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Top Federation Homes

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Federation Homes of Fame

Ordered by Value & Heritage

NSW
Fairwater, Double Bay NSW

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Fairwater, Double Bay NSW

THE most expensive home in this country’s history was snapped up by Aussie millionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes in September 2018.

  • The Atlassian co-founder broke the record after buying Lady Mary Fairfax’s Point Piper mansion, Fairwater.

  • The exact amount has not been disclosed, and according to media reports, Mr Cannon-Brookes bagged the property for a "bargain-basement price of close to $100 million”, and 

  • Australia's first nine-digit house sale was settled with records showing the most expensive house purchase is unencumbered.

 

The lack of finance required to buy Fairwater, the $100 million Double Bay property, will surprise few familiar with the buyer – software giant Atlassian's co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes – given he has no mortgages on his three houses

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Fairwater, the residence of Mr. Fairfax,

Fairwater is a large domestic residence constructed in 1882 with additions made in c.1901 and 1910, with former stable (c.1900s) and garage (1930), situated on a large suburban allotment fronting Port Jackson with mature garden landscaping including notable trees.

  • The property is of rare historic, aesthetic, social and scientific significance in consideration of its association with the Fairfax family,

  • and as a large late-nineteenth century residence (with Edwardian era additions), of high integrity.

  • The front garden and driveway is a private glen of trees of massive proportions and scale.

    • This area is dominated by the camphor laurels in the central turning area to the residence, while the upper area to the front property boundary is dominated by large Port Jackson figs with massive coalesced aerial roots and extensive buttressing.

    • The canopies of these trees extend to the carriageway. The intertwined and entangled canopies of all these trees form a closed and wild woodland garden of great aesthetic appeal.

 

Read more about Fairwater:

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The Hermitage estate, Vaucluse NSW

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The Hermitage estate, Vaucluse NSW

The Hemmes family has lived in The Hermitage, an expansive waterfront estate at Vaucluse, for 45 years. Justin, 46, still occupies his own private wing.

However,the family is not moving any time soon, according to Justin Hemmes' father.

John Hemmes told The Sunday Telegraph one international and one local buyer had made offers for the property in recent weeks, but Justin had knocked them back because they fell short of the mark.

Contrary to rumours that the proceeds were needed to pay off debt in his son's hotel business, John Hemmes said the home was not for sale.

"They're talking $60 million now,'' he said.

"But it's not on the market; it's not for sale. We love it here.''

Statement of Significance: 

A romantic and exceptional example of a Victorian Gothic mansion, which despite numerous alterations retains much of its early charm thanks to the skill of architect Emil Sodersten.

Its location above Hermit Bay is particularly attractive and it must rank as one of Sydney's most important harbourside villas of the late Victorian era.

Built sometime between 1870-78 by Edward Mason Hunt on one of the first subdivisions of the W C Wentworth Land Grant. 

 

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Addenbrooke, Bellevue Hill NSW

Addenbrooke, Bellevue Hill NSW

Federation Queen Anne style: "A very choice position on the crown of the hill, with delightful views over the harbour"

  • Property Observer previously suggested it came with $33 million hopes by the downsizing vendors, Denis and Charlotte O'Neil.

  • Addenbrooke last traded at its 1988 auction for $5.375 million having been the home of the late Sir Lionel Coppleson, the former hire purchase Custom Credit co-founding chairman, for close to five decades. He and his surgeon brother, Sir Victor, who was an author of a 1933 book on Australian shark attacks, had grown up in Wee Waa on the Namoi River in northern NSW. Sir Lionel was knighted in 1969.

  • An earlier auction was in 1930 when it was noted Addenbrooke adjoined the homes of Sir William Vicars and surgeon Sir Charles Clubbe.

 

Read more: Addenbrooke, Bellevue Hill​ - www.federationhome.com

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60 Wunulla Road Point Piper NSW

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60 Wunulla Road Point Piper NSW

(formerly Ni-No-Nan)

Another waterfront trophy home sale, the sixth in 2014 to sell for $30 million or more.
"The Federation Arts and Crafts style mansion of liquor baron John Piven-Large sold on Friday, bringing Point Piper's sales tally to some $200 million worth of prime real estate sales within five months.
The six-bedroom residence with a tidal beach was first up for sale early last year with hopes of $40 million."​

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  • Including a 30m private tidal beach, this majestic home enjoys a rare position remarkably close to the water, includes a separate apartment and enjoys panoramic harbour district views including the Harbour Bridge.

  • The home was first called Ni-No-Nan after its 1912 construction, a name that has thankfully been lost in time. Historically, the home is significant as one of only a small handful of the original constructions on the peninsula.

Leura, Victoria Rd, Bellevue Hill NSW

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Leura, Victoria Rd, Bellevue Hill NSW 

Nov 25, 2016 ... Chinese businessman and keen yachtie Wilson Lee and his wife Baoyu Wu have emerged as the buyers of the Bellevue Hill trophy home Leura.

One of Sydney's grandest estates, the Bellevue Hill trophy residence Leura sold on Monday afternoon 10-Nov-2015 for more than $30 million, setting a suburb record in the process.​

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  • The sale by businessman Ken Allen and his wife, Christine, to an Australian buyer came the day before it was scheduled to go to auction, and for in excess of its original $30 million guide.

  • Built in the 1890s for Tom Knox, managing director of the Dalgety stock and station agency, in the Federation Queen Anne style and set on a vast 4260 square metres, the mansion includes eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a ballroom, tennis court and a swimming pool.

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Babworth House, Mount Adelaide Rd, Darling Point NSW

Statement of Significance: 

Babworth House is one of the largest, finest and most intact examples of an early twentieth century grand house in Australia.

It is of national significance both historically and aesthetically.

Babworth House is an excellent and rare example of the Federation Arts and Crafts style in grand domestic architecture in Australia.

The quality and uniqueness of the exterior and interior detailing, incorporating both Art Nouveau and neoclassical motifs and forms is of a standard and scale rarely seen in domestic architecture.

The workmanship and detailing of the external cement render work is of national significance technically.

  • Probably the grandest Art Nouveau house in Sydney, built for Anthony Hordern.

  • It is sited on the highest point of Darling Point and is a reminder of the lifestyle of Sydney society in the time it was built, 1905.

