Latest news with #Toorak
The Australian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Australian
Luxury Toorak mansion listed by ex-AFL boss Andrew Demetriou for $15.5m
Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and his model wife Symone Richards have listed their opulent Toorak home with hopes of $14.5m to $15.5m. Agents for the high-profile couple have relaunched the marketing campaign to sell the 1930s-built property fronting 5 Tyalla Crescent, Toorak that the Demetriou family purchased in 2007. In that time frame they hired top-tier Melbourne interior designer David Hicks to redo the property while keeping its grand period character. The Demetriou family wants to downsize, but will sell first, so are marketing the Marcus Martin-designed home that blends classic architecture with modern family function. It has six bedrooms, a six-car basement, swimming pool and spa, and a landscaped rear garden with a firepit, trampoline and basketball court. Antoinette Nido, managing director Stonnington, Melbourne Sotheby's International Realty and Max Ruttner, managing director Stonnington, Melbourne Sotheby's International Realty, are handling the sale of the high-profile residence, saying that homes of this calibre rarely come to market. Ms Nido says the house has great proportions and spaces as well as a fantastic children's area upstairs, two studies and she likes the fact that the children's study is close to the kitchen and family room. 'You can be cooking while watching homework happen across the room,' Ms Nido said. She notes the house, positioned on 1100sq m, is close to schools including St Kevin's College Toorak, St Catherine's and Scotch College as well as public transport. 'The proportions are exceptional. It's a true 1930s Toorak home with a sense of grandeur from the moment you arrive.' A circular driveway leads to an imposing formal entry and lounge, with a private study and expansive open-plan family zone at the rear. The marble kitchen and large butler's pantry open to outdoor entertaining spaces that capture the northern light. The designer main bedroom suite has a walk-in robe, luxurious ensuite and balcony. Mr Demetriou was the chief executive of the AFL from 2003 to 2014. The Australian businessman, a former AFL player, is also a sports administrator. The listing comes as real estate activity lifts across Melbourne's prestige market, with buyers circling family homes in established blue-chip pockets. 'At the top end the market is pretty good,' Ms Nido said. 'There's a number of buyers who have made money from IPOs and are in the market for properties in the $15m to $50m range. They want good locations, a large land size, proximity to leading schools and good design. Some people specifically like character homes. 'At this level, it is not a one-size-fits-all market, with some buyers attracted to character-filled homes and others chasing more modern properties. But the fundamentals of natural light, connection to gardens and good amenities remain sought after.' Recent top-end sales in the area include 53 Rose Street, Armadale, the home of interior designer Melissa Giuffrida. It fetched close to $9m. The lowdown on high-end sales Lisa Allen Associate Editor & Editor, Mansion Australia Lisa Allen is an Associate Editor of The Australian, and is Editor of The Weekend Australian's property magazine, Mansion Australia. Lisa has been a senior reporter in business and property with the paper since 2012. She was previously Queensland Bureau Chief for The Australian Financial Review and has written for the BRW Rich List. Property Mogul Chris Morris has outbid rival Sam Arnaout with a $184m offer for the Reef Hotel Casino, citing strategic advantages with his existing Queensland operations. Commercial Lendlease is turning to Japanese capital to back its latest $2.5bn development scheme, with two big names supporting Sydney's next ultra-luxury site.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Australia's top ten best and worst performing suburbs when it comes to house prices - and why ritzy Toorak and Vaucluse are falling behind
Australia's property market has taken a dramatic turn, with house prices in some of the country's most luxurious areas plunging by more than 30 per cent. Ritzy suburbs such as Melbourne's Toorak, and Sydney 's Vaucluse and highly sought-after Fairlight, have stumbled their way into the top ten list of the worst performing postcodes. In Toorak, the median house price was down 31.2 per cent to $3.9million, according to the latest Domain House Price Report for the June quarter. This was followed by a 23.9 per cent fall in median prices in prestigious Sorrento to $1.7million; Carlton, down 15.2 per cent to $1.1million; and Rye, where prices dropped 13.4 per cent to $952,500. Chambers Flat, the only Brisbane suburb to appear in the list of worst performers, recorded the second biggest price fall, dropping 29.4 per cent to a new median house price of $615,000. In Vaucluse, average house prices fell nearly 17 per cent to $7million while the northern beaches suburb of Fairlight recorded similar falls to reach a new median house price