Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Belhaven, Bellevue Hill

Belhaven, 85 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill NSW 2023


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Want to live next to Lachland and Sarah Murdoch? That's $26 million


85 Victoria Road Bellevue Hill NSW 2023
85 Victoria Road Bellevue Hill NSW 2023
The Bellevue Hill mansion of long-time Westfield executive and Brambles chairman Stephen Johns and his wife Michele Bender is up for grabs for the first time in almost 30 years for $25 million to $27 million.
  • The 2100 square metre neighbour to the Le Manoir home of media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarah dates back to 1919, when it was rebuilt by Sunday Times newspaper owner and showbiz entrepreneur Hugh "Huge Deal" McIntosh.
  • By 1930 the Victoria Road property was home to the Resch's brewing scion Arnold Resch, and from 1942 to 1948 it was run as the Belhaven Babies Home, run by controversial businessman Leslie Owen Bailey, who sent many of the babies born there to be raised at his Hopewood House orphanage in Bowral.







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Johns purchased Belhaven, as it remains known, in 1989, paying $4.5 million at the time and commissioning a restoration and renovation, since completed by heritage architect Howard Tanner.
  • The historic residence and surrounding manicured garden is richly populated today with the couple's vast art collection set among the home's other impressive, including the glass-framed pool, flood-lit tennis court, a separate guest house and north-facing views over the harbour.
  • The main residence has eight living areas on the entry level alone, including the sunroom and library, and the upper levels are largely given over to the bedrooms.
  • The vast main bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and en suite, as well as one of the former bedrooms given over to a dressing room, and there is a second study and rooftop terrace on the upper level.
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Stephen Johns and Michele Bender confident of $25m spring sale


Michele Bender and Stephen Johns at their Bellevue Hill home. Picture: Danny Aarons
Michele Bender and Stephen Johns at their Bellevue Hill home. Picture: Danny Aarons
BRAMBLES chairman Stephen Johns and his wife Michele Bender are confident of a spring sale for their $25 million Bellevue Hill mansion.
  • Michael Pallier, the managing director of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty, is equally optimistic — and has revealed he’s holding a signed contract on Belhaven at 85 Victoria Rd — believed to be from an overseas buyer.
  • “It’s not far off the asking price,” Mr Pallier said.
  • “But the owners are keen to proceed with a spring campaign to see who else is out there.”
  • And why not? The market, he said, was strong, with a shortage of such amazing trophy homes with it all — harbour views, tennis court, swimming pool, the two street frontages and lots of off-street parking.
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  • “The garden blooms are about to happen and the rosemary is flowering,” Ms Bender said.
  • “The garden is very romantic — spring romance is in the air.”
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Brambles chairman Stephen Johns lists historic Bellevue Hill mansion for $26 million


Belhaven, once the home of the late Hugh D. McIntosh, is a three storied building, set in lovely gardens, and with huge glass windows
commanding a magnificent sweep of the harbor.
  • Belhaven dates back to 1919 when it was built by Sunday Times newspaper owner and showbiz entrepreneur Hugh “Huge Deal” McIntosh.
  • By 1930 the Victoria Road property was home to the Resch’s brewing scion Arnold Resch, and from 1942 to 1948 it was run as the Belhaven Babies Home, run by controversial businessman Leslie Owen Bailey, who sent many of the babies born there to be raised at his Hopewood House orphanage in Bowral.
  • It has been called home by Resch’s brewing scion Arnold Resch and controversial businessman Leslie Owen Bailey, who ran it as the Belhaven Babies Home.
  • Set on 2,100 sqm, the three storey home with eight living areas on the entry level alone has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a sun room, library, two studies and a rooftop terrace.
  • Their giant 17-hand bronze horse sculpture in the grounds by the American sculptor Deborah Butterfield weighs 750kg, and is off to their new apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour.
    Their giant 17-hand bronze horse sculpture in the grounds by the American sculptor Deborah Butterfield weighs 750kg
    Their giant 17-hand bronze horse sculpture in the grounds by the American sculptor Deborah Butterfield weighs 750kg
  • It took a whole day to get it into Bellevue Hill with a crane, the former group ­finance director for Westfield recalled recently.
  • Stephen has owned the five-bedroom Victoria Road mansion for 29 years.
Belhaven, 85 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill NSW
Belhaven, 85 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill NSW
  • Given the couple’s plans to downsize to the harbourside, it is listed with Michael Pallier, of Sotheby’s International.

