• About Prue Miller

Category Archives: Interior Design

Bathurst mansion offers racing wheelnuts a Mount Panorama paradise, with trackside views. Prue Miller reports

07 Wednesday Aug 2024

Posted by Prue Miller in Australian mansions, Australian real estate, Australian residential architecture, Bathurst homes, country escape, Homes, Interior Design, kitchens, Luxury Real Estate, real estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian mansions, Australian real estate, Bathurst homes, Car Racing, Hot Homes, luxury, luxury property, luxury real estate, Prue Miller, real estate

Okay, so, in case you didn’t know, Bathurst is the home of car racing royalty; it is the pinnacle, it is the heart, it is the holy grail … it is seriously noisy. It also offers up the most spectacular rural views – especially from the lounge of a breathtaking mansion on the market through Raine & Horne, situated on the (not overused in this case) iconic Conrod Straight.

I was sort of brought up on the excitement of Bathurst – thanks to a father who, for the formative years of my life, sat glued to the screen every October to watch The Great Race. We only had one TV, so I too became obsessed.

It was first called The Armstrong 500, and came to Bathurst on 1963. It was renamed the Bathurst 1000 when the length was converted to suit the decimal system, into kilometres, in 1973. It is a a treacherous race, for the brave of heart.

I have recently moved to Bathurst (every woman deserves an adventure) and my wee heart skipped a beat when I set eyes on the Mount Panorama sign, built into the hillside. Very Hollywood.

So to build a home, a magnificent seven bedroom, six bathroom mansion, right there on Conrod Straight, well, you’d have to be keen on all things motor. Perhaps the copper style garage door is a giveaway.

Bathurst is just a beautiful place – the views just rush up to greet you at just about every turn in town, and the views from the mountain could bring a tear to the eye… when there’s nobody fanging it ’round the bends. And the views from this house, from the lounge especially – hooley dooley!

This property reaches 5 acres, with the house set back from the road, maintaining good separation from the track/road – and also taking advantage of the natural elevation of the block.

Indoor pool, massive kitchen with a library-sized kitchen pantry, polished cement floors and R O O M everywhere. Plus all the bits and pieces you just expect from such a fabulous build – Sonos sound, great HVAC system, double glazing and lots of sunny hideouts, and a big ol’ theatre.

There is of course a guest house – which if rented out during any of the many racing events would bring in thousands of dollars (worth every cent), in fact many locals rent out their homes, which pays for lovely trips to the quieter hills of Tuscany. I may well be one of those packing up my bag in October, or even over Easter… if I can find someone who likes a more modest abode.

It’s a three hour drive from Sydney, but it’s a good track, with frequent pit stops available, to avoid getting too tyred. Look at this property – would I steer you wrong?

Me with crazy long hair outside my beautiful childhood home in Adelaide.

I’ll Blame My Dreadful Short Game…

25 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by Prue Miller in Australian mansions, Australian real estate, country escape, Golf, Golf Course Houses, Homes, Interior Design, International Real Estate, kitchens, Landscape Design, Luxury Real Estate, real estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian real estate, Golf Houses, Hot Homes, luxury, luxury property, luxury real estate, Prue Miller, real estate

I coulda’ been a contender! My golf game has crashed from reasonable to just plain turn-your-head-away sad. Age screws some of us really badly. If not – I would HAVE THIS GORGEOUS HOME.

So really the pics tell the tale – as smooth as warm caramel on a spoon, this house is scrumptious.

The name gives it away, Arnold Palmer Drive, this mansion faces onto the 15th fairway of the, you guessed it, Arnold Palmer designed golf course in Queensland’s uber swish Sanctuary Cove. A mere pitching wedge from the pool’s edge to the fairway rough.

However, HOWEVER it’s not all about golf, it’s about a single level home, (more than 90 squares) with stupendous interior design, and more than a bucket of balls of ingenuity and good taste.

Four beds, four baths, and a pool … and a dining /living area with floor to ceiling glass – oh, be still my beating heart – looking onto the lush green landscape of the golf course.

Whoever did the lighting design is a genius, plain and simple – well, pretty much everyone involved in this one is a genius.

Go through the listing and just drool.

Divine. Love it. It’s just come on for the first time with Ray White’s Matt Gates … lucky bugger.

Video is here, listing is here and above. My hopes and dreams can be found hanging in a the closet out the back.

Do they have an octogenarians’ tournament?

Maybe its not too late.

Yes Prue, it IS. Sigh.

********

Prue Miller is a freelance journalist with a distinct penchant for architecture and real estate.

Prue Miller is NOT a good golfer.

Doesn’t Everyone Import a 185 year old Olive Tree from Tuscany?

02 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by Prue Miller in Celebrity Property, Hollywood, Homes, Interior Design, International Real Estate, Landscape Design, Luxury Real Estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

architecture, Beverly Hills, Landscaping, luxury, luxury property, luxury real estate, Prue Miller

1108 Wallace Ridge is a new development in Beverley Hills. All Photos Douglas Friedman

You just can’t compete with LA spec developers/builders. I mean, they have those damned hills that offer uninterrupted, private views, and a population dripping in money, vanity and FOMO.

