Grange flicked before $26m buy

Infrastructure executive Phil Dreaver sold his Kew home before spending $26.25m on a Toorak home.

The late Lady Susan Renouf’s home in Melbourne’s Toorak.

Infrastructure executive Phil Dreaver sold his Kew home, Grange House, before spending $26.25 million on a Toorak home, the most expensive recorded in Victoria. The Netflow managing director and wife Sally had paid $10m for Grange House in 2014 when it was bought from the entrepreneur Evan Thornley. The Dreavers were asking $10m-plus through the Marshall White agency in conjunction with Kay & Burton for the six-bedroom Edwardian on 2600sq m. Dreaver emerged in The Australian midweek as the record buyer of the Toorak new build of entrepreneurs Daniel and Danielle Besen. Marshall White agent Marcus Chiminello secured the record sale. The biggest hush-hush sale in Toorak so far this year has been on Linlithgow Road, which sold through Unique Estates agent Nicolette van Wijngaarden, who had a $14m price guide.

Wachtel’s out and about

Future Fund board member Michael Wachtel is keeping a close eye on the market across Melbourne’s two most-watched locations. All out of personal interest. The Credit Suisse adviser was there when the late Lady Susan Renouf’s Toorak home was put to auction with $5m-plus hopes last weekend. Wachtel was monitoring the Toorak market as his five-bedroom home is listed with a price guide of $6.8m-plus through Kay & Burton agents Michael Gibson and Matt Davis. Wachtel and photographer wife Linda paid $726,000 for their Cross Street home in recession-hit Melbourne in 1992. They have spent $3.2m on a 410sq m site elsewhere in Toorak where they will build a new townhouse. Wachtel came to our attention over the summer when he paid $1.95m on a family weekender at Portsea, where he’s owned nearby for 13 years. No sooner had he signed that contract than he was off attending another Portsea auction, again out of understandable curiosity.

Eagle-eyed ex-Hawk swoops

Former Hawks captain Sam Mitchell and wife Lyndall have moved quickly to secure a property in Perth after the midfielder’s trade to the West Coast Eagles. They’ve paid $2.15m for a 2007 home in Cottesloe, just $50,000 more than it sold for in 2013, highlighting Perth’s continued property market weakness. The four-bedroom home on 491sq m features two living spaces, a family room and a parents’ retreat with private balcony. A pool and an alfresco dining area are set in low-maintenance gardens. The Mitchells have not written off Hawthorn completely — they’ve leased their four-bedroom family home in Melbourne’s inner east. A tenant quickly snapped up the property for $1800 a week late last year. They bought the 1940s home for $1.82m in 2009 and have restored the family home, which is set in 841sq m of lush gardens. Mitchell looks set to see out his playing career in Perth, with assistant coaching to follow.

Harpist’s home a sale of note

The inland Mermaid Waters, Gold Coast, home of the late harpist June Loney has been sold for $1.41m. The waterfront home cost Loney, the former principal harpist at Sydney Symphony Orchestra, $320,000 in 1997. The four-bedroom home offers views of a lake from its 27m frontage. She said the home inspired her to paint her natural surroundings. The Sydney-born musician, who was awarded an MBE in 1977, died last year at the age of 86.