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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Turtle Bay; for those of us who live far away from the USA, it sounds very Hampton-esque, Boston-esque … rich-est kind of place.
One out of three ain’t bad with Turtle Bay being in, of all places, Manhattan. Still a bit lost? – well the neighbourhood encompasses the Chrysler Building (a little thrill just went through me) and the United Nations building.
Turtle Bay has long been a cog in the mighty wheel of NYC – dating back to when the Dutch ran the place, and celebrities such as Edgar Allen Poe, were to be found on its streets.
However, it entered a very untidy period after the Civil War, taking on a rather industrial shabbiness and the beautiful historic homes were all but deserted. A fall from grace, until….
In 1919 Mrs Charlotte Martin, a visionary with money (and aren’t they always the best visionaries to have?) decided it would be super fun to buy 20 properties, renovate them and create a Medici inspired common garden. She must have spent a bomb renovating all the homes, and in the end, she remained holding only 226-228 East 49th St., selling off the rest to ‘arty types’ as they were called.
The original development of Turtle Bay, 1920. Photo from the Library of Congress
Kathryn Hepburn, Bob Dylan, Stephen Sondheim, the brilliant screen play writer Garson Kanin (just love Kanin’s stories of life in early Hollywood) and earlier the writer E.B White, have all been attracted to living here over the years, with the glorious hidden courtyard gardens, an almost secret escape from the cheek by jowl life in Manhattan.
What a fabulous film. A publicity shot from Philadephia Story, stars included Kathryn Hepburn
In the post war period, around 1949 E.B. White wrote what some have called a ‘love letter’ to New York in his book Here Is New York, in which he uses a willow tree in Turtle Bay garden as a metaphor for his beloved city.
“A block or two west of the new City of Man in Turtle Bay is an old willow tree that presides over an interior garden. It is a battered tree, long suffering and much climbed, held together by strands of wire but beloved of those who know it. In a way, it symbolises the city: life under difficulties, growth against odds, sap-rise in the midst of concrete and the steady reaching for the sun” *
Ah, the inspiring history of this town is too often overshadowed by its boisterous and boastful reputation of bright lights and booze.
This week a part of that marvellous Mrs Martin dream has come back to the market, in a state of, well, undress.
Digitally altered to show the enormous potential of the courtyards ….
Olivier Sarkozy (yes, of those Sarkozys) bought the property (is 8,700 square feet, over five floors) seven or so years ago, just before he wed the diminutive Mary-Kate Olsen.
Sarkozy and Olsen
It was supposed to be a huge renovation, the house not the marriage – but in the end neither came to a happy ending and the now divorced millionaire has put the home on the market through Sotheby’s.
He is reported to have paid, via a limited liability company) $USD13.5m, but due to the ‘mid reno’ condition of the mansion, is now asking a mere $USD11.5m
My elder son has been living in the states for years now, the last couple in NYC – not far from this address. It has energised me to find out more about this rather mythic metropolis.
*The famous willow tree came to a natural end in 2009, but not before professionals took cuttings which have been successfully grown. The trees are planned to be planted, appropriately, across the parks New York City .
Prue Miller is a property journalist who loves spending a freezing Christmas in New York ..and hopes to again one day soon.
You may crave a country kitchen, with dented wood and a soothing Aga.
You may enjoy a kitchen where all the accoutrement are hidden, just as a magician makes their assistant disappear.
You may fear lemon juice for fear of staining your carefully crafted concrete island .
But your kitchen, is your home.
Here is an example of breathtaking design, beautiful and overtly open, filled with ocean breezes and sunlight. Sigh. At the time of writing it is on the books of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty in Double Bay (now there’s a mouthful for a story about kitchens). It’s in Sydney’s coastal Bronte, and you can read all the nuts and bolts on the listing, and let me assure you, they are GORGEOUS nuts and bolts.
But this is an homage to the wonders of kitchens.
Here are the things I love about kitchens, and I have been lucky enough to inspect some of the most amazing kitchens in Australia, and lingered in more than a few of my family’s.
A kitchen is where somehow or other, you can turn love into a quiche, or a roast or a souffle.
In a kitchen a broken heart can be stuck back together – at least for a while.
In a kitchen a furry friend with a wet nose lingers with hope in his eyes, and a slowly wagging tail.
In a kitchen you can talk about difficult things without having to make eye contact, while plaiting pastry over a pie shell.
In a kitchen you can gather more than ingredients, you can bring together the people you love, and bask in the joy of sharing love, food, wine and time, while a plate of goodies is devoured, refilled, and devoured once again.
In a kitchen a stolen kiss tastes even more delicious.
In a kitchen, for some reason, it is easier to laugh about disaster – whether it be wimpy red wine jus, or a lost job.
And finally, kids in the kitchen. I don’t care about mess, I never really have, and there is no greater mess than a kitchen full of kids; your kids, the next door neighbours’ kids, kids from school mooching about for a piece of cake, kids with breathless news and whispered secrets. It happened in my kitchen. The heart of my home.
Prue Miller is a property journalist with a mad dog, and a pretty good kitchen.
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
“Life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.”
The wonder dog and I hit the road this week, for a property inspection in NSW Southern Highlands. The pics on line had grabbed my attention, and while my column in the Saturday Telegraph is more often than not about Dream Homes of a certain style, 542 Moss Vale Road pretty much crossed those boundaries. But I cared not one tit. It looked delicious, rich, lavish and more to the point, interesting.
The floorplan is single level, but the decor is another level all together. Murals, amazing murals, which the agent estimates would cost a million dollars to replicate, illuminate spaces – the dining room?
