Former German Embassy in South Yarra for sale as luxury home
EXCLUSIVE
The South Yarra mansion for 59 years owner-occupied by the Federal Republic of Germany as its honorary consul in Melbourne has been listed as a luxury home following a swank renovation.
Elinbank House at 480 Punt Road was developed in 1857 and owned by prominent wealthy families the Manifolds and Morrells prior to being acquired for an embassy in 1955.
Local builder BMF Construction paid the German government $5.1 million for the then-2759 square metre Z-shaped holding in mid-2014.
It then sliced off a portion to replace with a medium-density residential project, Domaine Lane.
Elinbank House, now on a 1200 sqm plot, has been refurbished into a five-bedroom home, with the help of architect Jackson Clements Burrows.
The interior – including Italian Breccia Cota marble, hand painted silk wallpaper and vintage chandeliers – is the work of Fitzroy-based design firm, Kate Challis.
Original stables near the mansion have been reconfigured into a two-storey garage with mezzanine loft.
Elinbank House also includes a whiskey den, cellar, library, pool, and enormous master-suite dressing room.
RT Edgar’s Antoinette Nido and Jeremy Fox are managing an expressions of interest campaign for the home, closing on May 24.
The agency is not advertising a guide price. But by sorting the listing amongst other high-end properties for sale in Melbourne, indications are that the vendor is seeking between $8 million – $8.5 million.
Elinbank House sits in South Yarra’s Domain precinct – which is considered to be one of Melbourne’s most valuable, when measured by land rates.
In March, Jetty Surf founder ‘Butch’ Sadikay launched a campaign for high-end apartments in the pocket, priced from $2.99 million to $20 million.
Mr Sadikay paid $33 million for the South Yarra properties earmarked for this redevelopment, in 2017. This was more than twice the advertised guide price. Covering the addresses of 22-30 Anderson Street, 216-218 Domain Road and 25-29 Kurneh Place, this holding was for generations held by the family of esteemed late businessman Sir Clive McPherson.
Interestingly, in 2014, BMF Construction chief Ian Wright acquired a mansion at 56 Albany Road, Toorak, from the family of Andrew Cannon, the honorary consul of Monaco.
Mr Wright sold this property a year later to the wealthy Munz family, which re-offered it last October, seeking between $11.5 million and $12.5 million.
Albany Road and nearby St Georges Road, Toorak, are widely considered by agents to be Melbourne’s two most prestigious streets.