  • Now divided into apartments; sold for $25.6 million in 2000.​

Babworth House
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Built to the designs of Morrow and de Peutron in the Art Nouveau style:

  • The exterior of the house is executed in cast cement, with very fine relief patterns.

  • An elaborate porte cochere and verandahs front the house, which is topped off with a slate roof, whose large gables have a bungalow connotation.

  • The interiors have a wealth of Art Nouveau and eighteenth century ornament, including a significant staircase. 

Read more:

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Eulinya 48-50 Irving Road, Toorak VIC

 

Eulinya's well-preserved Federation Arts and Crafts-style house and gardens (48-50 Irving Road, Toorak, designed by Walter Butler) makes it one of the most historically and architecturally significant properties in Toorak.

Mr Lindsay Fox (also owner of Boomerang, Elizabeth Bay NSW) has owned the Irving Road property since the late 1970s. This is one of a few Toorak estates, owned by a who's who of Melbourne's business elite, which could command  "circa $100 million", property sources said.

Eulinya is a superb combination of house and garden design that epitomises the underlying theme of Arts & Crafts architecture where the design of the house is at one with its garden setting.​

Victoria

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Eulinya 48-50 Irving Road, Toorak VIC
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Little Milton 26 Albany Road, Toorak

Eulinya is regarded as one of Walter Butler‘s last and best designed large houses. It is well preserved externally, in terms of the street view, and prominently sited within grounds which also reflect Butler's landscape design preferences.

  • The garden reflects Butler's stated preference for formal, structured garden design that would eventually inspire Edna Walling and others.

  • This combination of house and garden design epitomises the underlying theme of Arts & Crafts architecture where the design of the house is at one with its setting. 

 

"A superb combination of house and garden design that epitomises the underlying theme of Arts & Crafts architecture where the design of the house is at one with its garden setting and thus is particularly evocative of the architectural firm, W&R Butler's reputation for significant Arts & Crafts architecture and garden design."

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Little Milton 26 Albany Road, Toorak

Little Milton is of architectural significance as an outstanding example of an Old English/Art and Crafts style, inter-war mansion.

Little Milton is was built in 1926 on two allotments subdivided from the former Whernside estate.

Its massing and detailing are skilfully executed and the house sits comfortably in its landscaped environs.

The house is the most important work of architect Muriel Millicent Stott who was one of only a handful of women architects working in Melbourne in the 1920s. It is also architecturally significant for its surviving landscape elements by Edna Walling the most celebrated landscape designer of the era.

The house was designed in the Old English/Arts and Crafts style by Muriel Stott (1889-1985) in association with the architectural firm Stephenson and Meldrum for the Moran family who were prominent in the grocery business.

It is claimed that Stott, whose family conducted a business college, modelled the house on Great Milton, a large residence in the Cotswolds.

The circa-1926, five-bedroom mansion at 26 Albany Road, said to be Toorak’s most expensive street, is at the north-east corner of Whernside Avenue.

A tennis court was installed recently atop a 12-car underground garage. Little Milton has an overall block size of 2476 square metres. 

Little Milton was her largest commission and her last work in Australia before she emigrated to South Africa. The two storeyed house is of brick with ochred stucco. The roof is tiled. There is an attached garage to the north which forms an integral part of the design. The landscape design is by Edna Walling and features the extensive use of red brick paving. ​

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Edzell House, 76 St Georges Rd Toorak

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Edzell House, 76 St Georges Rd Toorak 

 

The heritage-protected Ezell mansion was built in 1892. It is a classic example of Queen Anne Revival but Elizabethan Revival (aka Tudor) is sometimes used.

  • Dame Nellie Melba performed private concerts in the grand ballroom of the 30-plus room mansion.

  • The property is listed on the register of the National Estate because of its association with Spivakovsky's father and Dame Nellie Melba.

  • The mansion's age as well as its outstanding architecture make it a Melbourne icon.


The architects who designed it were the highly respected Reed Smart & Tappin and on top of all of that, it was built for Melbourne mayor, James Cooper Stewart.​

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Externally, the house possesses extensive half-timbered gabling, Marseille-pattern tiles and terracotta ridging from this period, along with two asymmetricially placed turreted, corner towers facing the Yarra River.

There is a two-level timber verandah with Tudor styling.
Internally, the Dining Room remains near to original, with its panelled timber ceiling and dado which were executed in New Zealand Remu, embossed floral-pattern wallpaper, overdoors and the panelled timber mantel and overmantel with their carved enrichments.

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Bona Vista, 59 Kensington Rd, South Yarra VIC

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Bona Vista, 59 Kensington Rd, South Yarra VIC

in 2010, one Melbourne’s most historically significant estates - ‘Bona Vista’ in South Yarra - traded hands for $10.5m, a low figure for its one acre of land at the end of prestigious Kensington Road.

 

Bona Vista is of state historical significance as ail example of a 19th century suburban Gothic Queen Anne mansion (built in 1885) with a tower still in a garden setting, although of later date.

Bona Vista has high architectural significance as an example of one of the earliest known examples of the use of the Queen Ann Revival style in Victoria, displaying an unusual combination of stylistic influences.

Located in spacious grounds (recently designed and planted), it is of aesthetic significance and has additional historical importance for its associations with the original Bona Vista (now named Grantham) which was also owned by the famous Hobson family.

 

The house is an early example of the Queen Anne revival style in which classical and medieval elements are freely and deliberately combined. Its overall form with its square plan and hipped roof is adorned with a Tudor gabled porch, and a classical pediment at the first floor level.

The corner tower suggests the French Renaissance and the windows vary from multiple pane Tudor to the flat arched classical type.

During the 1920s an addition to the western face of the building contained a large ballroom and lounge. 

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Redcourt House, Orrong Rd, Armadale

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Redcourt House, Orrong Rd, Armadale 

Redcourt is of state significance as one of the very earliest manifestations of a domestic Queen Anne Revival influenced mode in Melbourne.

A very grand and modern house for its time, it remains substantially externally intact and retains some of its original grounds, which reinforce the original design intent of its architects, the notable firm Reed Henderson & Smart.

 

The previously derelict 14-bedroom mansion in Melbourne's Armadale has been listed for sale with reported price hopes of $10 million plus.