of $3.1million. Despite house prices plummeting in some of NSW and Victoria's most affluent suburbs, overall, the value of homes has now hit record highs in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Melbourne and Hobart have reached their strongest levels in years. South Wentworthville, in Sydney's west, recorded the biggest price gain over the quarter, lifting 37.2 per cent to a high of $1.2million. It was one of two Sydney suburbs to feature on the top ten list of best performing suburbs, with median prices in Cammeray also jumping 26 per cent to $3.3million. Brisbane suburbs dominated the list of the best performers. The median price for a home in Richlands was up 29.4 per cent to $737,500, followed by Birkdale, up 26.4 per cent to $1.1million, and Moggill, up 26 per cent to $1.2million. The million-dollar suburbs of Lota and Murarrie saw house prices boom by 25 per cent. At the same time, soaring house prices are pushing more buyers towards the unit market, where affordability and demand are fuelling robust gains, often outpacing houses. Domain's Chief of Research and Economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said another interest rate cut expected for August would likely spur more buyers, and push prices higher, just ahead of the spring selling season. But she warned the road ahead may be rocky. 'Another rate cut could expand borrowing capacity, though regulators may tread carefully if investor activity accelerates,' she said. 'Supply remains the key wildcard. We're still not building fast enough to meet population growth. 'Without a substantial boost in new housing, price pressures will remain, regardless of further rate cuts.' Property Predictions director Brendan Kelly said suburbs with higher median house prices were bearing the brunt of the downturn. 'If you are in the suburbs of the top 25 per cent and are forced to sell, then you may be a little disappointed in the result at the moment, particularly if you purchased your property three years ago,' he said. In the case of Toorak, Mr Kelly pinned the suburb's price drop on several factors, including a shortage in new listings. 'Not only are there fewer properties being purchased in Toorak, but there are fewer of the high-priced properties sold in the last six months than in the previous six months,' he said. 'I believe it speaks to the economic issues and circumstances being faced by those that can afford the more luxury homes. 'Throughout Melbourne, we are seeing a growing number of properties remaining on the market for longer than six months, including in Toorak.'
Daily Mail
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Wayne Carey reveals his embarrassing new nickname in the wake of viral 'toilet tryst' video
North Melbourne great Wayne Carey has revealed that he has been given a new nickname following his viral 'toilet tryst' saga. On Wednesday evening, the 54-year-old was speaking at Hotel 520 in Tarneit, where he made light of a video that appeared to show him following a woman out of a bathroom. A seething Carey appeared on Sam Newman's You Cannot Be Serious podcast last week to admit he was seething at the two individuals who had filmed him leaving the bathroom at the Toorak Cellars bar in Amadale last week. He has since stated that he will be seeking legal advice on the matter and that the police had been notified. However, Carey cut a more jovial figure when pressed on the matter when speaking in front of an audience with footy broadcaster Brian Taylor. When Taylor asked Carey what he'd been upto this week, the former Kangaroos premiership winner said: 'Bugger all BT... another quiet week.' He then cracked a light-hearted joke while revealing what people have dubbed him online. 'If I go to the toilet tonight, please no one follow,' he said. 'I've got a new nickname: Toilet Duck.' Carey, is affectionately called Duck by his friends, including Newman. Meanwhile, the nickname 'Toilet Duck' appears to have originated from a footy fan forum on Reddit. It is a play on the name of the US toilet cleaning brand, Toilet Duck. The brand's bleach bottles typically come with a neck that is shaped like that of a duck's. In the viral video clip, a woman, who has now been identified as Kate Aston, a marketing and communications executive from Melbourne, is seen leaving the bathroom at the Toorak Cellars about 20 seconds before Carey is seen leaving the toilets while taking a phone call. A voice behind the camera can be heard saying: 'She looks embarrassed.' Another adds: 'What's he doing in there?' Carey though fired up at the two individuals who took the video. He branded their clandestine act 's*** shaming' and 'cyberbullying'. 'You talk about vile and disgusting, what they've done and who they have affected by a few sh**s and giggles drinking their chardonnay, sitting up there, doing whatever,' Carey said. 'I'm not going to name them because that would be as pathetic as what they are. I'll let the law take care of it.' Both he and Ms Aston have denied that there was any 'tryst' in the toilets. On Wednesday, Ben Fordham also issued a wild theory over the matter. He claimed that Cleary had gone into the bathroom to help her, speculating that she may have been chocking. 