‘Third generation d---heads’ behind the continued ban on women at Melbourne’s elite boys’ clubs

The Athenaeum is one of several Melbourne clubs that continue to deny women as members, along with the Melbourne Club and the Melbourne Savage Club. Have your say.

MAFS’ Sara Roza thought women were now welcome at Melbourne’s men-only Athenaeum Club but sadly she was wrong. Picture: Instagram

It’s probably the first selfie taken inside the Athenaeum Club toilets . . . and possibly the last.

In a photo likely to seriously raise the collective blood pressure of members, Brazilian-butt-lifted MAFS star Sarah Roza posted a “mirror selfie” from inside the female toilets.

Come again?

Since 1868, the private club at the Paris end of Collins St has been exclusively male.

The Athenaeum is one of several Melbourne clubs that continue to deny women as members, along with the Melbourne Club and the Melbourne Savage Club.

The reality-star-cum-influencer posted the bathroom selfie to social media because she thought the Athenaeum had changed its mind.

MAFS star Sara Roza posted a selfie from the Athenaeum Club toilets. Picture: Instagram

“Apparently females couldn’t attend because lots of secret men’s business was going on between the high flyers and the big decision makers of our country behind its very fancy doors on ritzy Collins St,” Roza declared.

“Last month they finally changed their longstanding club rules and the all-male members voted to accept women as equals.”

Page 13 was as much in shock as the members lunching on their cream of pumpkin soup (no solids).

Calls were duly made.

“There has been no vote, that is wrong,” said one member.

But there had been a “pivot” to more opportunities for members’ partners, or women guests to attend the club in some capacity.

“But this photograph will probably put back their cause to the 17th century,” laughed the member.

“There will be more wobbling bellies than there are breasts for the near future,” he cackled.

Another insider spoken to by Page 13 said it’s the younger members at the club who don’t want to allow women in.

He described them as “the third generation dickheads.”

Last year, a confidential survey commissioned by the Athenaeum’s 700 members found it was the young fogeys who were opposed to change.

The Athenaeum Club at 87 Collins St Melbourne remains a strictly male domain thanks to a cluster of ‘young fogeys’.

It was not the first time the club has tested the female waters.

Former state Liberal Party director John Ridley resigned from the club in protest in 2009 after failing to open the Athenaeum to women.

Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel and ex-Collingwood president and broadcaster Eddie McGuire also pushed for change, but to no avail.

It’s no secret some of the more progressive and fiscally minded members think they are sitting on a wasted opportunity, or to be frank, a gold mine.

Last year, Melbourne missed out on global private members social club Soho House when a move to redevelop South Yarra’s Poolman House was rejected.

Some think the Athenaeum in Collins St would be the perfect alternative if it allowed female membership.

Nestled nearby is culinary king Chris Lucas’ broadening restaurant empire. Just this week he announced that the fit-out for his new French bistro Batard, at the old Society venue in Bourke St, was moving apace.

Meanwhile, the Athenaeum rooftop is considered one of the most prized pieces of hospitality real estate in the CBD.

“One of the old clubs will break ranks and that will be the end of it,” said an insider. “It will become the place to go. The Athenaeum is absolutely beautifully poised to go from regressing into the 1850s or going on to the 2050s.”

One Athenaeum member said club president Peter Brannighan (who declined to answer calls made at the front door at the club at 87 Collins St) is a stickler for tradition .

Members say he is unlikely to push for a vote to allow female members any time soon.

So, back to Roza, who declared “the times they are a changing.”

No. Not yet!

Poolman House back up for grabs, with eye-watering price tag

The Poolman House is back on the market for upwards of $20 million, the name is in polished brass on the gate, but who were the former owners?

You could have taken up residence in the sprawling South Yarra pile for a mere $10,000 when owned by a consortium linked to high profile family the Smorgons.

Later plans to turn it into an exclusive Soho House private club for rich-listers fell over, with Page 13 hearing several “well connected” nearby residents were none too pleased at the potential traffic problems.

But back to Ernest Poolman and his wife Jeannie who added a ballroom when they moved in during the roaring 20s.

Oh, the parties it saw

The luxurious Poolman House is back on the market for upwards of $20 million. Picture: Supplied

before Jeannie (whose name still lives on at the Royal Children’s Hospital’s annual scholarship) decamped next door to Amesbury House, where former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser stayed with his mother when he visited Melbourne. ScoMo and Tony Abbott have popped in since.

The parties continued when interior decorator John Coote bought the house with its swimming pool and tennis courts.

Coote was a country boy who became known as an international taste maven, refurbishing the houses of those who aspired to the good life.

Others to have owned the Poolman House included car dealer and racehorse owner Noel Gould.

The house, sitting on the biggest block in South Yarra, promises a new owner with a lifestyle to match their bulging pockets.