The Queen Anne-style mansion at 506 Orrong Road  was originally built in 1888 by glass and timber merchant Edward Yencken.

It was designed by architect Joseph Reed, also responsible for State Library of Victoria and the Royal Exhibition Building.

Redcourt was left to the elements from 1996 until 2009 when Melbourne investor Adam Garrisson bought and started renovating the property. A link below has photos of the property prior to the building's renovation.​

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For this project Garrison appointed John Warwicker of London art and design collective Tomato as creative director, Vogue Living reports.

Each room had a different creative professional working on it. Fashion designer Akira Isogawa worked on the music room, artist David Bromley worked on the children’s room, Warwicker worked on the Great Hall, artist Naomi Troski worked on a bedroom White Room, and Shannon Bennett worked on the kitchen.

It has a tennis court, servants' quarters, a coach house and a pavilion.

"I wanted to create an environment that fostered a cultural and artistic exchange," Garrisson told Vogue Living.

"Some people don't care about old buildings, but they are defining, contextualising and encase the character of a civilisation."

Read more:

Read more about twelve Victorian Top Homes:

Tasmania

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Waimea House Sandy Bay Tasmania

A Tasmanian residential price record in 2011 ws set when investment financier Greg Woolley bought Waimea House for $8 million from former Sydneysiders Piers Dawson-Damer and his wife, Kim.

Occupying one of the finest positions in Hobart, Waimea House is a Federation Arts and Crafts mansion set on 9726 square metres, with a pool, tennis court, and a smaller second residence with Art Deco influences, a vacant block in Waimea Ave and four vacant blocks in Quamby Ave.​

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Waimea House Sandy Bay Tasmania

Located in prestigious Sandy Bay, the landmark property has magnificent harbour and Derwent River views.
Many regard the landmark property as occupying the finest position in Hobart, with harbour views and complete privacy.

Located in prestigious Sandy Bay, the landmark property has magnificent harbour and Derwent River views.

Waimea House had only been sold nine months earlier in 2011 for a record $6.06 million. Its latest buyer is the low-key investment banker Greg Woolley from Point Piper, Sydney, who lives at exclusive Point Piper, Sydney, in a house bought for $10.55 million in 2005.

Read more: 

Cooinda, Channel Highway Birchs Bay, TAS

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Cooinda, Channel Highway Birchs Bay, TAS

The epitome of Tasmanian lifestyle, sold by the former divisional director and head of training for equity markets at Macquarie Bank Rohan Boman and wife Anne. 

Originally from Queensland, the couple have spent many years living in Sydney and overseas but decided to settle in the south.

They paid $2.7 million for the home which sits on a sprawling 3.4 hectare parcel on the edge of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Cooinda was sold on 19 Jul 2016 for $2,600,000.

Built in 1905, the fully renovated Tasmanian Federation home Cooinda has four bedrooms, a formal dining room, a central study and a sheltered garden terrace.​

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On the edge of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, this fully renovated Federation residence (c1905) is the epitome of country living with a water front position spanning 8.5 acres.


’Cooinda’ has a gabled exterior with a signature stained glass front entry. 
Inside, period architecture enchants with high ceilings, original fireplaces, bay windows, picture rails and use of timbers delicately balanced with modern accents. The formal lounge has bay window seats.
 

Read more:

The Gables 1 Cedar Court, Sandy Bay

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The Gables 1 Cedar Court, Sandy Bay 

 

This Cedar Court building is one of few examples of the Federation Queen Anne style in Hobart. This example is particularly substantial and rich in adhering to the characteristics of the style.

Cedar Court is one of few examples of Architect Christopher Cowper's work in Tasmania. Cowper was a Melbourne based architect, and completed at least three large works in the Federation style in Tasmania.​

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The Gables is an example of Federation Queen Anne style, designed by Architect Christopher Cowper (of Melbourne) and constructed in 1911.

Features inherent of the style and inclusive of this example are: an asymmetrical complex roof structure, which is noted in the three prominent offset gables of steep pitch which give it a vague Tudor feeling and terracotta roof tiles with ridge and apex ornament.

The Gables has a half-timbered effect above the bay windows in combination with stucco in the gable ends. The timber work is scalloped and painted green. 

The base is of the building is sandstone and the cement mortar of the external walls is a combination of half painted "Queen Anne Red" and the raw grey of the concrete mortar itself.

This effect adds to the richness and is unusual in the knowledge that although concrete had been introduced for some time and cement mortars were in general use for exterior application, keeping with the avoidance of simplicity of the Federation Queen Anne style. 

"The Gables" example has stylised brackets for the projecting gables and turned woodwork verandah columns of the Tuscan order.

The front facade features two round accent windows with multipaned toplights in projecting bays either side of the entrance porch. 

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Arcoona East Barrack St, Deloraine TAS

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Arcoona East Barrack St, Deloraine TAS

A $1.8m, 7 bedroom, 6 bathroom house located at 13 East Barrack Street, “Arcoona Manor is a grand historical home that retains a sense of its bygone era. Its grand proportions and luxurious rooms and gardens made this the perfect holiday destination."

Arcoona (Aboriginal for Flowing Waters) is a magnificent historic house built in the Edwardian style and was completed in 1892. It now belongs to the National Trust. 

Its rich history in the picturesque village of Deloraine Tasmania started when it was built as a residence for Dr Cole and his family. 

It later became a maternity hospital where many of the local Delorainian’s were born before being refurbished in the early 1970’s for a private residence then a Bed and Breakfast. ​

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The latest refurbishment has refreshed this grand home with some modern comforts while retaining the original features. 

The many original features including the stained glassed windows, light fittings, fire places and intricate cathedral timber ceilings and the servants bells which now all show case the grand ambiance of this historical and important building.  

 

This warm and welcoming home has five private luxurious suites, a majestic drawing room with open fire and baby grand piano, a formal dining room, the original ballroom which hosts breakfast along with a relaxing sitting area with fireplace and Dr Coles billiard room with its original full size table and furniture. 

 

Read more:

Read more about seven Top Homes of Tasmania

Queensland

Queensland

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Windermere 14 Sutherland Ave, Ascot

 

Windermere is a substantial picturesque single-storeyed chamferboard residence with corrugated iron roofs in the Queen Anne style. The house sits on a rise and is set back from Sutherland Avenue, overlooking gardens which contain mature trees.

