THE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR MELBOURNE HOME WITH DRAMATIC STREET CRED
A grand East Melbourne terrace with theatrical roots, reimagined by the late Sue Carr into a layered, light-filled family home.
3 min
Traditional Victorian-era terraces are famed for their theatrical façades adorned with intricate lacework and plenty of character. However, one historic home on Gipps St in East Melbourne has the ultimate dramatic street cred; it was designed by William Pitts, the architect behind Melbourne’s iconic Princess Theatre.
Pitts designed multiple Melbourne beauties, including St Kilda Town Hall, Queens Bridge, the Olderfleet building and the Rialto on Collins St, even the Wellington Opera House in New Zealand.
Crafted and built around 1870, prior to the completion of the Princess Theatre in 1886, this end-of-row terrace gained a new lease on life in 2019 when acclaimed architect Sue Carr AM was tasked with bringing it gracefully into the 21st Century via a four-year labour of love transformation.
Today, Kay & Burton agents Monique Depierre and Arabella Houghton are seeking between $10.5 and $11 million for 123 Gipps St via an expressions of interest campaign. The home was last exchanged for $4 million in 2012, before the extensive renovation.
In a pocket of East Melbourne where heritage overlays protect the character of the streetscape, the Victorian terrace was carefully reimagined to balance period elegance with contemporary comfort. Behind its striking white façade, Carr and her team created a series of layered spaces where period detail and modern function co-exist.
Carr has described her approach to the Gipps St property as “a journey of reduction.” By stripping back superfluous elements, to reveal the grandeur of Pitts’ original structure.
“The idea was to bring order and appropriateness of scale, respect for heritage, and outright contemporaneity to a Victorian terrace,” Carr has said when describing the home.
Central to that vision was light. The home is arranged across three zones: the restored terrace, a private courtyard garden, and a two-storey rear addition.
In the original front rooms, there are decorative cornices, ceiling roses and marble fireplaces. These classic old-world spaces with a modern makeover include a versatile music room, a library and a grand dining area.
Stepping through to the next generation of the floor plan, the heart of the home features a contemporary kitchen with a stone island bench and a hidden butler’s pantry fully-equipped with Gaggenau appliances.
The casual everyday family zone, complete with a cosy gas pebble fireplace, opens out to a bluestone-paved north-facing courtyard, where the current owners have created a calming retreat filled with bonsai trees and manicured landscaping.
Up on the first floor, all four bedrooms feature ample natural light and have built-in wardrobes. Beyond a statement pivot door, the main bedroom opens to a full-width private balcony overlooking leafy East Melbourne and has a walk-through wardrobe to an ensuite with a freestanding sculptural bath. One more bedroom has its own ensuite, while two more share a full family-friendly bathroom.
More than just a Melbourne terrace with an extension out the back, Carr’s transformation also includes a new zinc-clad rear addition that plays a dual role; it is a secure two-car garage with laneway access, that is also home to a self-contained studio above. Fitted out with its own kitchenette and bathroom, the independent space is an ideal guest suite, a home office or au pair retreat.
The modernised home boasts a long list of added extras, including honed limestone floors with underfloor hydronic heating and zoned climate control, as well as full security and custom lighting.
Close to green spaces, such as Fitzroy Gardens, Powlett Reserve and Darling Square, the East Melbourne house is within walking distance to the MCG, and city restaurants.
Listed with Monique Depierre and Arabella Houghton of Kay & Burton, 123 Gipps St, East Melbourne, is on the market with a price guide of $10.5 million to $11 million. The expressions of interest is closing on October 28 at 12 pm.
Rising rates, construction inflation and shrinking investor confidence are pushing Australia deeper into a dangerous housing spiral that monetary policy alone cannot fix.
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Office rents in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are climbing at their fastest pace since the pandemic as tenants compete for premium CBD space amid tightening supply.
2 min
Australia’s major CBD office markets are recording some of their strongest rental growth since the pandemic, with businesses increasingly prioritising premium office space despite elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Knight Frank’s Australian Office Indicators Q1 2026 report found net effective rents in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs rose at their fastest annual pace since COVID-19, increasing 10.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively over the 12 months to March.
Brisbane posted the strongest growth nationally, with net effective rents climbing 11.7 per cent over the same period.
The report points to a widening divide between prime CBD office towers and secondary office stock, as occupiers increasingly focus on quality, location and workplace amenity when making leasing decisions.
Knight Frank Senior Economist, Research & Consulting Alistair Read said demand remained heavily concentrated in premium assets within core CBD precincts, helping drive stronger rental growth in top-tier buildings.
“Occupier demand continues to be heavily concentrated in the most desirable CBD precincts and the highest-quality buildings, accelerating a sharp divergence between core and non-core markets,” Mr Read said.
According to the report, Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core significantly outperformed broader CBD markets over the past year.
“In Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core, net effective rents surged 14.3% and 16.1% over the past year, significantly outperforming the rest-of-CBD precincts,” Mr Read said.
The rental gap between prime and non-prime office locations has also continued to widen sharply.
“As a result, core CBD rents are now 54% higher than non-core locations in Sydney and 93% higher in Melbourne, highlighting the growing premium placed on amenity, accessibility and workplace quality,” he said.
Knight Frank said the strong rental growth across the major CBDs was being underpinned by a limited supply pipeline, with few new office developments expected to be delivered in the near term.
Mr Read said subdued construction activity was likely to support ongoing rental growth and tighter vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for premium office towers.
“The combination of sustained demand and declining levels of new development will aid ongoing prime rental growth and lower vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for best-in-class assets,” he said.
The report noted that current economic conditions were making new office developments increasingly difficult to justify financially.
“Economic rents remain well above expected market rents, making the construction of new office towers largely unviable, and concentrating tenant demand into existing buildings,” Mr Read said.
While suburban office markets generally remained subdued compared with CBDs, Melbourne’s Southbank precinct was identified as a relative outperformer, recording annual net effective rental growth of 2.7 per cent.
The report comes as broader Asia-Pacific office markets continue to stabilise following several years of disruption linked to hybrid work trends, inflation and rising interest rates.
Knight Frank’s separate Asia-Pacific Q1 2026 Office Highlights report found Sydney and Brisbane were among the strongest-performing office rental markets in the region, behind only Bengaluru and Tokyo for annual prime net face rental growth.
The Asia-Pacific report also found 18 of the 24 cities monitored across the region recorded stable or increasing rents in the first quarter of 2026, even as geopolitical uncertainty intensified following escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Rising rates, construction inflation and shrinking investor confidence are pushing Australia deeper into a dangerous housing spiral that monetary policy alone cannot fix.
A&K Sanctuary unveils Kitirua Plains Lodge, a sustainability-focused luxury property shaped by landscape, local craft and contemporary safari architecture.