'He could have been down there in the latrines and he could have heard someone in a state of distress... she might have been choking on a prawn or an oyster or some piece of food,' Fordham told ex-Geelong player Sam Newman on his podcast You Cannot Be Serious. 'The Duck [Carey] might have rushed in there and given her the Heimlich manoeuvre. 'And he might have been pumping and thrusting to remove the prawn or the obstruction or whatever it might have been. He might have saved a life. 'That's the way I view the Duck. I view him as the good guy, not the bad guy.' Prior to that, Carey, also told Newman that he had: 'Gone through disbelief, sadness, I've gone through anger. 'This woman has been thrown into this just because I could kick a footy.' Newman had also pressed the former North Melbourne and Adelaide star prior to recording the podcast whether anything had gone on in the toilets. 'I said: 'I'd like to ask you, did you know the girl before you went down to the latrines, and were you in the same, not the same cubicle, were you in the same enclosure and speak to her there?' Newman said. 'He said: 'No.' I said: 'Good, well, that's good'. 'She was there, she walked out. He said: 'When I walked out, I was on the phone, I was on the phone to my partner, Jess'. 'And I said: 'Good.' It looked as though. He said there was absolutely nothing in it. The girl has said there was nothing in it, so he's taking umbrage at being accused of being a home breaker.' Fordham delivered his response to Newman's revelation, issuing his empathy to Carey over the matter before adding it was a 'gross invasion of someone's privacy'. 'If that's the case, I can understand why he's filthy, but I just couldn't, I was waiting for you to ask him the question on the podcast, and I don't know whether you just didn't want to become roadkill because he was on a bit of a mission at the time... but that's what I wanted to know. 'Only because he spoke about it for so long and he was going into so much detail. I just couldn't help but wonder, did you happen to step into the same cubicle or not? Obviously, he didn't. Two people can walk out of the [toilet] in the same direction a few minutes apart, having spent no time together at that location. Fordham added: 'It's a gross invasion of someone's privacy and it affects a lot of people.' Carey made 2244 appearances for North Melbourne between 1989 and 2001 before moving to play for the Adelaide Crows in 2003. He added that he would be following through on the matter 'to the tenth degree'. 'We are speaking and we will follow this through to the tenth degree. I'm blown away that women in their 40s could think this was a good idea. How would they explain this to their children?' he explained. 'This is women being cruel to another woman. They have shamed another woman and it is so wrong. It happens far too often and it doesn't get called out. Men do it and it gets called out as it should. Let's see where this goes to from here.'
News.com.au
14-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Saving an iconic Toorak home designed by Arts Centre architect
When couple David Hart and Jessica Soleimani embarked on a journey to restore their Toorak house, they also rescued a piece of Melbourne's architectural history. Aside from returning the mid-century modern home to its former glory, they preserved an early work by one of Australia's most influential architects for future generations. The completed project even added more than $1m in estimated value to their abode, that's known as Shere. As founder and director of Victorian-based commercial and residential builder, DG Build, Mr Hart and Ms Soleimani – who works in the business too – launched their first project together following their 2018 honeymoon. The couple knocked down an older house in Melbourne's northwest before subdividing and building two double-storey units. Next up, they renovated and sold a fire-damaged property in the same suburb. 'After these, it just became a thing that we did,' Mr Hart said. 'We moved onto a three townhouse site, a medical centre, and now we are commencing the design on a 35-apartment site in Ringwood.' It was 2023 when they first inspected Shere and 'immediately recognised the potential beneath its weathered surface', Mr Hart said. The house was originally designed and built by architect Sir Roy Grounds, one of Australia's leading architects of the modern movement, in 1958. It was a precursor to Sir Grounds' other, more well-known works including Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria and the Victorian Arts Centre, now known as the Arts Centre Melbourne, plus the Wrest Point Hotel Casino in Hobart. Sir Grounds was knighted for his significant contributions to Australian architecture in 1969. It was the architect's accountant, Mr. M. Smith and his wife, who commissioned Shere. Mr Hart said that when he and Ms Soleimani first saw the house, they noticed alterations that had been made over time that were not in keeping with its mid-century character. 