Friday 1st April

Rove's record sale in Richmond

Television personality, Rove McManus, has sold his home in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond for $3.4 million.

The 1860’s mansion was auctioned with 26 lucky bidders granted privileged inside access, while the remaining spectators waited outside.

McManus, who is now based in L.A. with his Australian wife Tasma Walton, was not present for the auction.

The house includes five bedrooms, three bathrooms, study, open plan living and dining area, gourmet galley-style kitchen, and an outdoor entertaining area with a built-in barbeque and a swimming pool.

The sale has set a new record for Richmond.

Media Mogul's Dream House

Jim McKay and Jill Fraser are selling their luxury residence in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton for $7.5 million plus.

Jim is the former Executive Producer of sport for Channel 9 and produced many other shows for the Network, including ‘Hey Hey It's Saturday’, which he also named. He is also the co-founder of the legendary Sunbury Pop Festival.

Jim and his wife, Journalist and Publicist, Jill Fraser, initially built the two residences with the intention of taking the Penthouse for themselves. However, now that their children have grown and moved out and much of their time is spent between Sydney, London and New York, the couple have decided to sell their Melbourne base and move to Sydney.

The couple ensured that the final product was delivered exactly as it was planned, no matter what that entailed - and it shows.  In the early drafting stages, Jim was so intent on securing the best views that he hired a cherry picker to take the architects to the proposed levels for each floor.  The result is a ‘perfect’ 180° sweep of the Bay plus views of the city skyline from the top levels Sky Lounge and Sunset Bar, and from the outdoor deck.

Jim’s television and media background shines through in the extraordinary home cinema. The room incorporates a curved four-metre wide Stewart screen which was imported from the US, plus the best quality sound system, a full high definition projector and anamorphic lens kit, and eight fully reclining, soft leather theatre chairs.  The cinema has also been acoustically isolated so that noise is not heard from surrounding rooms.

The media does not stop there! With over 40 kilometres of cables were installed in the building; each room, including the kitchen and 2 of the bathrooms, has a wide screen television, internet, pay-TV, the best audio systems and even fibre optic connections for seamless future proofing into the NBN.  

For further information, find it on Millionplus.

The Belle of Bellarine

Brett Morrissy, Captain of 13th Beach Barwon Heads Golf Course, is selling his coastal oasis in Curlewis.

The home, named ‘Sunnyside Downs’, is set on five acres and features its own picture perfect 9-hole professional golf course. The grounds also boasts a solar heated swimming pool, flood lit mod-grass tennis court, a children’s playground, and an in-ground trampoline.

The light-filled home includes an impressive entry, guest powder room, two living rooms sharing a double sided French fireplace, open gourmet kitchen and dining, home office, mezzanine library and gallery, wine cellar, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and integrated fish tank.

The property also includes a vegetable garden, fenced paddocks, fruit tree orchard, and architecturally designed gardens.

For further information, find it on Millionplus.
 

An island to call home

A tropical resort island on the Great Barrier Reef has sold to Computershare founder Chris Morris.

It is believed that Mr Morris secured the island for less than the at $10 million the island was marketed at, which was a huge $5 million less than the $15 million paid for it only three years ago.

The Melbourne-based businessman heads a hotel chain named Colonial Leisure Group, which runs 15 hotels including the well-known Portsea Hotel in Victoria.

He reportedly has plans to perform basic renovations and hopes to reopen the island in July of this year. Morris also has plans to recruit indigenous Australians to work in the resort, with their hospitality training to start next month.

The island, named ‘Orpheus Island’, stretches for 11km and is located 190km southeast of Cairns, and 80km northwest of Townsville.

The resort, which has had Elton John, Phil Collins, Mickey Rooney and Vivien Leigh as star guests in the past, includes 21 waterfront guestrooms, a bar, restaurant, gym, tennis court, two swimming pools, and guest facilities.