Toorak mansion sells for close to $70m in top Melbourne sale of 2024
A glamorous Toorak mansion has sold for close to $70 million in Melbourne’s highest sale of the year.
The deal ends the extended campaign for the contemporary home on Macquarie Road, which hit the market in March with a $75 million to $82 million price guide and was removed from online listings on Wednesday.
The Macquarie Road home topped Melbourne’s luxury sales this year.Credit: Forbes
It’s a tidy holiday present for the vendors, former fashion executive Sue Lord and her husband, John Lord, a former barrister who is the chairman of legal and compliance business Neota.
The mystery buyer has topped Melbourne’s league table for 2024 – one well-placed source with knowledge of the deal put the sale price at close to $70 million. The exact amount will become public on settlement.
This surpasses the $40 million sale of a St Georges Road mansion this year by former yoghurt boss David Prior.
The home sold for close to $70 million.Credit: Forbes Global Properties
The sale is also the fourth most expensive in Australia this year. The most expensive deal so far has been the $130 million sale of Elaine in Sydney’s Point Piper by billionaire Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar.
The contemporary home was the result of a five-year build. Credit: Forbes Global Properties
It was followed by the sale of Point Piper’s Rockleigh for $82 million, then the sale of lifestyle blogger Stephanie Conley-Buhre’s Bellevue Hill home for $80 million.
Mike Gibson, of Forbes Global Properties, handled the listing and confirmed the sale, but declined to comment on the price or the buyer.
He could only say that he thought it was one of the best contemporary houses in Australia, even though the current market meant it had required patience to sell.
He said there had been three or four offers previously, but it was a matter of waiting for the right party to emerge.
“People are looking at something, and then they will circle back six or eight months later, and they will say, ‘That is the house we saw, and that is the house we want to buy,’” he said.
“People don’t make a lot of money generally by rushing things, and our vendors were not time-poor.”
The home, set on a 3300-square-metre block that last traded for $13.25 million in 2008, is the result of a five-year build by Ilario G Cortese Architects, which worked with the vendors to design a resort-style residence.
It features a nine-car garage, wine cellar, golf simulator, gym, steam room, Paul Bangay-designed gardens, an eight-seat cinema, heated infinity pool, tennis court, two studies and rooftop solar.