Enter the most whimsical property that I’ve seen for a while. The 18,000 square foot “Elementi” created by Michael Chen, in association with SAOTA Architects, for the Luxford Group.

The price tag being flagged as $USD65m, seems pretty worth it to these old eyes, considering the invlusions such as the Olive tree imported from Tuscany and craned (they are reported to have needed a 110-ton crane and a crew of 15 ) into the heart of the home.

What a superb and quite brilliant idea to feature this gnarled and ragged specimen against a sharp, gleaming geometrically precise background.

It offers a depth in design that has yet to be equalled in the cut throat spec home world of LA.

There are seven bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms and a measly two kitchens, despite the unlikely event of anyone actually cooking here beside the catering company. Such a waste of a well hidden gaggle of Gaggenau appliances.

The pictures tell the story; from the floating marble footway over the hard edge moat that delivers vistiors to an architectural wonderland.

But for me, it’s about the tree. It’s about the living heart of this truly inspired design

The beating heart of a Beverly Hills castle

Video can be found here

A Hollywood Hunting Lodge with Stars not Steers

04 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by Prue Miller in Celebrity Property, Hollywood, Interior Design, International Real Estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Frank Lloyd Wright, Prue Miller, real estate, Robert Downey Jnr

With a strong Australian tie, this former Hollywood ‘hunting lodge’ is on the market for $USD 2.39m (wow that’s a bunch of dollars for a quirky three bedder, but still….star power and all that) through Coldwell Banker.

All photos Cameron Carothers

What’s the tie? You may well ask. Its currently owned by Australian Director Gregor Jordan . His movie credits go back a way including Buffalo Soldiers (2001) (missed it) , (1999) Two Hands , (strike two – even though it had Heath Ledger in it) and the 2010 film with Samuel L Jackson Unthinkable. You guessed it, strike three … what have I been watching all these years? Me, a gal who used to work in Hollywood too. The shame weighs heavy…

I look forward to deep diving on various streamers to catch up.

Anyhow, great quirky place; built back in 1921 it is private, sheltered, includes just three bedrooms and in a huge break with US tradition, a mere two and a half baths.

Quirky goes down well in the Hills, and the publicity on the place includes reference to maybe the house being occupied at certain times by Robert Downey Jnr, and Daniel Craig. Okay, yes, I absolutely know those names. (Be still my beating heart).

I think it is actually a very cool home, from an interesting architectural period of innocence and optimism.

According the the journos at Dwell, the giant Noguchi pendant lampshade was gifted and presented to the owners by close friend Heath Ledger – a man of very fine taste in all things.

Real estate … every house has a story.

Prue Miller is a long in the tooth property writer.

Bathroom Tiles Are An Art Form – Sometimes.

29 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by Prue Miller in Interior Design, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Australian real estate, Bathroom tiles, Bathrooms, luxury, luxury property, luxury real estate, Melbourne property, Mosaic, Prue Miller

Perhaps it’s frustration with my old favourite TV show, The Block, which this season is so bad, I don’t even record it anymore. There’s nothing innovative; no plans afoot that make me so curious I have to see how it turns out … just bullshit and drama, and no product information beyond endless sponsor plugs.

I know ‘out there’ ideas that need to be seen. Decorating, interior design, is an art form, it’s a gigantic palette waiting for daubs of character and passion. Some people are Kandinsky, or Warhol, or Banksy, or Monet or Manet or whatever. Not everyone likes everything, but art causes a reaction. Has an impact. Wakes you up. Makes you think.

Extreme developers, which are mostly found in Melbourne it seems to me, are not afraid to venture into into the wild lands of being non-bland.

I use the spectacular 270A Punt Road South Yarra as an example.

Absolutely, boldly exuberant in every aspect – let’s just for the hell of it, check out the tiles. Check out something different. See what money, time and the heart of a gilt lion can give you.

And just when you think there are no tiles left in Melbourne … the indoor pool produces the Big Finish.

You’ll never swim alone

The whole property is wonderfully shocking. Unique. A statement. Video can be found here .

This is a kitchen. No kidding.

Three bedrooms, six levels and, as one does, an exterior video screen. C’mon. Wild.

No words. Oh, hang on, one word. Wow.

Thinking outside the box, or indeed The Block.

This does however bring me back to Season 13 of said series, when the loveable larrikins Sticks and Wombat took some risks, and produced my favourite bathroom concept the series has ever produced.

If only history would repeat itself.

  • Sticks and Wombat from Channel Nine’s The Block, Season 13

Prue Miller is a property journo with too many opinions.

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • August 2024
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • July 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • September 2015
  • March 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011

Categories

  • Australian real estate
  • Australian residential architecture
  • Bathurst homes
  • Celebrity Property
  • country escape
  • Family life
  • Golf
  • Golf Course Houses
  • Hollywood
  • Homes
  • International Real Estate
  • kitchens
  • Landscape Design
  • Luxury Real Estate
    • Australian mansions
    • Interior Design
  • real estate
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Create account
  • Log in

Top Clicks

  • None

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • real-estate-writer.com
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • real-estate-writer.com
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...