The building and mature trees contribute to the Ascot townscape.

Brisbane pub baron Andrew Griffiths sold this Ascot residence for $10.2 million through estate agent Gail Havig, the highest residential property sale in Brisbane in seven years.

 

Windermere sits on 4,700 square metres on Sutherland Avenue.

It last traded at $3.5 million in 2001 when bought by Griffiths and his wife, Helen.

It has been sold to Chris Miers and his wife, Linda. 

This Ascot street gets its name from James Sutherland, a pastoralist who in 1855 acquired a substantial land holding in the area.

Built around the mid-1880s, the past residents read like a Who's Who of Brisbane's well-to-do residing behind its ornate gates, according to the yourbrisbane website.   

It is abundantly clear that the majority of Brisbane's brightest and most successful residents choose to call Hamilton and Ascot home.​

Windermere 14 Sutherland Ave, Ascot
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Blair Lodge, 242 Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton, QLD

It is believed that the old Windermere was demolished and a new house was built for Sutherland's daughter Ruth and her husband solicitor John George Appel on the site c. 1886 in a stylish filigree adaption of Queen Anne style.

The house may have been designed by architect Richard Gailey.

This single storey house of timber construction with wide verandahs which have been developed to form a spacious pavilion at the south-east corner. A large bay window, maintaining the symmetry, located on the other side of the main entry. Cast iron balustrading good example of design for the local climate.

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Blair Lodge, 242 Kingsford Smith Drive, Hamilton, QLD

Around $5-6 million

Blair Lodge, formerly the Munro Residence, is significant as a fine example of the Federation Queen Anne style of architecture in a landscaped setting.

The building clearly displays many typical characteristics of this idiom such as the steeply pitched terra cotta tiled roof, bay windows, multipaned sashes and painted timber detailing on the verandahs, whilst adapting this style to the Queensland tradition of timber houses (Criteria D.2).

The residence is significant as a building designed by Claude Chambers and is one of the few examples of his domestic work, as he was mainly involved in non residential work. (Chambers is particularly noted for his commercial building work).

The residence is also significant for its deliberate siting as a prominent landmark in a residential area overlooking the Brisbane River .

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Built at a time when Hamilton was undergoing rapid growth, expanding its status as a suburb of the elite and well-to-do, Blair Lodge is an excellent representative example of the extensive middle class residential development that occurred in the Hamilton area at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is also significant for its considerable aesthetic qualities.

The residence is a timber building and is a fine example of the Federation Queen Anne style of architecture. The building is built on high timber stumps with a terra cotta tiled roof.

The roof shape is steeply pitched and has a number of attic rooms, which have projecting bay windows clad with shingles, all of which give the building its picturesque quality.

A red brick Queen Anne style chimney rises up through the roof. Other decorative features include multipaned sashes, the arched timberwork of the verandah which runs on two sides of the building, and the timber battening between the stumps.

 

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Cremorne, 34 Mullens Street Hamilton

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Cremorne, 34 Mullens Street Hamilton 

 

This amazing home at 34 Mullens St, Hamilton, was one of the biggest sales in Brisbane in 2017/18 for just under $6 million.

Standing over two levels and the only Brisbane example of the domestic work of renowned Sydney architects Eaton and Bates, Cremorne commands 180 degree views encompassing the CBD and Brisbane River from its selection of gazebos, verandahs, and from nearly every room.

Cremorne is heritage-listed and was built from 1905 to 1906. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.​

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Renovated by Award winning architect Brian Donovan this renovation received the 2009 State Residential Architecture Houses Award.  

This iconic estate has the elegant heritage exterior of a Queenslander but inside, the home has received a complete contemporary restoration and heritage approved pavilion extension.

Its exquisite internal features include stained glass windows, 13 foot high ceilings, three fireplaces, chandeliers and polished timber flooring. 

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Killara 92 Windermere Rd Hamilton QLD 4007

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Killara 92 Windermere Rd Hamilton QLD 4007

Estimated price, around $5 million.

Killara is significant as an excellent example of the work of the architect A E Brooks. Killara is also considered significant because of its high degree of intactness, both externally and internally, which is rare. 

It clearly illustrates the characteristics of the Queensland Federation style and the influence of the practice in which he was working at the time: Hall and Dods (Criterion D.2). 
This shows through in its artistic and technical excellence and its urbane, reserved detailing, proportioning and planning (Criterion F.1). 

 


 

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Killara is a timber building with a Marseilles tiled roof, designed in a sophisticated refinement of the Queensland Federation style.

The main entrance is in a projecting wing with a decorative timber gabled roof.

A generous verandah, with French doors opening onto it, surrounds the house on three sides.

 

Internally, the house has large carefully detailed rooms. The house retains much of the original furniture.

An interesting polygonal bay window is featured in the large living room, and more orthodox rectangular bay windows are used in the master bedroom and dining room.

Each bedroom is virtually self contained with either built in cupboards and/or wash basins. Internally, black Japan stained doors, mouldings and architraves are contrasted with painted vertical jointed boarding.

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Ruhamah, 23 Killara Avenue Hamilton QLD 4007

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Ruhamah, 23 Killara Avenue Hamilton QLD 4007

One of the most beautiful Queenslanders that Brisbane has to offer: properties like "Ruhamah" are as rare as they are magnificent.

This home is set on eight separate titles with a total land size of 4258 sqm, making this 112 year old property one of the largest private holdings in Hamilton and Ascot.
This unique home has had only had four families live there, with the current owners residing in the property for over 26 years.

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This substantial residence was built between 1900-1902 for politician and businessman Thomas Morrow who helped establish Morrow and Rankin’s (later Arnott’s) biscuit confectionary.

At the time the house was constructed, Hamilton had established itself as one of Brisbane’s most prestigious residential suburbs and ‘Ruhamah’ positioned itself among many other fine houses already located in the area.

The house, which has undergone some alterations since the 1990s, remained in the Morrow family until 1948.

It’s hard to say whether the indoors or the outdoors are more grand, with features including a tennis court, indoor pool room, a billiards room and hallway chandeliers.

 

Significance

  • It has a special association with the life or work of politician and businessman Thomas Morrow whose biscuit manufacturing firm later became Arnott’s Biscuits.

