Darnlee nursing home to close, residents given until March to make other arrangements

Residents of a heritage-listed aged care home in one of Melbourne’s most exclusive streets are being forced out.

Darnlee nursing home in Toorak.

Toorak residents and carers are up in arms at the abrupt closure of one of its cherished longtime aged-cared facilities.

Residents of nursing home Darnlee, located on one of the most exclusive streets in the upmarket 3142 suburb, have been given until March to make other arrangements.

A heritage listed building, Darnlee is steeped in history, built in 1898 and once the private home of some of Victoria’s oldest families.

The Queen Anne style residence, with its steeply pitched roof, turrets and gargoyles, was later acquired by the Red Cross as a rehabilitation centre for male tuberculosis patients after World War 1.

It was converted to an aged-care residence in 1999 by BlueCross and still retains many of its original features.

Former footy legend Lou Richards was known to take a short walk from his Toorak Road flat to the nursing home every morning where his late wife Edna was a patient and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Richards would sit and hold Edna’s hand every day until lunch.

Lou Richards’ late wife Edna was a patient at the nursing home.

One shocked family member of a current resident said the aged-care facility, which specifically caters to Alzheimer’s patients, was sitting on a “goldmine” at 33 Lansell Road, Toorak, the same street where chef Shannon Bennett recently sold his family home for more than $20 million.

“Everyone is hearing developers are due to strike, it’s devastating,” they said.

The decision to close Darnlee was made by aged-care providers BlueCross after a board meeting on November 21.

An email was sent to residents and their families and carers informing them of the Darnlee closure.

“The aged-care sector is facing a number of challenges at the moment, with major reforms underway as a result of the Aged Care Royal Commission, staffing difficulties and significant financial pressure for many providers of which BlueCross is no exception,” the email read.

“Darnlee is a beautiful building and holds a special place in the history of BlueCross as it was the first residence we opened in 1993, but its physical layout makes it very difficult for us to meet the changing care of our residents.

BlueCross CEO Ingrid Harvey said the decision to close Darnlee “was not made lightly” and BlueCross “has not engaged in any conversations regarding what will happen to the site.”

Sadly, another part of old Melbourne will be lost and with it what has become home to its vulnerable residents.