'There were also visible signs of neglect to many of the original features,' he added. 'The timber eaves were worn and painted over, the aluminium roof was leaking, the copper gutters weren't maintained and the internal timber wall linings were in poor condition.' In addition, stormwater and sewers blocked and retaining walls on the brink of collapse. 'The to-do list was long, but we saw this project as an opportunity to restore and preserve a piece of Melbourne's rich history of mid-century design,' Mr Hart said. After purchasing Shere, the couple embarked on a deep dive into its history. They were delighted to find Sir Roy Grounds' original plans through RMIT University's Design Archives, a resource of more than 350,000 objects related to Victorian design from the 1940s onwards. As fans of mid-century architecture, they put plenty of thought into each decision they made on the house's months-long restoration effort. Natural light was among the guiding principles of the project. 'Shere was always designed with the sun in mind, its peak aligned to true north,' Mr Hart said. 'We introduced Velux skylights to brighten the only dull areas, then layered in obscured glass bricks sculpting light and shadow while nodding to iconic modernist form.' And in the bathroom, 'reflections dance from a red transparent resin bath, injecting a quiet playfulness and a surprising sense of space into an otherwise modest layout'. Ms Soleimani said that her favourite feature of the completed project was the new entry staircase that leads up onto the terrace and front door under a timber eave. 'Incredibly, the redesign resulted in the addition of a master bedroom, ensuite, and separate laundry, all achieved without altering the existing roof line,' Mr Hart added. The couple said they had no intentions of selling Shere just yet – especially after all the hard work they put into its restoration – but might consider doing so if they find another gem to restore. In total, including the initial $2.94m they paid for the property, they spent $3.654m on Shere and its restoration. A post-renovation valuation put Shere's value at $4.8m, an equity gain of $1.146m. However, Mr Hart and Ms Soleimani said that financial reward had not served as their motivation for giving the house a new lease on life. 'Restoring Shere felt less like renovating a home and more like working with a piece of art or sculpture,' Mr Hart said. 'Homes like this are incredibly rare — there's a real feel to them, which is from a special cleverness to their design. 'We saw ourselves as caretakers of something special, something that deserved to be protected, celebrated, lived in, and loved – we hope to inspire others to renovate rather than to just simply knock down and rebuild.'
The Australian
07-07-2025
- The Australian
Toorak thieves allegedly steal $75k of jewellery and WWII medals
In a pair of brazen robberies in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs an alleged thief stole a $25,000 engagement ring alongside war medals and a further $50,000 worth of jewellery. The two burglaries occurred about 6.30pm on Friday June 27 at two neighbouring Toorak homes. Police are now urging anyone with information to come forward. The alleged thief is currently unidentified, with police releasing a new image to help identify him. The alleged thief was caught on CCTV. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police From the first property he allegedly stole a 2-carat diamond engagement ring, before forcing his way into the next-door home and taking a safe filled with approximately $50k worth of jewellery and four WWII army medals. War medals belonging to one of the victim's mothers were also stolen. Picture: Supplied / Victoria Police No residents were home at the time of the thefts. Detective Senior Constable Daniel Wall said the significance of the stolen items has made it 'particularly distressing' for the victims. 'An engagement ring carries profound sentimental worth and it would extremely upsetting to have this taken away from you,' Detective Wall said. 'The war medals belonged to the victim's mother who has now sadly passed away, so you can understand how heartbreaking it must be for this family. A further $50k worth of jewellery was also stolen. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police 'We're asking residents in the area to check their CCTV, and we're particularly keen to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area at the time. You can do so anonymously via Crime Stoppers.' Police have released images of the stolen jewellery, which include a cupid charm, a love-heart bracelet, and a star-shaped brooch. Brendan Kearns Cadet Journalist Brendan Kearns is a cadet journalist with News Corp Australia. He has written for The Australian, the Herald Sun, the Geelong Advertiser, CHOICE, Cosmos, and The Citizen. He won Democracy's Watchdogs' Student Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 and hosted the third season of award-winning podcast Uncurated. He studied as Master of Journalism at The University of Melbourne, before that he worked as a video producer and disability worker. @brendandkearns Brendan Kearns