History


Belhaven was set up during World War II in a rented mansion that served as the Divisional Headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Australian Army from 1940 to 1941.
  • The house, on 'Millionaire's Mile', had magnificent views, parquetry floors and a pipe organ, as well as a dairy and vegetable gardens.
  • Bailey lived in the same suburb and took over the lease when the Army moved out.
  • Bailey promoted Belhaven as a charity and set up the Youth Welfare Association to run it. To promote the charity the children were described as orphans, unwanted, born to mothers who could not care for them.
  • In reality, Bailey recruited women with unintended pregnancies, by placing advertisements in magazines and writing to doctors. Bailey also wrote to the Australian Army, which employed large numbers of women during World War II.
  • With the number of soldiers stationed in Sydney, both Australian and American, there was a high rate of unplanned pregnancies and the Army was highly cooperative, even sending soldiers for working bees at Belhaven in 1944.

Belhaven Home for Mothers and Babies, in Bellevue Hill, was a babies home developed by Sydney businessman LO Bailey in 1942 and run by the Youth Welfare Association.
  • Approximately 200 unwed or widowed mothers gave birth at Belhaven or sought assistance there. Bailey also gathered babies from nearby maternity hospitals. In all, 86 babies remained in Bailey's care.
  • Belhaven closed in 1948 and the remaining babies were taken to Hopewood at Bowral.
  • Belhaven was the first stage in an experiment Bailey conducted, using children gathered from birth, to 'scientifically' demonstrate the health benefits of his 'natural health' approach to diet and medicine.
  • The second stage, from 1944, was Hopewood House.
  • The babies have the north-easterly wing on the first floor, with a glass fronted dormitory opening on a porch. On the same floor are well-furnished dormitories for the mothers, and bathrooms for mothers and babies.
  • Bailey offered room and board to pregnant women, so long as the mother-to-be was willing to adopt his diet.

AWW: New Deal For These Babies...Sat 16 Oct 1943
AWW: New Deal For These Babies...Sat 16 Oct 1943

In 1943 Bailey promoted Belhaven to the Australian Women's Weekly in a large photo article called 'A New Deal for These Babies'. The article said the home was 'unusual' but highlighted that Belhaven offered 'ideal conditions' for babies who had come into the world in difficult circumstances:
  • "We aim to do everything for a child that a good father does for more fortunate children," says Mr L. O. Bailey …
  • "We plan to maintain and educate the children until they are 18 years of age, so that they can take their place in the world with as fine a start as any child of a happy secure marriage."

This article also revealed that Bailey's thinking was a combination of White Australia policy, child welfare, and scientific experimentation:
  • There are not many men who would willingly turn their own houses into a mothercraft centre, but Mr Bailey is so enthusiastic about the scheme that he takes it as a matter of course."I and my co-directors feel that by helping these children we are helping Australia, too," he said."We can't hope to hold Australia indefinitely if our population does not increase.
  • "A home such as ours helps to reduce the infant death-rate. There are some mothers who are simply not in a position to give a child proper care.
  • "As we gain experience we hope to reach useful conclusions about child welfare, compile statistics, and publish information."

Bailey soon needed larger premises, so the YWAA purchased Hopewood House in 1944. Belhaven ran as a parallel organisation and appears to have remained open until at least August 1948, as Bailey advertised for staff until that time.
  • Jack Dunn Trop writes that Bailey was dissatisfied with Belhaven, as supervision from the Child Welfare Department meant he was less free to enforce his ideas than he was at Hopewood.
  • He was required to employ qualified staff and the matrons had their own ideas and frequently overruled him.
  • When Belhaven closed the babies were taken to Hopewood, but Bailey said he noticed a difference in the health of the two sets of children.