The home has been meticulously restored and maintained with many features, a championship tennis court and an indoor pool house, to name but a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The grandeur and location make "Ruhamah" a stand-alone opportunity to purchase one of the most beautiful Queenslander's Brisbane has to offer.

Six Bedrooms, seven Bathrooms, seven Car Spaces; Land Size 4258 m2.

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Avondale, 26 Thornbury St, Spring Hill 

A historical trophy home worth over $2.5 million

The Brisbane bold home with rich history, Avondale, has been listed for sale by Sam Mayes and Zac Tully from Ray White.

It was built in 1912 by William Francis Corbett, a lawyer from Toorak Road in Hamilton, who also owned the Carlton Hotel in Queen Street. 

Avondale has enjoyed a rich history serving as a boarding house in the 1950s before becoming home to a well-known journalist and then a prominent Brisbane builder, who completed significant expansions in the 1980s.

It last sold in 2012 at $2.5 million.

"I love things that have a sense of timelessness, whether they’re from 50 years ago, or last year. To me design is the most important thing of all.”

It was with that thought in mind that landed antique dealer Suzy Baines at the doorstep of 26 Thornbury St, Spring Hill, five years ago.

Avondale, 26 Thornbury St, Spring Hill
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Avondale has six bedrooms, three bathrooms and multiple living spaces.

The kitchen was completely renovated and the original kitchen fireplace now houses a pair of V-Zug ovens.

Renovated in 2006, the light fittings, wiring, security system and air-conditioning were all upgraded.

 

Extra features include double-hung, full-length sash windows, pressed metal ceilings, and two working fireplaces with marble surrounds.

Read more:

Read more about nine Top Homes of Queensland
 

Feniton (Fenton) 388 Bowen Terrace, New Farm

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Fenton (Feniton) 388 Bowen Terrace, New Farm

Once the home of a Queensland Premier, this 111-year-old New Farm home has finally been entered onto the state's heritage register.

The 1907-built Bowen Terrace home, Feniton, was designed by architect Robin Dods, who was recognised as one of Brisbane's leading architects in the early 20th century.

Feniton is recognised as a classic example of Brisbane's Federation-era architecture.

The old home is recognised as a classic example of Dod's skill in Federation-style architecture, featuring spacious formal and informal rooms, a dominant roof, wide verandahs and a piazza with a northeast aspect.

Set back from Bowen Terrace, the remarkable old home offers a glimpse into Brisbane's earlier years.

Former Queensland Premier Edward Theodore, who led the state from 1919 to 1925, lived in the house during his tenure.


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Originally known as “Feniton” and built in 1906-07, the house is sited on a 1,292-square-metre block at 388 Bowen Terrace in the inner-Brisbane suburb of New Farm.

The site has a second frontage on Oxley Lane at the rear.

From 1916 to 1927, it was the home of Edward Granville Theodore, Queensland’s premier from 1919 to 1925.

According to its heritage statement, “Feniton is important in demonstrating the lifestyle of Brisbane’s prosperous elite in the inner suburbs of Brisbane during the early 20th century.”

The house is set back 25 metres from Bowen Terrace and is surrounded by large gardens at the front and rear. The highset timber house has verandahs on three sides and a steeply pitched roof with projecting brick chimneys.

“Feniton forms part of a group of major works or ‘first quality houses’ of the middle period of the Hall and Dods practice (1901-09), a group described as comprising ‘most of the interesting houses designed by Dods,’” its heritage statement notes.

“Feniton is important for its Federation aesthetic, successfully combining Arts and Crafts and Classical elements in a pleasingly proportioned asymmetrical high-set house with dominant roof, wide verandahs, piazza with a northeast aspect, and visually firm connection to the ground.

Largely intact, it demonstrates, internally and externally, fine architectural quality and skilful arrangement of generous and refined formal and informal spaces that evoke a sense of an earlier, gracious lifestyle.”

Read more:

Read more about nine Top Homes of Queensland

Tarrangower 21 Victoria Ave, Unley Park S.A.
South Australia

Tarrangower 21 Victoria Ave, Unley Park S.A.

Heritage listed for its external form, materials and detailing of this 1917 Edwardian dwelling. The masonry and iron front fence is also included in the listing.​

South Australia

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by Margaret Warming, March 2012 (Courtesy of the Unley Museum) 

"We were shown the property by agent John Black (1970). It had been for sale for a long time. However, it was love at first sight for me".

OUTSIDE:

"At The front of the property, behind the fence, was a mixed thorn hedge. The heavy twin gates were at each side with a driveway extending down the side of the house. The driveway on the northern side extended past a Coach House at the back, down a wide lane to a double gale at Whistler Avenue (No 26). The back had a path leading from the coach house to the recessed back door...The tessellated floor tiles in the verandahs needed repair."

 ..."On the eastern side of the court were two magnificent cork elms. They were much admired until we discovered that their suckers invaded the court no matter what we tried. They are still there, (but) the tennis court looks OK but is never used. A lovely Meyer lemon tree was next to the garden shed. planted by Cousin Laura Growden."​

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INSIDE. "The Dining Room was a blue room ,with a lovely chandelier and blue carpet and wallpaper. Also a hanging call wire with a beautiful wooden knob. We kept the carpet, but had it lifted, cleaned and relaid. The doors and windows all had leadlighting. The fireplaces were magnificent: the wood grand and the workmanship the very best.

Each or the rooms had call buttons which had obviously not been used for years. Plenty of light (was) coming through the leadlight windows and doors. From the back door a very wide passage ran the length of the house (to) a beautiful open doorway with lead light at each side."

"After we finished our work in the house , The Growdens came to see and were amazed to see it so open: thev had never seen it open before. The back rooms we eventually made 2 suites of rooms each with bedroom, lounge room, study, walk in robes and large bathrooms, one with separate toilet.

Plumbing, electricity, painting and wallpapering was needed throughout the house."

"The front hallway was large, wood paneled, with a small shelf at head height. Above this was fine wall paper. At the back of the hall directly in front of the main door was a large recessed area suitable for a statue. The front Dining Room bad beautiful lights. matching wall lights and wood panelling and a large bay window in which the glass panes were curved to match the wood. Tile chandelier and wall lights were ornate and matching. We also lifted and cleaned this carpet as it had seen little use. I believe the next owners painted all the woodwork white (such a pity)."

