Latest news with #ToorakRoad
Daily Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Telegraph
Vandals target Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. An iconic Melbourne religious institution has been vandalised twice in a day. The heritage-listed Melbourne Hebrew Congregation synagogue was targeted by vandals on Sunday. One piece of graffiti read 'Iran is da bomb' inscribed in a mushroom cloud, alongside another piece of vandalism that said 'free Palestine'. 'It is believed a wall of the Toorak Road premises was graffitied by an unknown person sometime on Sunday afternoon,' a police spokesman said. 'That was removed but unknown offenders again graffitied the building sometime on Sunday evening.' The graffiti was scrawled soon after US bombs fell on Iran. Picture: Supplied The original graffitied message also said 'free Palestine'. 'There is absolutely no place at all in our society for anti-Semitic or hate-based symbols and behaviour,' the police spokesman said. Police want anyone with information to come forward. Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson told the Herald Sun: 'We're just frustrated and exhausted by all of this and we hope that is shared by members outside Jewish community'. 'We feel this to be an attack on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and it is unacceptable. 'While this is an offence to the Jewish community, it is our hope that people say 'not on my watch, not in my Australia',' the Rabbi said. A pro-Palestine message was graffitied on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Sunday. Picture: Supplied Chair of Australia's non-governmental Anti Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich, told NewsWire the graffiti represented an attack on religious freedom. 'There are moments that stop us cold. This is one of them,' Dr Abramovich said. 'This was not random. It was a calculated attempt to intimidate Jewish Australians. 'Let us be clear: an attack on a synagogue is an attack on every church, every mosque, every temple. It is an attack on the very idea that faith can be practised freely, without fear.' The Premier labelled the graffiti 'disgraceful' and 'senseless'. 'It is just so vitally important that we do not allow conflict and violence overseas to divide us here in Melbourne and Victoria,' Jacinta Allan said. The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation is a monumental temple on the high-traffic corner of Toorak Road and St Kilda Road, about 2km south of the CBD. The building was constructed between 1928 and 1930. The synagogue is heritage-listed for its historical, aesthetic and social significance. The graffiti referencing Iran was written about 12 hours after the US bombed Iranian facilities, which are suspected of being used to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons. Originally published as 'Iran is da bomb': Vandals target historic Melbourne synagogue
Daily Mail
06-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
It's the derelict mansion linked to the Royals and one of Australia's most elite families - now it faces an extraordinary new future
A once-grand but now crumbling mansion in one of Australia's most elite suburbs has a surprising link to the British royal family. The property known as 'Cloyne', located at 611 Toorak Road in the upmarket Melbourne suburb of Toorak, hit the market with a price guide of $4.75million-$5.225million. It was sold on Friday, June 6 for an undisclosed sum - one day ahead of its scheduled auction. The property has a fascinating design and social history, thanks to the royal link of its original owner, Louis Nelken, who was once a royal butler to King George VI, the father of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The property was built for Louis and his wife in 1926. After Louis put his days of royal servitude behind him, he went on to marry into Melbourne 's elite Baillieu family. The original design was commissioned by renowned architect Harold Desbrowe Annear, who designed Cloyne in the style of a Georgian Revival mansion. The influential architect is considered a pioneer of Australian modernism and is best known for his early 1900s Chadwick Houses in Eaglemont. Cloyne is one of the few original commissions the architect undertook in Toorak. The ex royal butler moved on from the property in 1955. Reports at the time revealed that he and Mrs Nelken hosted one final farewell soiree at Cloyne, which was attended by other establishment families like the Horderns, Myers, Manifolds, Chirnsides, and even the Dekyveres from Sydney. The property has subsequently had a colourful history, which included the ownership being taken over in the swinging 1960s by playboy Don Busch, who renovated it before selling it to Toorak businessman William Drever. Don died soon afterwards in 1970 in a Mustang plane crash at Bendigo. Since that era, the home has been in the possession of multiple prominent local and international owners. Set over a 1025sq m block, the once iconic residence sits between a semi-circular driveway and a lion-flanked pool. However, the most recent listing images revealed that the property has since fallen into a state of disrepair due to a number of half-finished renovation attempts. Jellis Craig Stonnington real estate agents Michael Armstrong and Nathan Waterson handled the most recent campaign and sale of Cloyne. Their listing described the original architect designed property as 'resplendent with classically inspired features', offering the rare chance to 'restore this revered Melbourne icon to its former glory'. The listing noted that the decaying property has 'council heritage overlay' protections preventing it from being demolished. Original features that remain intact within the home included its grand spiral staircase, gallery-style landing, elegant entrance hallway and original exterior colonnades. The current property layout features five bedrooms, as well as formal living and dining rooms, a timber panelled study, and an open plan family room, as well as a ballroom, sunroom, sauna, cellar and external studio with ensuite. 'The foundations for future grandeur are already in place,' read part of the property listing. However, the realtors conceded that 'extensive cosmetic works' would be required by the new owner after years of neglect resulting in the property sitting empty following numerous halted renovations. Some of the property's opulent original features including its external colonnades remain intact The Jellis Craig agents told that the property had attracted interest from interstate and overseas parties as well as multiple architectural firms. Ultimately, one lucky buyer was able to secure a slice of Melbourne's social and architectural history. The eventual buyer and sale price was undisclosed at the time of publication. The current median house price in elite Toorak is $4.8M.