References


Federation Toorak home saved

Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak, saved by Stonnington Council heritage overlay


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This is the latest property to become ensnared in the controversy surrounding heritage protection in Melbourne’s wealthy inner-east.
  • A string of high-profile mansion demolitions have made headlines recently, with pressure mounting on local councils and the state government to introduce tougher heritage regulations.
  • Since 2015, Stonnington Council has tried to prevent a repeat of the controversial demolition of an iconic Toorak property that was bulldozed after a failed heritage protection bid. 
     Amendment C225 (Individual HO Control) - was gazetted in May 2017, replacing the interim with permanent HO controls for one place at 177 Kooyong Road, Toorak; and introducing permanent HO controls to three places at 179 and 181 Toorak Road and 63 Albany Street, Toorak.[1]

This rundown Toorak house 'Maroondah’ sold for more than $5.8 million, a heavy discount, after it passed in at auction. Photo: RT Edgar
This rundown Toorak house 'Maroondah’ sold for more than $5.8 million, a heavy discount, after it passed in at auction. Photo: RT Edgar
Stonnington Council has tried to prevent a repeat of the controversial demolition of an iconic Toorak that was bulldozed after a failed heritage protection bid. 
  • Earlier this year, 177 Kooyong Road, Toorak, sold for less than what the vendors had paid for it after Stonnington Council slapped a heritage overlay on the house.
The six-bedroom house at 177 Kooyong Road was bought for $6.19 million in 2010 but sold for slightly more than $5.8 million seven years later on 13 May 2017.

‘Maroondah’ 177 Kooyong Road Toorak, Vic 3142- sold for $5.8 million
‘Maroondah’ 177 Kooyong Road Toorak, Vic 3142- sold for $5.8 million

Toorak house on the market for four years sells for more than $5.8 million

177 Kooyong Road, Toorak, has been vacant for the past seven years. Photo: RT Edgar
177 Kooyong Road, Toorak, has been vacant for the past seven years. Photo: RT Edgar
A rundown Toorak house that struggled to sell for about four years has fetched more than $5.8 million — less than what the vendors paid for it seven years ago.
  • Only one would-be buyer made a bid for the six-bedroom Victorian Federation house at 177 Kooyong Road on Saturday, and it was passed in at $5.8 million. A young family secured the keys for an undisclosed price just above that figure.
  • The vendors re-employed the services of RT Edgar auctioneer Jeremy Fox, after he sold them the 1482-square metre block seven years ago.
  • Back in 2010 — before Stonnington council slapped a heritage overlay on the house — it sold for $6.19 million, Domain Group data shows.
  • But with the imposed limitations, it only appeals to buyers who are looking to restore the house, rather than developers.
  • So while house prices have more than doubled across the city over the past decade, time has stood still for this (beautiful Federation) home.


"Preserve this stunning (Federation) family residence with excellent floorplan retaining many original features including
  • large main rooms, 
    Ornate cornices at Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
    Ornate cornices at Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
  • high ceilings, cornices, 
    Ornate entrance, Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak VIC
    Ornate entrance, Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak VIC
  • marble fire surrounds,
  • timber floorboards and
  • perfectly sited on land to allow a large kitchen family extension and pool overlooking private west facing rear garden. Land size 1482m2.
Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
Comprising huge formal lounge separate dining, 6 large bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and off street parking for 5 cars.
Rear view of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
Rear view of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
Floor plan of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
Floor plan of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak

Heritage of 177 Kooyong Road


STONNINGTON PLANNING SCHEME: AMENDMENT C225
STONNINGTON PLANNING SCHEME: AMENDMENT C225


The most likely architect for Nos. 177, 179 and 181 Kooyong Road is Samuel Edward Bindley, initially a friend and later brother-in-law of Walter Murray Buntine.[2]
  • Stonnington Council Amendment C225 (Individual HO Control) - was gazetted in May 2017, replacing the interim with permanent HO controls for one place at 177 Kooyong Road, Toorak; and introducing permanent HO controls to three places at 179 and 181 Toorak Road and 63 Albany Street, Toorak.
  • The current stage of Council’s Heritage Strategy focuses on individual buildings not currently included within the HO with the Federation Houses Study in progress. The goal is to seek heritage controls for all A1 graded buildings and select A2 graded buildings (meeting or exceeding the threshold of local significance).[3]

