apartment. It was listed with hopes of more than $5.5 million through Jason Boon in conjunction with McGrath North Sydney agent Nigel Mukhi. It occupies the entire third level of the Alex Popov-designed building named The Grantham. There are just eight apartments in the complex.

The former MP for Newcastle Jodi McKay now wants $800,000 for her Cooks Hill home (pictured above), which was listed for auction earlier this month through Sonia Walkom and Kate Rundle of Walkom Real Estate Newcastle with $850,000 plus hopes. McKay bought the Tooke Street house six years ago from the father of Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell. The former minister's house also has a state-of-the-art security system with back to base alarm. The house has three bedrooms, a bathroom, a sunroom, study, combined lounge and dining room, kitchen, outdoor eating area, high ceilings and leadlight windows and doors. McKay's partner lives in Sydney, and she has made the move south to renovate a property in the inner west.

The Collaroy Plateau home (pictured above) of television producer Paula Goodman didn’t sell at its recent auction through agent Jennifer Aaron of Jennifer Aaron Real Estate. It had been expected to fetch $930,000 plus. The four-bedroom house stands on a 782-square-metre Windermere Place block with landscaped gardens and pool. The two-level residence has bush views. On its lower level is a self-contained guest residence that opens on to a terrace. Goodman, who has produced Ladette to Lady and Secret Millionaire, has also featured in more than 50 TV commercials.

Architect Michael Spivakovsky and his wife Cheryl have listed historic Edzell House (pictured above), the heritage-protected Elizabethan Revival Toorak residence. Spivakovsky is the son of pianist Jascha Spivakovsky, who held recitals there that sometimes featured Dame Nellie Melba. The 1892 house that overlooks the Yarra River and the city has seven apartments, all with original features such as timber panelling and leadlighting. There are approved plans for a five-bedroom home on the site. Jellis Craig agents Jenny Gillies and Richard James have the listing with expressions of interest closing on December 5. About $9 million is being sought, according to the AFR, while The Age had previously suggested the St Georges Road property could fetch about $11 million. 

{yoogallery src=[images/stories/november7toni]}

Actor Toni Collette's historic Bronte home failed to find a taker at its weekend auction despite its price expectations being almost $1 million less that its $4.4 million last sale price. McGrath auctioneer Scott Kennedy-Green’s attempts to solicit a $3.5 million opening bid failed. It was passed in on a $3.5 million vendor bid.

The 1885 weatherboard cottage on a 750-square-metre block in Bronte Road cost $4.4 million in mid-2009. The couple, Collette and and her musician husband, David Galafassi, are selling their hillside house because the renovation rebuild costings defied property logic.

The rebuild construction tender quotes are understood to have tallied about $4 million, well above the official application with Waverley Council which suggested its revamp cost would be around $2.5 million.

Set privately above the high side of the street, the four-bedroom house is one of the last remnants of the original Bronte Estate.

Given the current top-end market conditions aren’t resplendent with sunshine, its McGrath Estate Agents listing agent Bethwyn Richards had given public estimates she expected the property to sell for about $3.5 million and that Collette and Galafassi were prepared to cop a $900,000 loss.

Before the auction Bethwyn Richards said  seven contracts had been issued.

"We've had more than 80 groups through, so we've been going OK," she added.

 {yoogallery src=[images/stories/november8collette]}

It’s one of three Bronte Road houses currently listed through McGrath. The couple have spent about $6 million in Paddington (pictured above).

Title Tattle likes to tell readers of property deals as soon as they happen – if not before – so the word is that Miki Stoliar may have recently picked up a Darling Point apartment. No details yet, though it’s suggested it’s been secured in the Bishopscourt apartment complex.

And don’t say that Title Tattle told you, but there are reputedly three keen parties looking at 1 Towers Road, Toorak (pictured above and below).  One Towers Road, Toorak, owned by former JPMorgan Australia chairman Brian Watson, has been listed with record-setting expectations. Set on more than 2,000 square metres, the six-bedroom house was once owned by businessman John Elliott.

Its Kay and Burton listing agent Michael Gibson has told industry players he expects the house to attract more than $26 million and set a new Victorian record. Offers are due early next week. The empty-nester Watson family bought the Toorak property in 2001 for $11.1 million, a then record-setting price.

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

Editor's Picks