The design of this room could only encourage the most retiring guest to add full throated opinion to discussion, adding to the enjoyment of lucky guests seated around a large and inviting table.
The living areas are more salons than rooms – the furnishings (much of which may be negotiated as part of the sale) are silk and brocade and guilt and perfect for these most wonderful spaces.
What I wouldn’t give to have been lucky enough to have attended a big ‘do’ here as a guest of the former owner who I am reliably told just loved to have folks over.
The pictures tell so much of the story – I mean look at that Teppenayaki kitchen/dining bar, it opens onto the INDOOR POOL!
The master bedroom, a study in pink, includes a sunlit sitting area, and measures a staggering 50sqm. The word ‘palatial’ came to mind again, but I may have been influenced by all the guilt furniture. The ensuite does not exceed expectations despite columns around the sunken bath, a flawless marble statue, and a shower encased in etched glass.
And the gardens – oh my giddy aunt! Three acres of towering conifers, swathes of rose beds and winding paths that tke you past waterfall endowed ponds surrounded by gnarled and bountiful weeping cherry trees.
Amazing, I could have wandered the halls and pathways for another hour or more, but the wonder dog was giving me that look from the front seat and it was time to go.
Di Jones Southern Highlands has the listing, and its looking for around $AUD3.9m
Prue Miller is a freelance property and architecture journalist in Sydney Australia.
Well Houston, we have a problem. This house is so outstanding there is a good chance I shall gush adjectives like a nervous schoolgirl.
For a start, it’s big. From the street, it’s just monumental, and wonderfully curvy and absolutely anchored to the location that offers a view that … hang on. Before that, you go through well-trodden gate threshold, and are welcomed by lawn the quality of broadloom surrounded by leaf perfect landscaping.
The path is wide and winding and takes it’s time reaching the staircase up to the front door (bypassing the pretty entrance to the lower-floor living quarters), and then, there it is; THAT view.
It’s a showstopper. The breadth of the view, the interest within it, deserves easy and ample viewing opportunities, indoors and out, and this gracious home delivers on all fronts.
Even the spacious veranda tessellation is flawless. The owners have taken no shortcuts in delivering a home is extraordinary condition.
The entry foyer? It sure feels like a ‘12ft ceiling’ height, lined in a rich and intricate cornice, up-lit from the stained glass laden front door. Picture rails, archway corbel, subtle paint pick out … this is a how you did a hallway when making an impression was more than having a busy Instagram account.
As is the norm in this vintage, formal spaces are given room to breathe, with a seriously large lounge (even the current piano seems small here) leading to the front veranda, and a nearby formal dining room with a glorious, dark marble mantle. Kitchen? Another 10/10, with a massive servery to another, Jacaranda shaded, terrace.
The hallway beckons to its conclusion – the parents’ retreat.
It would seem this expression is often misused, because this, dear readers, this is what a retreat should be; 20sqm or more chic bedroom, accessorised by an ensuite and wardrobe, but also with shuttered French doors that open to more broadloom lawn and the mosaic tiled pool and tiered garden – with a ridiculously glamorous staircase up to the four-car garage. To the GARAGE no less.
Not ONE leaf out of place. I swear.
Down the carpeted stair and voila, a two bedroom entirely separate apartment with an exposed stone bedroom that is just, oh my gosh, divine. And be assured this lower level living space is still tops when it comes to sharing THAT view. It’s inspired and inspiring.
Is there a better way to experience the world of design? A fountain head from Paris, a chandelier from Spain, a circular staircase that’s origins stretch back so far, we just know it came across the seas before careful records were kept. And all housed in in one of Australia’s most valued suburbs.
Well-travelled owners owners have done more than curate and display here, they have re-visioned the entire property, and enhanced it into a bespoke experience.
The front door opens to a soaring foyer, and a swirling, almost sensuous staircase, bordered custom made wrought iron balustrade all of which set the scene for drama set across three floors which are a mix of creamy travertine and contrasting clouds of pristine carpet.
The clever couple extended, and to be honest draped this home in so much care, expense and attention that each room is a study in elegance, style and grace and is reminiscent of luxury one only finds in the best hotels. In fact there is a distinct spa feel to the book-matched marble bathroom in the main suite. Who would have thought in-shower lighting could be so divine?
Here is a tale with the romance of a Hollywood hideaway, with the impact you feel when you first see a masterpiece in person – whether it’s a Norman Rockwell or a Zhang Xiaogang. Both of which, by the way, would be totally at ease in this elegant re-vision of a 1930s Mosman mansion.
The kitchen, with its walk-in crockery pantry, has a flawless Statuario marble island, and a very private, ceiling-high aspect out to the tiered orchid and gardenia beds created by the owner. I don’t think I have ever seen an orchid terrace – which now that I HAVE seen one, seems crazy. They offer a superb outlook.
But I must say, the lounge room, nicknamed the Langham Lounge after the famed London Hotel, is a perfectly proportioned room, currently decorated with Roslyn’s perfect touch in deep floral tones, set off with equally rich Macassar cabinetry.
Though rarely mentioned, I just have to mention the window treatments. If you love drapery, or if you have never seen how superb drapes can be, the good news is these silken window ball gowns are included in the sale. Trust me, they are sublime.
And finally, the terraces; the stunning, travertine terraces that link and meander and bring you that much closer to the soaring heights of Sydney’s elite landscape.
The lovely Gayle Walker of Sotheby’s has this listing.
There is simply not the space to describe further, but be assured, if you are searching for a home that has been created by people who have never settled for second best in anything, and have exquisite taste, get a contract couriered over. Now.
(Prue Miller is a freelance property warrior , and former co-host of Sky News Real Estate http://www.pruemiller.com)