Split Enz’s Noel Crombie relists Canterbury curiosity, Emulation Hall

An ‘attention-grabbing’ hall that was once a Masonic temple is back on the market in Melbourne’s east, following an extensive reno by a famed musician. Peek inside.

3 Rochester Road, Canterbury, is back on the market.

Former Split Enz member Noel Crombie has relisted an Egyptian-style hall that was once a Masonic Lodge, after pressing pause on the selling campaign due to the pandemic.

Crombie — the percussionist and costume, hair and album cover designer for the band behind hits like I Got You and Six Months in a Leaky Boat — and his business partners, Nicole Fraser and Sally Mills, have $2.8m-$3.08m price hopes for Emulation Hall.

The trio originally listed the Canterbury curiosity at 3 Rochester Road in late 2019, following a painstaking two-year restoration that turned the building into an events venue.

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Noel Crombie of Split Enz is one of the property’s owners.

Emulation Hall has been restored and renovated as an events centre.

Belle Property Balwyn director Robert Ding said the timing was unfortunate given the COVID-19 pandemic hit not too long after, decimating the events and hospitality industry.

“Now, confidence (in those industries) is coming back, and there are a lot of people in hospitality making up for lost time,” he said.

Mr Ding — who has the listing with Gorman Kelly’s Nick Breheny — said the “flexible” offering could alternatively appeal to church groups, schools or someone wanting a place they can live and run a business from.

“There was even a yoga club who looked at it previously,” he said.

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Cobra-style chandeliers formed part of the renovation.

The owners also installed a bar …

… and a commercial kitchen.

Since Crombie and co have owned it, the building has hosted weddings, school galas, a Radio National live broadcast, and film and TV shoots. The latter included a stint on Channel 10’s Five Bedrooms, starring Kat Stewart and Hugh Sheridan.

The rare example of Egyptian Revival architecture was built 1927-28. It came within 24 hours of being demolished in 2012, before an elderly Freemason and the local historic society earned it heritage status for being of architectural, historical and aesthetic significance to Victoria.

The Heritage Database likens the property to Egypt’s “ancient temples, such as that of Isis in Philae and Horus in Edfu”, and notes it demonstrates “the ideological link between freemasonry and ancient Egypt”.

Noel Crombie and Nicole Fraser at the Canterbury curiosity. Picture: Ian Currie

Egyptian motifs decorate the building.

Ms Fraser previously told the Herald Sun she and her partners had been drawn to the “attention-grabbing” building’s “eccentricity” when they bought it in 2015, for $1.4m.

“There was something kind of odd about a secretive society (the Freemasons) being housed in this audacious building,” she said.

Motifs including scarab beetles, sacred serpents, astrological symbols, lotus flowers, winged discs and the eye of Horus adorn the building, alongside cobra-themed chandeliers added as part of the trio’s restoration.

This also involved returning the building’s original colour scheme, stripping back paint to reveal extensive woodwork, replacing floorboards and installing a commercial kitchen, a bar, lift, and new roof.

The property’s expressions of interest campaign closes May 24.

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