Description & Integrity

No. 177 Kooyong Road is essentially square in plan and with a projecting rear wing and a detached garage at the rear located to the north side and accessed by a concrete driveway.[4]
  • The entrance is at the west end of the verandah on the north side and gives onto a wide vestibule which leads to a hallway running north-south. There are eight rooms in the main wing comprising three reception rooms, a study, and four bedrooms. The main bathroom remains in the same location as shown on the MMBW plan as does the rear bathroom.
  • The rear wing contains an L-shaped meals area with direct access outside to the south. The wall running north-south from the kitchen has probably been demolished given the location of the doors.
  • There is also a kitchen, a bedroom probably originally for a maid, a laundry, WC and a store. Steps which appear to lead down to a cellar are also shown. All of the main rooms including the entrance vestibule have chimney breasts/open fireplaces and the rear hall contains cupboards and two stores.
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  • From the plan form the dwelling appears almost completely intact. The dwelling was inspected from the street in December, 2015.
  • It is a single storey red brick house, which has been overpainted at the front but not at the rear, at east, and is in a style which could be described as Edwardian, and which contains some Federation detailing typical of houses constructed c. 1890s -1914.
  • It appears to be set on a bluestone plinth. The front roof is L-shaped in plan, clad in slate and with galvanised steel cappings and flashings, presumed galvanised steel gutters and with a large gable above a bay window at the north-east corner and a small similar gablet at the south-east corner of the façade.
  • Above it is another gablet set just below the ridge. Visible chimneys have moulded caps and terracotta pots and most likely stuccoed detailing partly obscured by the white paint.
  • The façade is asymmetrical, having a gabled bay window from what was the original drawing room, now lounge, at the north-east corner and which serves to emphasise the plan form within, and which is flanked by a timber-framed integral verandah to the south running parallel with the façade and another timber-framed verandah running along the north side which is divided into three bays.
  • The roof main roof continues down over the verandah. The gable has a pinnacle through the fascia and the ends of the fascias are supported on moulded timber brackets. . The top portion of the gable is infilled with half-timbering (diagonal timber strapwork) extending out fanlike from a centre strap and the spaces are infilled with stucco.
  • Beneath are a large moulded timber transom and four more rectangular-shaped and stuccoed panels. Beneath those is another transom, slightly “gabled” along the top and with the underside supported on five dentil-like brackets beneath (jettied) which is a moulded stuccoed string course. These elements create the impression of a slight oversail of the wall below. Another stucco stringcourse is at the springing point of the main bay window below.
    Ornate asymmetric frontage of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
    Ornate asymmetric frontage of Maroondah, 177 Kooyong Road Toorak
  • The bay window is infilled with a group of four-timber-framed casements set below a heavy moulded transom above which is a central leadlight highlight and two sidelight windows all set within a flat segmented arched head which has a stucco moulding and a keystone.
  • Plan of No. 177 Kooyong Road, Toorak. (Source: R T Edgar.)
  • The north elevation contains a small high arched window with a large sill either side of the chimney. West of the northern verandah and entrance is another projecting wing and bay window to the dining room which expresses the plan form externally. This window is general similar to the bay window in the façade and includes leadlight in the highlight.
  • A similar arched window, but lacking the highlights, is located on the south verandah. Immediately south is a single leaf door with a glazed highlight and another partially visible window.
  • The verandah floor may have tessellated tiles. The edging and step appear to be bluestone. Both verandahs are supported on turned timber posts. The northern verandah has a small section of timber lattice infill at the east end and a pair of decorative, moulded timber brackets. Windows in the rear wing appear to be typical timber-framed, double-hung sash windows.
  • Related: Government urged to fund heritage protection
  • Related: Iconic mansion site remains ‘ugly paddock’
  • Related: Developer demolishes Kew Federation home
The $18.5 million mansion at 16 St Georges Road was demolished in 2015.
The $18.5 million mansion at 16 St Georges Road was demolished in 2015.

References




Toorak house on the market for four years sells for more than $5.8 million

CHRISTINA ZHOUTWITTERfacebooktwitterpinterest
A rundown Toorak house that struggled to sell for about four years has fetched more than $5.8 million — less than what the vendors paid for it seven years ago.
Only one would-be buyer made a bid for the six-bedroom Victorian house at 177 Kooyong Road on Saturday, and it was passed in at $5.8 million. A young family secured the keys for an undisclosed price just above that figure.


  1. ^ http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/council/meeting-minutes-and-agendas/2017/10-july-2017/cl_10072017_agn.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/vision/strategic-planning/planning-scheme-amendments/c225-documents/attachment-1-177-kooyong-road-toorak-citation.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/council/meeting-minutes-and-agendas/2017/10-july-2017/cl_10072017_agn.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/vision/strategic-planning/planning-scheme-amendments/c225-documents/attachment-1-177-kooyong-road-toorak-citation.pdf