Owners of embattled nursing home living glitzy life in Toorak
Conditions at the embattled Epping Gardens aged care home where more than 20 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded, are a far cry from the glitzy lives of its co-owners whose Toorak mansion boasts “Gucci in almost every room”.
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Straw hair extensions flowing. Pearly white smiles blinding. Gucci loafers and strappy kitten heels clacking.
You wouldn’t think Areti and Peter Arvanitis are the co-owners of virus hotspot Epping Gardens.
The aged-care home has been linked to 205 COVID-19 cases and more than 20 deaths.
Conditions at Epping Gardens were considered so appalling that Victorian health authorities took control.
Residents and families launched a class action with a Supreme Court writ issued on Tuesday.
The conditions at the home are a far cry from the Arvanitis’ 3142 blue-chip pile in McMansion heartland.
Areti listed the couple’s former Grange Road pad in May for $12.5m, after the completion of their Toorak “dream home”.
The “dream home” palatial lobby, created by architect Travis Walton, graces the cover of Belle magazine’s September issue.
The house is a top pick for its interior design award.
“We are thrilled to be a finalist for best residential interior,” Travis Walton Architecture posted this week. “2020 has been full of surprises but this one was welcomed, thank you for the beautiful cover.”
The house has undergone a five-year multi-million dollar renovation, featuring in Vogue Living earlier this year with the title “the Melbourne mansion with Gucci in almost every room”.
The lyrical article says the house was built on the BC lines of Greek temples and the AD flamboyance of Gucci. AD in this case means “Always Decorative”.
The hyperbole continued: “The continuum of restrained historicism is overlaid with reflections of the current Zeitigist. Imagine director Wes Anderson doing a remake of Clash of the Titans and you have its quirky dynamism; one that distils in the foyer-sited bust of Sophocles, whose blindfolding gives weight to his words: Every man can see things far off but is blind to what is near.”
Clash of the Titans? It should be Cash of the Titans!
The Arvanitis would do well to heed Sophocles’ maxim.
Lately, they’ve called the police to keep insistent reporters at bay outside their current address.
Peter Arvanitis also found himself followed down the street.
ACA reporter Sam Cucchiara “bounced” Peter Arvanitis when he walked out of his offices in Armadale. Caught on the hop and initially without a mask, Arvanitis (above) was followed to his nearby Rolls-Royce.
Areti Arvanitis called the cops on the ACA crew later waiting outside their palatial Toorak home.
On arrival, the PoPo said ACA was doing nothing wrong.
The Arvanitis have a Maserati and a Ferrari in their fleet as well as the roller, but when the ACA crew left they were followed to the studio by a man in a Porsche.
Who was he?
This would be farcical if what happened at Epping Gardens weren’t so sad.