By Alexander Darling
The owner of a new multimillion-dollar mansion gutted in a blaze on one of Melbourne’s most expensive streets suspects it was deliberately lit.
Gerald Hoggard, the managing director of Sperway Homes and Extension Factory, spent three years building the two-storey property on St Georges Road, Toorak, that went up in flames just after midnight on Friday.
A Toorak mansion was engulfed in flames overnight.Credit: Nine News
Thirty firefighters spent almost an hour battling the blaze and preventing it from spreading to neighbouring homes. It was deemed under control just after 1am, but the house suffered a “significant structural collapse”, firefighters said.
Fire Rescue Victoria Commander Aaron Dixon said crews had to battle ember attacks as they fought to bring the fire under control.
Gerald Hoggard, owner of the multimillion-dollar Toorak mansion.Credit:
Crews continued to mop up hotspots in the smouldering remains on Friday morning, with an arson chemist investigating.
No one was inside the house at the time of the fire.
Hoggard currently lives a few streets away and told The Age he suspected foul play.
“Friends of ours live near that location, and they could see the flames out of their bedroom window at about 12.30am,” he said.
“We walked around, I came into St Georges Road and was confronted with the whole thing. It was just a towering inferno. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hoggard said he was devastated when he saw the scene.
Thirty firefighters battled the blaze.Credit: Nine News
“We spent three years building it and we were within six months of finishing it. It’s a very highly detailed French provincial house with dormer windows and columns. It’s just disastrous. Obviously I feel gutted.
“There’s only one way [the fire] could have been at that level, and that would be putting accelerants into almost every room of the house. Because it’s a concrete floor, it’s brickwork outside … so how the hell did it travel right through the place so quickly and get to that stage?”
Police said they believed the fire was suspicious.
Hoggard owns and is involved in the management of a number of construction companies including Extension Factory, Hoggard Development, Pro Development, Progressive Australia and Sperway Development.
He bought the St Georges Road property for $7 million four years ago.
Hoggard said he wanted to rebuild.
“I was hoping to salvage some of it after looking at it, but I had a supervisor go down there today and he believes the whole thing’s got to come down,” he said.
Detective Acting Sergeant Turhan Peker, from the Stonnington crime investigation unit, told ABC radio that a dog was saved from a neighbouring property and other homes were evacuated.
The building collapsed after the fire gutted the two-storey home.Credit: Joe Armao
“One of the neighbouring residents had a dog that was … safely rescued by Fire Rescue Victoria and given back to their rightful owner,” he said. “Nobody was injured as a result of this.”
He said utilities were yet to be connected to the home, and the property owner was assisting with the investigation.
“At this stage, I won’t speculate on where the cause of the fire began. We are unsure of that at this stage. We will be having an arson chemist attend the scene to conduct further examinations.”
A neighbour told The Age the owner showed up on her front doorstep with one of the firefighters just before 1am.
“My front doorbell rang … I was in bed at the back of my house, so I didn’t hear anything,” said the neighbour, who did not wish to be identified.
“The owner and one of the firemen were resting on my doorstep. [The owner] said he was just devastated … he said he thought it must have been set alight.”
The neighbour said the owner had hoped to be living in the home by Christmas.
She said she couldn’t get back to sleep after seeing the flames. “The whole sides of our house were flashing with [fire truck] lights. It was quite terrifying to see,” she said.
The Toorak property when it last sold in October 2021.Credit:
Toorak is Melbourne’s richest suburb, filled with tree-lined streets, wide boulevards and large homes on big lots close to the city.
St Georges Road, which runs from the main arterial of Toorak Road to the Yarra River, boasts some of the suburb’s – and the country’s – most luxurious mansions.
Property billionaire Harry Stamoulis owns the neighbouring home, while entrepreneur Grant Rule paid just under $75 million for his St Georges Road mansion Blair House in 2022.
Just down the street, Ed Craven, co-founder of cryptocurrency casino Stake.com, paid $80 million for a knockdown rebuild from David Yu.
The house was destroyed in the blaze.Credit: Nine News
Antoinette Nido, managing director of Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty, said the rebuild would likely cost upwards of $8 million and estimated the mansion was worth around $15 million to $18 million before it burnt down, dependent on the quality of the build.
She said St Georges Road had become the new “billionaires’ row” of Melbourne.
“I’ve sold seven properties on St Georges Road, and one home being built on a larger block on that strip is costing $16 million to $17 million. It is the most highly coveted boulevard in Toorak,” she said.
“Land is going for around $14,000 per square metre, and we are currently selling number 12 for an asking price of $36 million to $39 million.”
The blaze is being treated as suspicious.Credit: Joe Armao
There has also been a flurry of building activity on other homes on the street, with construction fencing lining the road as frequently as the trees.
On Friday morning, trucks carrying construction equipment and traffic control signs trundled along the busy street.
A passing plumber said the road was one of the busiest for construction in Melbourne. “There’s so much money in that area,” he said.
Keston, who did not wish to give his last name, moved to nearby Torresdale Road last year: “I’ve never seen a fire in this street before. It’s sad that something like this would happen.”
With Cara Waters and Hanna Mills Turbet
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
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