Trophy Homes: Historic villa Chellow Dene up for grabs

Chellow Dene, the historic eclectic home in Melbourne’s Black Rock, has been listed for sale.

The Gold Coast ‘penthouse on the ground’.

Chellow Dene, the historic eclectic home in Melbourne’s Black Rock, has been listed for sale. It was one of the speculative-built villas of notable architect and late 1950s Melbourne lord mayor Brigadier Sir Bernard Evans. Evans was the youngest battalion commander in the AIF when sent to the Middle East, in the defence of Tobruk in 1941, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The home comes with a leadlight panel of the architect’s Manchester village. Set on a 645sq m Middleton Street parcel, Chellow Dene has six bedrooms and three bathrooms. The listing through Branon Real Estate agent Cam Saba comes with permits for two three-level, four-bedroom homes designed by architect Peter Wright.

Getting in at ground level

The Gold Coast conveyed to the world its modernity during the recent Commonwealth Games, but traces of the old days are still found periodically in property offerings. There’s an intact 1978 Ron McMaster-designed apartment on Main Beach listed for sale. McMaster was known as the king of the high rise. But this offering is dubbed the penthouse on the ground floor, as one of the Suares family, who were McMaster’s business partners, sought the ground floor having a fear of living up high. Spanning over 460sq m across two levels, the apartment in the Yachting Towers complex has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a Swedish sauna and a separate wet bar that overlooks the garden with pool, spa and cabana. Peter McManus Real Estate agent Peter McManus is asking $1.25m.

Architect sketches out sale

Melbourne architect Jessica Liew is selling her innovative Armadale home that she built. Liew, a director at Plus Architecture, paid $762,000 for the 370sq m property in 2010 with husband Cavan. Built with timber-slatted walls and vast expanses of glass, the Valentine Street property has dark grey polished concrete floors. There’s three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a library overlooking a tranquil central fish pond. There’s a temperature-controlled 1200-bottle wine room. A walled northeast garden is lined by blackboard-style walls, complete with a commissioned mural. The home has been regularly featured in magazines. Marshall White agents Fraser Cahill and Madeline Kennedy have a May 12 auction, with a guide of between $2.5m and $2.75m.

Di Bellas offload home

Phil and Gianna Di Bella, the entrepreneurs behind the Di Bella coffee empire, have sold their redundant New Farm home having bought nearby. The couple had been seeking $5m-plus for the sleek architecturally designed NAM Concept home. They paid $1.3m before the build in 2009. The 630sq m home on Turner Avenue has four bedrooms, a master suite with cinema room, 2000-bottle temperature-controlled wine cellar and a gym. Ray White New Farm sold the home. The Di Bellas recently spent $6.5m on a Monster Ideas Architects-designed home off-market through agent Matt Lancashire. They recently sold their Surfers Paradise apartment.

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