1960s Toorak home built for General Motors Holden to go to auction this weekend
The Lodge, 1 Gahan Court, Toorak, which goes to auction this weekend, was built in the 1960s for General Motors Holden.
The modernist style home was the pinnacle of design for its time and still retains its glamorous original finishes and clever open plan design. Sadly it has no heritage protection.
It comes with point blank city skyline views from the roof top terrace.
It is being marketed as an opportunity "not to be missed."
"Either to return this home to its original calibre or to build something new to your personal tastes," Kait Davis of William Batters South Yarra.
The four bedroom house is on a 579 cul de sac block.
It last traded at $237,500 in 1983 when bought by motel proprietor George Crocombe.
Land title documents show GMH bought the property in 1968 from Jacques Rich. The William Batters marketing dates the house as 1965-built. GMH sold it in 1981.
Buyers agent Gina Kantzas of James Buyer Advocates expects this auction should be "hotter" than Melbourne's record breaking run of 40 degrees plus days.
"It will be a fight," she suggests.
The $2.5 million to $2.7 million initial price guidance quote was "conservative with the client's knowldge," Kantzas suggests.
It is among the 1320 auctions scheduled for this weekend across Melbourne and Geelong this weekend.
The clearance rate so far in February hovers around 70%, according to the REIV.
Melbourne's reputation as the home of property auctions received a boost in the final three months of last year, with 12,855 auctions – more than 1000 a week – held around Victoria.
Unsurprisingly most of those auctions – 11,911 – were held in Melbourne with a fairly even split between the inner and middle suburbs, with 5001 auctions in inner Melbourne, 5180 in the middle suburbs but just 1730 in the outer suburbs. There were 944 in regional Victoria.
The figure was well up on the previous quarter, with 7548 auctions held in the three months to September 30.
REIV chief Enzo Raimondo said the strength of the market during the December quarter of 2013 was such that clearance rates remained at a healthy 70 per cent,
The auction sales netted $6.4 billion worth in Melbourne in the December quarter, compared with $4.1 billion in the previous quarter .
"That is a 58 per cent increase in total transaction value, with $3.174 billion worth of sales in inner Melbourne, $2.647 billion worth in the middle ring and $581 million in the outer suburbs."
