Sydney’s Hidden Chateau: Bellevue Hill’s Regal Landmark on the Market
Beyond its romantically Roman facade, this Sydney ‘palace’ is about as unique as they come.
2 min
Sydney isn’t known for its castles, but Chateau de Benelong is a local landmark with a difference. The regal seven-bedroom 1970s residence with its Roman archways and Greek columns stands tall among its neighbouring contemporary homes on Benelong Cres in Bellevue Hill.
The eastern suburbs palace was created by award-winning designer Lesley Santy in the neo-classical style. Santy wasn’t known for architecture, but did win a gold medal in the 1957 international furniture exhibition in Milan.
Benelong Crescent’s landmark property stood largely untouched for decades before getting an extensive custom renovation in 2011 by former owners Nare Elio and Makedonka Del-Ben of the Big Dig Build Group. The pair had paid $3.67 million for it in 2009 and set about adding a pool, a pavilion, a home theatre and wine cellar.
It was back on the market by 2012 with a $7.5 million price guide, but ended up selling for $4.995 million. The chateau last exchanged hands in 2015 for $5.9 million.
Fast forward a decade, and Bellevue Hill is now home to Australia’s most expensive property according to Domain’s December House Price Report showing a median sale price of $8.51 million.
Today, the home described as “one of Sydney’s most iconic residences” has resurfaced with price expectations of $13 million to $15 million via Paul Biller and Ben Torban of Biller Property – the agency behind the sale a decade ago.
The impressive three-storey home is a blend of European style and theatrical Hollywood grandeur.
Thanks to its elevated position, Chateau de Benelong has sweeping views over the harbour from a variety of vantage points.
Across the ground floor there are several living spaces for casual and more formal entertaining, as well as wide north and south-facing terraces to follow the sun all year long. Throughout the grand home there are stylish interiors including grand hallways, high ceilings and a series of iconic arched windows which open out to private terraces.
This ground floor layout is home to two kitchens with a separate wing suitable for guest or staff accommodation. The primary kitchen has been reimagined in a French Provincial style with an adjoining outdoor kitchen and Travertine terrace for alfresco gatherings. Beyond the barbecue area, the yard has a heated mosaic-tiled pool and landscaped gardens.
There is even more space for entertaining in style with a poolside cabana, a lower level rumpus room or home theatre plus a gym or yoga room.
Up on the accommodation level a main bedroom suite has a dressing room, a large ensuite and balcony, while four more bedrooms on the same level have Travertine ensuites or balcony access.
Additional features include internal access to a four-car garage, a wine cellar, ducted air-conditioning and DA approval for a rooftop terrace capitalising on harbour views.
Chateau de Benelong is positioned close to sought after schools, popular harbour beaches, Bondi Beach, Double Bay shopping, and the Rose Bay ferry wharf.
Bellevue Hill’s Chateau de Benelong is listed with Paul Biller of Biller Property with a $13 million to $15 million price guide.
Australian shares fell on Thursday as Wall Street weakness, rising oil and persistent rate concerns weighed on most of the market. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 per cent to 8,702. The All Ordinaries lost 0.66 per cent to finish at 8,897. Mining stocks were hit particularly hard, while real estate also dragged on the index. …
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Borrowers cannot control the Reserve Bank, but they can control how exposed their household budget is to its next decision. The RBA meets on 29 September with inflation concerns still elevated and major-bank economists increasingly bringing forward their rate-rise calls. Fixed mortgage rates have also been moving, reducing the value of waiting for perfect certainty. …
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A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
A cluster of century-old warehouses beneath the Harbour Bridge has been transformed into a modern workplace hub, now home to more than 100 businesses.
Australian shares finished higher on Tuesday, September 22, as a technology rally and lower oil prices outweighed weakness in energy companies and continued anxiety about domestic interest rates. The S&P/ASX 200 closed 25.9 points, or 0.30 per cent, higher at 8,757.8. The All Ordinaries gained 0.36 per cent to 8,951.0, while the All Technology index …
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