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"Eventually we had to replace a great amount of the tiled roof. We were fortunate to obtain (for a price) Welsh tiles, same as the existing roof, from the old Education Building as it was being dismantled. We had similar luck with tiles from Avers House when thev were altered.

We had 30 years of a really lovely life in Tarrawngower, as our three children grew, brought friends home to visit or stay. I remember the fun of raking up all the leaves from the trees at the front and the children jumping on the heaps; we were able to burn them in those days, but we had a friend who carted them all away. and spread them for his "chooks" to peck through .. Now, we have "downsized" to 17a Victoria Avenue in the year 2000."

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Dawley

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Dawley, 419 Glynburn Road, Leabrook

  • Sold  28 Aug 2015 for $3,520,000. 

  • 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 parking spaces

  •  C1905, Gracious Family Residence of some 15 Main Rooms on park like grounds with a swimming pool, plus a vacant allotment. 

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The beautiful Federation Queen Anne home has an external form and fabric of a substantial 1905 gentlemen's residence.

Key features include expansive terracotta tiled roof, projecting strapped gables, tiled verandah with paired column supports, semi-circular arched window element, central pitched dormer window, tall brick chimneys and brick walls.

Dawley is one of Adelaide's finest residential estates.

  • Built in 1905 for the Downer family to the most meticulous standards of the time in the then new and modern 'Art Nouveau influenced Tudor (ie Federation) style' it occupied a whole suburban block in the open land and paddocks of Leabrook.
     

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Unley Park, properties of Peter Crank an

Yurilla Hall, 20 Victoria Ave, Unley Park

"An 1899 two storey Italianate mansion constructed of sandstone with elaborately rendered door and window surrounds and a hipped roof clad in Marseilles tiles. The house features a square tower."

Although it is generally assumed to be an Italianate Victorian-era building dating from 1899, the fifteen-room house built in Victoria Avenue for Charles Richard Morris (1863-1918), or for his wife, Emma, by James [?] Gellar, builder, was designed in 1911.

"Unley Park, South Australia: selected twentieth century and later domestic architecture

It is noted in the Unley Council Building Notices for 1900-1911, and the date on the architects' drawings is June 1911, so is Federation Queen Anne style.  

It was designed by Edward Davies and Philip R. Claridge and built probably over 1911-1912 on the northern side of Dr Peter Crank's land subdivision.

Morris, of Walter and Morris, timber and hardware merchants, was mayor of Port Adelaide in the 1890s.

In 1897 or 1898 the dental surgeon, Dr Peter Crank, bought five and three quarter acres from Simon Harvey on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Cross Road, and built a twelve room house (24 Victoria Avenue).

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C.R. Morris residence, Victoria Avenue,
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It is believed that C.R. Morris named the house Yurilla.

William Milne (grand-father of the architect F. Kenneth Milne), named his Mt Lofty house, built in about 1885, 'Eurilla' after finding from the Surveyor-General that the Indigenous name for the Mount was 'Yureilla, pronounced Yurilla.

'In naming his property Milne did not fee l bound to adopt the spelling  as given [but] adhered to the correct sound'.

Yurilla (later Hall) probably followed this intelligence to reflect the views afforded of the Adelaide Hills from the tower and balconies of the Victoria Avenue site. The senior architect of the house was the Welsh-born Edward Davies (1852-1927). 

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Emma Morris died in 1934. In 1935 George Badman (1886-1953), a stone quarry operator well-known in turf circles, bought Yurilla; and in 1954, John W. Richards, owned it for a short time. After several changes of ownership Yurilla Hall was purchased by well-known Legislative Council politician Murray Hill in 1954.

Portions of the rear were sold and built upon in 1955 and 1966.

In 1978 Yurilla Hall Pty. Ltd. became the new owners, and in 1986 C. and D. Angelopolous became the owners.

It has recently been renovated by the current owners.

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Springfield House, 2 Elmglade Road, Springfield SA

 

Springfield House is a large house set in a beautiful garden. The front portion of seven rooms was built by Charles Newenham, in 1842. Additions by Alfred Hardy in the 1870's, and the upper storey including the Tudor 'facelift' by Frank Rymill c. 1900. (See Chinner & Oborn, p. 56 & Norman p. 156).

The suburb of Springfield was  created from the sale and subdivision of Springfield House in 1928 by private developers. The stately home, "Springfield" once considered as a substitute government house between 1924 and 1926 is almost completely hidden by private residences, architecturally designed no doubt.

Significant as one of Adelaide's Federation mansions, with an historical association with some of Adelaide's prominent families.

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Springfield House

The house itself is of interest as one that incorporates buildings supposedly dating from the 1840s.

Within the house some fine quality timbers are used displaying excellent craftsmanship. There is some remaining evidence of the William Morris products that once were used in the house.

The home that gave its name to one of Adelaide’s most prestigious and expensive suburbs has hosted some of South Australia’s most prominent Adelaide families.

"They have danced in its ballroom and listened to famous musicians such as violinist Isaac Stern and the Budapest String Quartet in the drawing room."

“At one stage there was a grand piano that was signed by Daniel Barenboim, a world-renowned pianist, when he visited (he is now general music director of La Scala in Milan and Berlin State Opera),” the current owner of this 33-room state heritage-listed Federation home says.

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Under their loving hand, the grand rooms have been painstakingly restored.

The first of them was built by a former state sheriff and auditor-general Charles Burton Newenham after he bought 40 acres of land and named it Springfield in the 1840s.

In May 1929 the property was advertised for sale and described as "one of Adelaide's stateliest homes, in beautiful grounds, several acres in extent."

Directly to the west of the house was a large teardrop shaped area of lawn. In the south-western corner, fronting Oakdene Road was a large copse planted with elms, native pines, oaks and other species. To the south, facing Glenwood Road was the shrubbery garden and its associated walks.

Francis Villeneuve Smith of Adelaide, a King's Counsel and his wife May Winifred Villeneuve Smith bought it in June 1929. The Villeneuve Smiths altered the property internally.

South Australian Homes and Gardens issue of June 1932 shows two photographs of the interior of the house, one of a cocktail bar, the other of the dining room.

