Matthew Horton’s holiday home is yours for $2.5m

The Sunshine Coast holiday home of media boss Matthew Horton and wife Roxane has been listed for sale. Yours for $2.5 million.

The Sunshine Coast holiday home of media boss Matthew Horton and wife Roxane has been listed for sale. The Marcus Beach property last traded for $2 million in 2011 when bought from Lorna Clarkson, the fashion designer and creator of the Lorna Jane activewear brand.

The 785sq m beachfront home, with its own private path to Marcus Beach, has been listed through Tom Offermann Real Estate agent Nic Hunter, who is asking for $2,495,000.

The Horton family were co-founders of the New Zealand Herald, NZ’s largest daily newspaper. Matthew recently shut down the family printing plant in Queensland, blaming “grossly uncompetitive behaviour” by Fairfax Media for destroying the profitability. Matthew and Roxane have a base in Clayfield.

Syme’s Kooyong house for sale

Grenfell, a Kooyong home with rich publishing history, has hit the market. It was built in the early 1930s for Hugh Randall Syme, a grandson of David Syme whose family ran The Age for decades. He was a highly decorated bomb detection naval officer in World War II who later became general manager of David Syme & Co.

The Grenfell mansion in Toorak.

The Mernda Road arts-and-crafts-style home, in Edna Walling-designed gardens, was designed by Godfrey & Spowers. The home was sold by the Syme family to the current vendor in 2001 for $1.49m. Kay & Burton’s Ross Savas and Steven Rode expect between $5.5m and $6m.

Meanwhile, the site of another Syme mansion, Rockingham, offloaded in the 1940s, has been redeveloped into the Rockingham Townhouses complex. There is only one of the five Coy Yiontis Architects-designed townhouses left, priced at $3.2m through Kay & Burton agent Michael Armstrong.

A windfall for ex-Lion

AFL star Jonathan Brown and wife Kylie have scored a windfall result for their former Gold Coast hinterland home. The couple received $3.5m for the 2.3ha Currumbin Valley retreat, having paid $2.5m when Brown was still playing for the Lions in 2013.

There were six bidders for the two-home estate sold through McGrath Palm Beach agent Richard Snowden. The family is now based in Camberwell, having spent $4m in 2016 on the 1910 home.

Nette King’s stylish pad sold

Interior stylist Heather Nette King’s late Federation-era home in Armadale was passed in at auction last weekend, with a subsequent offer securing its sale. The 1920s house on a 378sq m wedge-shaped holding featured in many photo shoots for Dulux. It featured, too, in international style bible Elle Decoration.

It was passed in at $1.71m through Jellis Craig agents Andrew McCann and Carla Fetter. The Alleyne Avenue home, which sits above the train line, had been given a $1.7m-$1.8m price guide.

It last sold at $385,000 in 2000 when bought by Nette and husband Jeremy King, the general manager of brand agency Traffic.

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