Friday 21st October

A Brighton Bombshell

Former Newcrest Mining CEO, Ian Smith, is selling his impressive estate in the Melbourne seaside suburb of Brighton for $4.5 million.

A landmark in Brighton, the 1,100 square metre property boasts glorious gardens and a no-expense-spared revival of a stunning Victorian Italianate residence with iconic tower.

The grand-scale home is a seamless integration of contemporary quality and 1892 elegance. It features a grand dining room, double-glazed conservatory games room, formal and casual living spaces, a palatial parents’ retreat with a marble ensuite bathroom, walk-through wardrobe, and tranquil garden views. It also includes three further bedrooms, an impressive granite kitchen, and a private study hidden away in the tower.

The grounds include a dual-heated pool and spa, 36,000-litre water storage, and a granite-topped outdoor kitchen.

For further information, find it on Millionplus.

Head for the Adelaide Hills

Retired Doctor, Brice Douglas and his wife, Ruth Douglas are selling their stunning Adelaide Hills Estate for $1.5 million.

Named ‘Wistonia’, the landmark property was originally the Wistow Golf Club House, which relocated and merged with the Mount Barker Golf Club. The couple acquired the acreage nearly 10 years ago and spent the following 18 months building and landscaping the estate seen today.

The imposing residence boasts epic proportions and over-sized statement pieces, which creates an impressive display of grandeur. It includes a stately master bedroom with an adjoining dressing room and marble ensuite with spa, three further bedrooms and two bathrooms, home theatre, indoor pool, gourmet kitchen, and over-sized living & dining rooms.

The grounds spread over 68 acres and include six paddocks, an American style barn with an upstairs loft area, cattle yards, a fully certified organic farm, rose garden, vegetable garden, and extensive carports and garaging.

The property is located only 10 minutes from Mount Barker and Strathalbyn, and 30 minutes to Adelaide’s CBD.

For further information, find it on Millionplus.

Russell Crowe lists $2m apartment

The Potts Point investment apartment of actor Russell Crowe – bought for $1.5 million in 2001 – has been listed for sale. More than $2 million is tipped for the top-floor apartment with Harbour Bridge and Opera House views through lattice-framed balconies accessed through three French doors.

It’s in a strata-titled triplex terrace on leafy Victoria Street. There’s secure parking with the two-level apartment that has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It’s been listed by Jason Boon at Richardson & Wrench Elizabeth Bay and Hamish Robertson at McGrath Estate Agents.

Crowe was seemingly captivated by charm of Victoria Street – with the western sunlight filtering through the plane tree-lined Parisian-style strip, which has survived despite the high-rise development further up the street. It was bought in 2001 from the theatre director Jim Sharman, who had bought it in 1984 for $310,000.

In early 2011 after a four-year search, Crowe and his wife, Danielle Spencer, spent $10 million on a Rose Bay property, Te Puke, a 1909 house updated with a 1927 Arts and Crafts-style additions. Along the way they inspected the $50 million-plus Altona on the harbour in Point Piper in 2007, as well as unsuccessfully seeking pricey inland residence Le Manoir at Bellevue Hill, which fetched $23 million in 2009. Spencer was keen to spend more, while Crowe, preferring to keep his substantial Woolloomooloo apartment as a bolthole, only wanted to spend a modest amount.

The six-bedroom Rose Bay house is set on 1,200 square metres overlooking the fairways of the Royal Sydney Golf Club. Te Puke, pronounced ''teh-pook-eh'', is Maori for the hill, and last traded at $5.5 million in 2001. Crowe and Spencer snapped it up before its forthcoming auction through Ben Collier and James Dack at McGrath Estate Agents.

For the full article, click here.

Home on the Grange

Melbourne businessman, Peter Sidwell is selling his thoroughbred, racing, and winery property located at Sutton Grange in Victoria for around $10 million.

Located only 70 kilometres from Melbourne, the property is being sold either as a whole, comprising 940 acres, or in two parts – as the Sutton Grange Racing and Stud complex of 655 acres, and the Sutton Grange Winery of 285 acres.

“The property represents a considerable financial investment and it is without peer of its type from my viewpoint,” says Pat Rice & Hawkins Director, Peter Hawkins.

The property’s racing complex, which has seen the private training of many winning racehorses, comprises a significant stable and operations block, comprising forty four large horse boxes, sixteen thoroughbred stud boxes, a 3 metre by 90 metre horse swimming pool, significant feed storage and wash down facilities, railed and round yards, veterinary facility, an eight horse walking machine, and a 2.7 kilometre professional Pro-Ride training track.

It also includes an upstairs master viewing area with kitchen, entertaining and lounge areas, two bathrooms, machinery sheds and storage units, three separate lots of staff quarters, and an office which overlooks both the training track and the stable courtyard area, and an attractive brick veneer homestead that features four bedrooms, two bathrooms and all relevant quality services and facilities.

On this portion of the estate is another quality bluestone cottage with veranda surrounds and three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an in ground swimming pool.
The Sutton Grange Vineyard was planted in 1998 and comprises thirty two acres planted to Shiraz, Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon, and has provided the grapes for the acclaimed Fairbank and premium Sutton Grange Estate label wines.

Officially opened in 2005 the Sutton Grange Winery complex is a three-level, plus mezzanine, building constructed from Western Australian limestone blocks, with extensive use of red gum and feature timbers. It has a capacity exceeding 150 people including a wine tasting area, winery and barrel room with an adjoining cool store.

“The property has a long thoroughbred tradition as it was originally selected by the late Bruce Gadsden as the Brolyn Park Stud, so the purchaser will be a fortunate buyer of a piece of Australian racing tradition in particular,” says Peter Hawkins.

For further information, find it on Millionplus.