Mrs Villeneuve Smith converted a pantry into a cocktail bar, decorating with an Eastern flavour using black, orange and gold lacquer embellishments.

But it was Frank and Annie Rymill who called in designers to add a Tudor-style second storey and began to regularly host Adelaide society for “bridge parties and balls with cucumber sandwiches and cups of tea”.

The couple mixed with other leading Adelaide families such as the Ayers and the Barr Smiths from nearby Torrens Park House – and they were all decorating their prestigious homes with the wallpapers and fabrics that were the height of fashion.

 

“All these big homes were decorating with William Morris fabrics they were bringing over from England,” the home’s owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, says. “Prior to the restoration of Springfield House, we employed the services of a heritage architect who scraped back the layers of wallpaper like a surgeon. We found the famous Willow pattern in the drawing room.”

Dream big and mind your manors, August 21, 2015 Belinda Willis SA Weekend

As a tribute to the time, the house now has a William Morris suite decorated with the famous English textile designer’s wallpaper, fabrics, tapestries and carpet.

Within 'Springfield House', fine quality timbers have been used, particularly in the entrance hall area and for the staircase, displaying quality craftsmanship.

The house also contains some remaining William Morris tiles used in the fireplaces in the ground and first floor rooms. The house was once full of Morris wallpapers but these have been removed. (MITCHAM HERITAGE SURVEY)

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7 Brougham Place North Adelaide, SA 

This house, and its neighbour Taylor House, are important survivors of the redevelopment of Brougham and Palmer places which occurred around the turn of the century. They make a considerable contribution to the special character of the Brougham Place ridge.

7 Brougham Place North Adelaide, SA
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The site was purchased by Charles Henry and Helen Augusta Goode in 1901. Plans for the building were approved by Council in November 1907. The house effectively commemorates the mercantile success of Goode and his company Goode Durrant and Co.

The house is an important example of federation period architecture.

The architect has not been traced, but it is well detailed internally and externally, displaying a disciplined eclecticism in its combination of picturesque and classically derived elements.

The fireplaces and over-mantles are particularly significant in this regard.

The relatively high integrity of the house is also seen in the survival of internal finishes - in particular, the imported walnut fire surrounds and the leaded stained-glass.

The stair hall and internal planning in general are well-conceived and illustrate the interest of the period in the asymmetrical plan form.

Features include leadlight windows, jarrah timber flooring and sweeping circular staircase. With 13 main rooms including 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a third toilet/powder room, sitting room, billiard room, formal dining room, drawing room, kitchen adjoining the family room and casual meals area.

Sold on 25 Sep 2013 for ​$3,450,000 

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6 Acacia Street Medindie

6 Acacia Street Medindie SA

Sold for $3,000,000 in Jan 2008; also Sold: Nov 2007

A substantial character-laden mansion surrounded by established english gardens on a large land holding of some 1700 square metres approximately.

Two titles - Two street frontages, large wine cellar, swimming pool.

Up to six large bedrooms, four bathrooms, including substantial guest suite or teenagers retreat with kitchen and boasting a stunning raised balcony terrace with views toward the parklands and city skyline.

Formal living and entertaining areas include superb formal sitting room, grand formal dining room and full size billiard room.​

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This grand residence also offers a stylishly presented more casual living and entertaining area to the western wing comprising beautifully equipped modern kitchen and casual meals area which overlooks and opens to a private central alfresco entertaining area.

There is also an adjacent more modern spacious family room which is perfect for the growing family.

Read more:

Read more about ten Top Homes of South Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia

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Chiritta, 56 The Esplanade Peppermint Grove W.A.

Historic Peppermint Grove property sold for $17.5 million

Peppermint Grove residence, Chiritta dates back to the late 1890s. 

Chiritta is one of Western Australia’s most historic and prestigious homes, and was up for sale for what could be one of the state’s highest ever property prices – an estimated $25 million.

 

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The limestone federation bungalow-style home has a central limestone structure with verandahs and is capped by a large roof; it was built for John’s son, Augustus Roe, the police magistrate from 1897 onwards.

  • The couple bought the heritage-listed home 52 years ago from the Roe family – descendants of Perth’s first surveyor-general John Septimus Roe, a name strongly associated with Perth.

  • The house was designed by turn-of-the-century architect and World War I general J Talbot Hobbs, who also designed the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Windsor Hotel, St Luke’s Rectory and Newspaper House – all in Perth.

  • The amazing 4080 square metre property boasts seven bedrooms, including an attic room, six bathrooms and two studies

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Town of Cottesloe

The Town of Cottesloe prides themselves on having some of the most beautiful surrounds in the Perth metropolitan area.

  • “Think beach, think Norfolk Island pines, think Western Suburbs lifestyle – that’s Cottesloe.

  • Just 15 minutes west of Perth, Western Australia, Cottesloe is internationally famous for its superb beach and terraced lawns overlooking the Indian Ocean. “

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The Beach House, (Tukurua, Miss Cass's Residence), 7 Rosendo Street, Cottesloe

The house at 7 Rosendo Street, Cottesloe (known as Tukurua) is a large two-storey residence set in extensive grounds. The 21-room limestone mansion was constructed, in 1896 as the summer residence of WA’s first attorney-general, Sir Septimus Burt. 

Tukurua has significance as an example of a grand beachside home, exhibiting in its design and scale the affluence which was enjoyed by wealthy Western Australian families in the 1890s.

The recent 2015 sale was the subject of a dispute with former owner Ted Smith, who claimed he was given only 30 minutes to consider a rushed deal offered at a sum well under the $50m. sale price (i.e. $16.5 million).

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Wealthy Miss Cass left her waterfront mansion to her gardener… now he’s looking to sell and downsize.....

Ted Smith, 80, started renting a room at Tukurua in Cottesloe in the 1970s
He struck up a friendship with its owner and did the gardening and repairs.
Owner Dorothea Cass had no husband or children and left the sprawling beachfront estate to Mr Smith when she died in 1994

  • Mr Smith, now 80, has been taking care of the property on his own for two decades and he’s ready to move on, so Mr Smith is now selling the property

  • Mr Twiggy Forrest signed a contract with Mr Smith earlier this year to sell the grand 21-room property for $16 million.

