Restaurateurs test buyer appetite

Stokehouse restaurant owners Frank and Sharon van Haandel are selling their renovated Toorak home.

Reg Hunt’s Toorak home is asking between $15m and $16.5m

Stokehouse restaurant owners Frank and Sharon van Haandel are selling their renovated Toorak home. The three-bedroom home has been refurbished by interior designer Fiona Lynch and the asking price is $11.2m to $12m. There’s a private paved northeast garden with heated pool on the 750sq m parcel. They’re looking for a smaller home in Melbourne and one in Queensland where they also have restaurant interests. The couple only bought the elegant Parisian-style home two years ago from veteran Melbourne caterer Peter Rowland and his wife Susan. At the time the van Haandels were moving from South Yarra, where they quietly sold their home to Swisse vitamins chief executive Radek Sali and wife Helen for $12.3m. They paid $8.25m for the Ottowa Road home which had the scale and symmetry of 18th century Île de France architecture.

Toorak home in the race

Another Toorak residence with special garage has hit the market. It was once the home of car dealer Reg Hunt. It last traded for $2.5m in 1998 when bought by race car enthusiast Scott Shearman and his wife Anne. The home on 1855sq m has a garage that looks similar to the one from the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie, albeit with bushland Yarra River views. There’s five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a garden with swimming pool that leads down to the water where there’s a private jetty. Christie’s International agent Sean Cussell is marketing the home in conjunction with Marshall White. Between $15m and $16.5m is expected for the 1950s Orrong Road home.

Wallabies star scores a contract

The Paddington home of Wallabies legend Stephen Moore is under contract just a month after it hit the market. It was a rundown 1930s cottage when the former Australian captain bought it in 2009 after moving to the ACT to play for the Brumbies. He began developing the home when he returned to Queensland, before his 2017 retirement. He called on architect Tim Stewart and builder Graya Construction to create the ultra-modern home near Suncorp. The Paddington home has five bedrooms and three bathrooms across its three levels. The living space opens to the outdoor entertaining area, lawn, and pool. Ray White New Farm agents Matt Lancashire and Josh Brown marketed the property.

Orb House for sale again

The Orb House, the uber-modern Kew trophy, has been listed for sale. The 2010 home created by architect Bojan Simic was shortlisted for the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Awards. A year later it sold for $5m, before going backwards in 2014 when selling for $4.928m. It was back up for sale with $5m-plus hopes in 2015, but failed to find a buyer. The home is set high on the hill in Kew on its 580sq m Molesworth Street block. Kay & Burton Hawthorn agents Sam Wilkinson and Tom Staughton have a $5.5m to $6m guide.

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