Toorak: Stereosonic co-founder Richie McNeill sells mansion that’s home to his Star Wars collection
Stereosonic co-founder Richie McNeill has sold a showstopping 1960s-built Toorak mansion where his prized Star Wars collection is displayed. Take a look inside.
Stereosonic music festival co-founder Richie McNeill and stylist wife Lauren Millay are saying farewell to their riverfront Toorak mansion, which has sold after a multimillion-dollar price cut.
The six-bedroom house boasting a private Yarra River jetty was listed in September with a $23m-$25m asking range, but this was later reduced to $16.95m.
Records show Mr McNeill and Ms Millay bought the abode for $5.35m in 2013 before extensively renovating it, with one update costing $4m.
RELATED: Top DJs Will Sparks and New World Sound sell ‘coolest house’
World renowned DJ David Guetta sets record with $23.6m Miami apartment sale
Original home of Falls Festival at Lorne for sale
A former DJ, Mr McNeill co-founded several events including the annual electronic dance music festival Stereosonic, which was launched in Melbourne during 2007.
In 2013, Stereosonic’s parent company, Totem OneLove Group – owned by Mr McNeill and four other promoters – was acquired by the US-based SFX Entertainment for $75m.
By its final 2015 run, Stereosonic was staged across multiple Australian capital cities and had been attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
Famous DJs and producers including David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Armin van Buuren had starred in the line-up.
Nowadays, Mr McNeill remains a director of the Melbourne-based events and touring company Hardware Corporation, a position he had held since 1990.
Originally designed in 1965 by noted architect Guilford Bell, the residence features terrazzo-finished polished concrete floors, bagged bricks and timber partitions, and walls in homage to its original retro style.
The kitchen is equipped with a teppanyaki grill, gas pebble fire, two wine fridges, two Miele ovens, a steamer, butler’s pantry, two dishwashers and a quartz-topped bar that lights up from underneath.
Elsewhere, there are a lift, sitting and theatre room with an office, an entertainer’s terrace with a wet bar and a four-car garage fitted with three Tesla batteries
A self-contained one-bedroom apartment also provides guest accommodation.
The gardens by well-known landscape designer Jack Merlo contain a self-cleaning pool and spa, dual barbecues and a deck with a fire pit.
Memorabilia from the Star Wars film franchise, including Stormtrooper and R2D2 models, decorates some of the mansion’s rooms.
In 2015, when Mr McNeill was selling his then-St Kilda house, he spoke to the Herald Sun about his Star Wars collection, which was displayed in his study and bedroom at the time.
Marshall White Stonnington director Marcus Chiminello, who had the Toorak listing, was contacted for comment.
Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
MORE: Steph Claire Smith and husband Josh Miller sell their Brighton East house
Inside Australia’s biggest radio stars’ high-end property moves
Singer and actor Jennifer Lopez’s mission to sell $101m mansion
Originally published as Toorak: Stereosonic co-founder Richie McNeill sells mansion that’s home to his Star Wars collection
‘Act immediately to survive’: Grampians towns evacuated, ‘dangerous’ afternoon conditions to come
Mafeking residents have been told it is now too dangerous to leave and urged to take shelter as a matter of survival as firefighters battle an “uncontrollable” bushfire tearing through the Grampians.
‘Horrendous’: Andy Lee, Bec Harding infuriate neighbours
One of Australia’s much loved comedians Andy Lee has managed to get on the nerves of locals over something that is only going to get bigger and noisier.
Celeb visits, ghosts, murders: Dark history of Melb’s famous hotels
Celebrities including Cindy Lauper, Bill Hunter and gangster Squizzy Taylor are among the stars who have enjoyed a drink at one of the city’s most-iconic pubs. Find out who owns them, and which ones are haunted.