  • However, Mr Smith later made a public appeal to Mr Forrest to withdraw from the contract, saying he wanted to stay in his home of 43 years.

  • During the very public dispute, Mr Forrest announced he would use the vast property to house some of the 12,000 Syrian refugees coming to Australia as part of a special humanitarian intake.

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Tukurua was sold for the first time in 119 years to Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola Forrest for $16 million in December 2015.

  • Since then, Mr Forrest has housed five refugee families in the 122-year-old property, but now his own grand plans have been revealed for the 5001sqm oceanfront block.

  • “The Forrests have always wanted to restore the magnificent site of Tukurua, which they have given its original name of The Beach House, to its former stateliness,” a spokeswoman for Mr Forrest said.

  • “They are now working closely with the Town of Cottesloe on a development application and look forward to starting construction once regular consultation and approval processes have been undertaken.”

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Plans, submitted to the council and seen by The West Australian, show a substantial development of interlinked pavilion-style buildings on a large area of vacant land in front of Tukurua.

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Le Fanu (Banksia), 2 Salvado Street, Cottesloe W.A.

Le Fanu, a large single-storey, Federation Queen Anne style residence of architectural distinction, set within a garden enclosed by a limestone wall/retaining wall, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

the place is an example of a grand beachside home, exhibiting in its scale and character the affluence which accompanied the gold boom of the 1890s.

The House was originally known as Banksia, and was built as the private residence of Henry Diggins Holmes and his wife Marion.

"Large residence of dressed limestone, now roofed in asbestos. Gables on all four sides have Tudor details. On south-east is a bay window with conical turret topped with elegant finial. Surrounding verandahs supported on simple square timber posts. Garden enclosed by limestone wall. There is a lower floor on north side.

The House is described as being in Federation Style, with a Queen Anne turret,

  • Sold April 2009 for $4,250,000

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Le Fanu, Cottesloe WA
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"When you are spending a reported $12 million on a renovation, you want some pretty dedicated tradies.

"Which is what the owners of Le Fanu house got. Some of the tradesmen restoring one of the State’s most iconic old buildings had to be reprimanded for turning up on Sundays.

"Built in the 1890s near Cottesloe's Dutch Inn surf reef, the property was a crumbling wreck with a collapsing roof, limestone walls turning to sand and gaping holes in the floors and ceilings when it was bought by its current owners in about 2008. It was also home to rats, snakes, and birds."

"After years of wrangling with heritage and local government authorities, plans were approved.

Mr Reynolds said Hocking Planning and Architecture created the blueprints for the substantial additions to the Federation-style bungalow and Zorzi were commissioned to undertake the work."

  • Heritage architect Ian Hocking, who has worked on the restoration and reconstruction of numerous historic buildings in Perth.

  • Icons like the Perth Town Hall, St George’s Cathedral and the Regal Theatre are all listed on his resume of projects.

  • Now, motivated by his latest work, Mr Hocking is pushing for a unique conservation precinct to be created in the wealthy beach side suburb Cottesloe.

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A prime example of a grand beachside home, it reflects the affluence created by the gold boom of the 1890s, with features including thick limestone walls, a turret, gables, ornate chimneys, a ballroom and a wood-panelled study.

The Holmes family had a significant effect on the cultural life of Western Australia through banking and charitable activities, and Henry and Marion Holmes were founders of the Ministering Children’s League Convalescent Home in Cottesloe. 

In 1945, Le Fanu was bought by the Anglican Church, which continued the charity work of the Holmes, and the house was used as a meeting place for religious organisations and groups.

The 17 rooms included five bedrooms, a light-filled ballroom, allegedly used as a chapel, a drawing room, a formal dining or reception room, a formal lounge, a second lounge room, a sitting room, a family room, a kitchen with walk-in pantry, an enclosed veranda, a study and a cellar, with ceiling hooks where meat was once hung. 

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Belvedere, 12 Rosendo Street Cottesloe 

Belvedere is one of the few remaining examples of grand style architecture in W.A. 

It is a large towered residence, in excellent condition built by people made prosperous in the early gold rush days of Western Australia.

The house, with its tower, its encircling verandahs and original timber louvre protection, is the only one of its kind in Cottesloe.

It was built at the turn of century by wealthy mining investor J Campbell for his father, a Cottesloe Councillor. 

Belvedere, 12 Rosendo Street Cottesloe
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Built of limestone c 1893 in the Federation style, with contrasting painted quoins and trims to the walls and square tower. The tower is 10m high with a tall finial on the topside and has windows on all sides that give views of sea and coast.

Timber Juliet balconies jut out on two sides (other two removed). Surrounding verandah has simple timber posts and balustrading. Western aspect infilled with windows and louvres.

  • Last sold for $5,200,000 on 23/03/2013

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Colwyn, 50 Victoria Avenue Claremont

'Colwyn' is one of the grandest heritage residences in Claremont.

The house, with its full width verandahs surmounted by a splendid terracotta shingle roof, is a landmark to both Victoria Avenue and the Swan River foreshore. Constructed for Arthur Bunning, one of the notable timber merchants of the day, the house was a showcase for the use of Western Australian timbers and the standard of craftsmanship available in the heyday of the Gold Boom era, particularly the decorative joinery in the interiors.

This extensive restoration of 'Colwyn' has been a labour of love for the owner / builder and is a credit to the tradesmen employed on the project.

 

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Colwyn, 50 Victoria Avenue Claremont

Project Details:
Working with the original character of the house, views to the river beyond and the street presence of the house was reinstated.

The front of the house is presented with a symmetrical courtyard set between a pair of carports. Carefully planned additions and adaptations to the original layout include ensuite facilities, study, home theatre and a greenhouse breakfast room.

The formal lounge and dining room, kitchen and family spaces were adapted from the original rooms housing similar activities. Void spaces found behind existing walls which were not part of the original layout of the house were cleverly adapted into sauna, cellar and laundry.

Completion Date: 2009

Awards:

  • 2009 Australian Institute of Architects, Heritage Council of Western Australia, Heritage Conservation Award - Commendation

  • Housing Industry Association – NAB WA Housing Awards, Renovations / Alterations Project of the Year, Builder - Olympic Holdings Pty. Ltd

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Read more about eleven Top Homes of WA

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