A loooong time ago.
Well not that long but anyway, years ago when I was just a evil teenager my family and I used to rent on the shores of Quakers Hat Bay at Mosman. The house was nice although completely riddled with damp and the setting was lovely. Fast forward 17 odd years and the area is still lovely but our old house has since been ripped down and replaced with something that's, well, not riddled with damp. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
10 Bay Street, Mosman NSW
Like a lot of the high end properties in Australia, this next one has been on the market for an age. I don't want to speculate on price although I have heard that price expectations on this place are pretty high, certainly in the 8 figure range (not including cents kids) but considering this is apparently Mosman's largest waterfront land holding (a massive 5154 sqm) that is understandable. One thing that jumps out at me from this listing is this "There is potential to further capitalise on the unusually generous land, with DA approved plans for construction of a magnificent new three-storey luxury residence designed by esteemed architects Dods and Zuccon". What? I haven't seen the plans so cannot comment but from what I've seen of the existing house, to tear it down would be a crime to which Mrs C says NO!
Why would anyone want to tear this down???
pre-EMPTED! I was gonna ask you about this.
ReplyDeleteAgain, you have good taste, and the Spanish tiles have struck again too. In my own little dream world it's this first, Myola Rd as a beach-house upgrade further down the line, and that Cooroy place for my folks lol.
They're looking for 20.
Not immediately obvious from the listing but the trees are huge and there's way too many of them. I love leafy as much as most, but it's really too dark in there. Fixable sure, but at solid cost and probably involving a fight with council.
Also not immediately obvious is there isn't actually that much room in there either. House, workshop, pool, motorcourt, tennis court and not a lot of actual flat garden or grass area. The rest = trees and rock.
Also not obvious in the listing is the garage/workshop is huge and not really necessary. Raise the tennis court and fit it underneath like this place.
http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/Toorak/?adid=2008973359
If the new house was further forward on the block on the slope down to the water then you could use a bit more of the land. Every Dods and Zuccon place I've seen has been a bit big and generally not my taste.
Not all of my plans involve bigger and more money, but here's mine. Buy the block next door and you'd never have a neighbour, plus there's even more room to move beyond what's on the title with a reserve on either side of you.
Sure, you're spending huge money at this point, but in comparison to spending money on a steep, permanent building site with f-all privacy like Wolseley Rd, it sure has its advantages.
It's been on the market for so long I've forgotten about it. I heard they were originally asking for 20 but that was a couple of years ago, surely they've revised their expectations somewhat? Now that you've mentioned it's dark in there I wonder about damp. I cannot cope with damp. I'd expect a large garage & workshop area from car dealership folk.
ReplyDeleteThat Albany Road property is another one I have in the archives. Amazing but let down by yawm worthy decor and as this blog is shallow it hasn't quite made it yet. I remember seeing the listing for Glenn Wheatley's place in Melbourne a few years ago, I wish I'd saved those pics, that place was special.
Yeah that price is at least 6 months old, but evidently they're sticking with something high. I doubt that family has cash-flow problems.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, in 4 moves we moved into 2 ready houses and 2 building sites in varying degrees of completeness. Both building sites were steep slopes down to water and both had simply demonic water-proofing issues. T.A Taylor and Sons know us well!
I'm pretty sure the second one was what prompted Dad to start talking to himself. The I-know-this-isn't-healthy smell of damp mouldy carpet is still with me.
This house is on the flat and sitting on rock so it's probably ok damp-wise, but build on the slope and you'll have fun times. Even as is, the general outdoors damp would annoy me to the point where I'd be doing industrial pruning.
Agreed on Albany Rd - I only kept it to prove to the other half that one can and should raise tennis courts. You get some nice reassuring Flinstone thudding when really running down a drop shot or lob.
As you can see this blog has been a bit of an outlet for me - thanks!
Our old house around the corner was sold not long after 9/11. I mention 9/11 because it was owned by one of the heads of Cantor Fitzgerald, that company that was more or less wiped out that day. I think the new owners really had no choice but to knock it down as it was just so bloody damp and also, the layout wasn't fantastic and it wasn't worth preserving. It's right next to Harston House which is stunning but that got sold off in the post One Tel fall out. Harston House didn't appear to have damp issues so they must have done something to address it. Real estate people can be pretty slack but call a managing agent and tell them there's mould anywhere but the bathroom and watch them jump! The potential for lawsuits there is quite the threat.
ReplyDeleteI'd love a tennis court. I'd swap my pool for one in a heartbeat.
Nice. Good size pool as well, I m one for water. Enough space to float around on blown-up giraffes and fake tropical islands. I like the 'library' with the English feel to it. Sometimes I m still European inside and things strike a chord. The resort style furniture on the terrace is funny. I wouldn t mind having a boat on that dock either. I d need some hunk to help me learn how to sail it, o well, it can be figured out I guess.
ReplyDelete