Tag Archives: luxury property

I’ll Blame My Dreadful Short Game…

25 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by 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

, , , , , , ,

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 in Celebrity Property, Hollywood, Homes, Interior Design, International Real Estate, Landscape Design, Luxury Real Estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

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

Bathroom Tiles Are An Art Form – Sometimes.

29 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in Interior Design, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

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.

Wardrobe? It has its own postcode – and so does His!

15 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in Australian real estate, Homes, International Real Estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Okay so lockdown has led me down some very shady aisles at Bunnings – then some late night, tequila driven escapades on eBay all in the hope of upgrading my humble wardrobe. Somehow I ended up with a new broom, two new lip glosses and travel alerts on every website known to aviation.

Yep, lockdown is a sad place.

Plus my wardrobe is still pathetic. Not helped AT ALL by this outrageously divine property in Queensland. We’ll get to the other bits and bobs later, because I want to show you these two crazy wardrobes. Clothes throne rooms is more like it, but hell, let’s ogle the obvious.

This is just for the Her of the house … even a coffered ceiling – hooley dooley

So this is just for madame … I just LOVE those islands full of drawers. Probably a drawer for silk scarves, a drawer gloves, a drawer for perfumes that start with C. I mean, I dunno how you fill these things because I do not have the weighty problem of too much stuff.

Plus, you get here by walking down a sexy curved stairway from the ensuite.

The stairway is just off to the right beside la tub.

On a different level, on so many ways, is then His throne room.

Oh my ….

C’mon – this is gorgeous, is it not?

The rest of the property is drop dead too – though I for one, am not a fan of grand pianos. Something cold about those suckers.

Check out the living areas and okay, last OMG for this listing, the sunken lounge at the waters edge is just beyond.

This property is with Ray White Gold Coast Prestige, price unknown, but location is the very swish Sanctuary Cove.

Such a long, long, long way from my life in aisle 29 at Bunnings.

Prue Miller is a property journalist, but that’s just an excuse to look at other people’s homes.

Making it on the Outside

24 Tuesday Aug 2021

Posted by in Australian mansions, Australian real estate, country escape, Homes, International Real Estate, Luxury Real Estate, real estate, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

38 Burwood Road, Whitebridge NSW Australia

Okay so maybe lockdown lunacy is getting to me but homes with space, room, fresh air, nature well, they are really appealing right now.

And this one, this fab home near Newcastle in NSW has managed to deliver up the ideal mix of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, with the out being just GORGEOUS.

Sure decks and patios and terraces are nothing new – but so often those outside spaces have ceilings that are appallingly low – they make you feel like a cheese and ham croissant squashed into a sandwich toaster.

However the very clever folks at Anthrocite Architects in NSW have created the most spacious, open outside zone, that there is an almost cathedral-esque feel, worshipping the two and a half acres of grassy, sunny, leafy land upon which is resides.

That sentence ran on a bit – but I’m all gushy about this place; from the perfect brick choice, to the heated floors, the exciting shapes and levels. It’s a great property from every perceivable angle.

Near the coast, not far from Newcastle city and a couple of hours to Sydneyh, it is a great spot to enjoy life. At the time of writing the property if for sale through Walkom Real Estate with a guide price on it of between $AUD 3.9-$4.2m

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfMI-h2DF3Y

Listing link

Prue Miller is a property and architecture journalist, but just writes this for fun.

Nobody Mention the (COVID) War, okay?

21 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by in Australian mansions, Australian real estate, Luxury Real Estate, real estate

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Prue Miller – June 21

There is no nice way of saying this without coming off as a complete snob, BUT nothing makes the old ticker skip a beat as much as a luxury, acreage property.

I guess I can be a little flexible on what constitutes luxury – it is as I see it though the lens of a woman in need of comfort and beauty, with the odd bell and whistle on the side.

This week two Australian beauties caught my beady eye – one has sold this weekend, one is still in the offing. If I could just scrounge around the sofa cushions and find a lazy five or ten million I’d be in the running. Though the first one, in Yass, was FAR less than that.

I can almost see Audrey Hepburn walk up the front door …

First 16 Walgrove Road, Yass – not all that far from the country’s capital, but far enough away from anywhere to be considered urban. And dare I say it? Covid war appropriate.

Twenty three acres (I hate hectare conversios …sorry), a 1905 residence draped in elegance and white trim, with five bedrooms and loft.

Have a look at it – that lounge room shot? I felt my shoulders drop at least 2 inches as the anxiety of Sydney life took a temporary back seat.

It sold this weekend for $1.8m through Ray White, with the underbidder trying their hardest via phone from Tokyo.

So chilled …. and charming.
On the river no less….

On a different plane entirely is this all whipped cream and caviar; 652 London Road, Chandler in Queensland.

A tad Georgian, and very grand. Seven beds, six baths it is called Motifex Mansion and sits up on a mowable one hectare or so … mowable because an awful lot of the grounds is actually water or topiary. Control freaks would just adore this place…

Go into the listing/s and note the wallpaper. Please. You won’t regret it.

I have no idea how long or how often it’s been on the market – or which agent has what agreement and with whom – I really don’t care and it has a complicated history.

Check out the video – enjoy.

Prue Miller is a freelance property aficionado with a chequered history in media. @PrueMiller

Earthy Suave; HIA-CSR home of the year 2020

04 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Prue Miller – June 4

Queensland is spoiled. It has great weather, great beaches, an easy lifestyle and increasingly, more and more fabulous homes.

The HIA CSR Awards were just this week (or so, I do lose track at the moment) and this BJ Millar constructed / Justin Humphrey (with substantial inspiration from the home owner) designed Sanctuary Cove property took out the blue ribbon 2020 Home of the Year for The Cove House.

Organic by design, with timber, rock and slate all featured in the specs the waterside property has also not shied away from lashings of black. Gorgeous.

The Cove House
Stone and timber – a winning combo in the tropical climate