Trophy Homes: Shannon Bennett, Madeleine West cook up sale

The South Yarra home offering of celebrity chef Shannon Bennett and actor wife Madeleine West has come down from listing sites.

The South Yarra trophy home offering of celebrity chef Shannon Bennett and actor wife Madeleine West has come down from listing websites, presumably sold after offers fell due midweek. It seems agents Ross Savas and Steven Rode,who were marketing the home, received an early $9 million offer, so they immediately went to private auction with the outcome unknown other than to those attending the Kay & Burton boardroom. Bennett and his wife listed Barwon, an updated 1880s home, having spent about $17m on a Toorak mansion, a four-level Lansell Road home sold by Melbourne pub owner Mazen Tabet earlier this year. The couple bought the Cromwell Road, South Yarra home for $4.8m in 2012, upgrading from Kensington. There were $7m-$7.7m price indications for the home, which had a Jackson Clement Burrows renovation. The new home comes with five bedrooms. Bennett and West have six children, and West has written a book on parenting, Six Under Eight.

Artist’s warehouse on offer

The rooftop at the Fitzroy warehouse.

London-bound Fitzroy artist Robyn Dansie and husband Peter have listed their urban inner-Melbourne warehouse. The two-level Fitzroy penthouse cost the couple $570,000 in 2001, when they moved from Sydney’s Glebe. Nelson Alexander agents Arch Staver and David Sanguinedo have set a price guide of between $3m and $3.3m for the December 2 auction. Dansie creates mixed media artworks and is inspired by colour, design and nature. The couple are off to Britain to live nearer their daughter. Set in the heritage MacRobertson building, the two-bedroom Kerr Street apartment with 300sq m of living space features industrial detail and a clean-edged minimalist design. An 80sq m garden terrace opens off the living and dining room.

Sun shines on Noosa prices

It’s been a bullish time for the Noosa residential market, with two properties exceeding the Sunshine Coast record. The two waterfronts, one fronting the beach and one on Noosa Waters, fetched more than $10m. Only settlement details will show which one sold for more. The Noosa Waters home once won the HIA Queensland home of the year after being built to a Paul Clout design. The second sale, the five-bedroom Laguna, was a beachfront home with 470m of sand frontage. The previous Sunshine Coast record was set last year, when Tom Offermann sold a beachfront to Australia’s wealthiest female executive, Maxine Horne, for $9.3m.

Tina’s new arena

International singer-songwriter Tina Arena has upgraded to Toorak, from Fitzroy. Arena, one of Australia’s highest-selling female artists, has spent $5.7m on a Toorak home. The singer first appeared in the late 1970s as a child star on Young Talent Time. The two-storey 1920s Georgian-style home had been updated by architect Wayne Gillespie. Arena sold her renovated Fitzroy terrace last month after having a $1.795m asking price. She paid $1.38m in 2015.

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