Darnlee, Toorak: Former nursing home for sale as family house
Toorak’s exclusive 47-room Darnlee nursing home has hit the market after a shock email sent late last year to residents.
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Toorak’s exclusive 47-bedroom Darnlee nursing home has hit the market as a future family dream home.
Residents were given until March to make other arrangements in a shock email sent late last year by operator BlueCross, which is selling it with vacant possession.
RT Edgar Toorak agents Jeremy Fox and Antoinette Nido have the listing, which Mr Fox confirmed was set to be advertised with a $20m-$22m price guide.
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“We’ve been engaged to sell it as a fantastic opportunity to restore the beautiful house into a magnificent family residence,” he said.
“It was originally a house; it’s on a huge piece of land about 3580sq m, on which you could put a tennis court, pool, basement garage underneath.
“It’s got very grand, large rooms, bay windows, it’s quite unique and still retains a lot of its original features from when it was built.”
The heritage-listed 1899 building was converted to an aged-care residence in 1999 by BlueCross.
Late AFL legend Lou Richards was known to walk every morning from his Toorak Rd flat to the nursing home, 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.
Prisoner star Mary Ward was another longtime resident and passed away peacefully at the facility at the age of 106 in 2021.
The decision to close Darnlee was made by 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.”
Darnlee is of historical significance because it provides evidence of the way of life of prominent families of early 20th century Melbourne, according to its heritage listing.
A number of influential Victorian families owned the property, including the McIntyre family, the Winter-Irving family, the Riggal family and Sarah McKay, widow of HV McKay, the inventor of the Sunshine Harvester and important early Australian industrialist.
BlueCross has been contacted for further comment.
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