Michael Bures’ 1970s ‘Dover Heights Opera House’ on the market: Title Tattle
The trend-setting architecturally designed Bures House (pictured above and below) in Dover Heights has been listed for sale. It was designed by architect Michael Bures on the site of the former Dover Heights post office. It’s been listed by family members through Brad Caldwell-Eyles and Cara Atchison of 1st City Hasemer+Caldwell-Eyles. Expectations are for about $2.7 million.
The four-bedroom house comes with parking and expansive views of the harbour, city skyline and bridge and Opera House. Its bespoke features include a pair of industrial concrete and steel spiral staircases, striking hand-made double-fronted timber doors and a full-enclosing, mosaic ensuite shower capsule. It comes with access from either Blake Street or Military Road.
The site was purchased by Michael Bures in 1967 and building commenced in 1970. Set on a 300-square-metre block, its offers some 452 square metres of internal space. During the construction due to the design and heights of the roof it caused considerable controversy among the locals, who dubbed the building as the “Dover Heights Opera House.” The original design was intended to be an individual statement relating to the local environment and its relationship with the harbour and the city. There was consideration given to environmental matters such as utilising maximum northern light via a continuous skylight, accessing nor-east summer breeze for cooling and ventilation, and varying high vertical spaces internally to create a feeling of openness and continuity of space throughout the house and its external spaces.
Woolworths chairman James Strong and his wife, Dr Jeanne-Claude Strong, have relisted their luxury harbourfront Woolloomooloo terrace apartment. Set in the Wharf Terraces building, the apartment has four double bedrooms and three bathrooms. The apartment has its own marina berth suitable for a 15-metre boat. Sandie Dunne and Charles Walter of Dunne Mosman are seeking offers above $3 million. Dunne has the Lincoln Crescent apartment listed with $3 million plus hopes.
There’s apparently a new sightseeing attraction for Chinese tourists when they visit Sydney. Not just cuddly koalas and the Opera House – they have added driving along Wolseley Road, Point Piper for a glimpse of the $32.4 million property owned by a son of a former vice-president of China, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Set high on a hill, above a towering sandstone wall and overlooking Sydney Harbour with picture postcard-perfect views of the bridge, Craig-y-Mor (pictured above), the Point Piper non-waterfront residence, is owned by Zeng Wei and his wife, Jiang Mei. It cost $32.4 million in 2008.
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AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick has sold his home (pictured above) in Kew's prestigious Sackville Ward precinct, with the footy player-turned-businessman and his wife Helen Sykes off to South Yarra. After the opening $2.8 million vendor bid, there was just the one bid of $2,825,000 at its weekend auction through Marshall White agent James Tostevin. But it sold soon after at an undisclosed price. There had been $3 million plus hopes. The former Blue, who captained Carlton to premiership victories in 1981 and 1982, spent about $9 million on a South Yarra house earlier this year. Fitzpatrick's two-storey, 1920s Kew house came with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, formal sitting and dining rooms, a study, a separate lounge and a family room that opens to a large deck on its 1,179-square-metre block.
Film producer Adriana Nunez and her guitarist partner, Chris Burnham, who performed with Supernaut in the 1970s and the Saints in the 1980s, didn't sell their Marrickville home (pictured above) at auction last weekend. The recently renovated five-bedroom three-bathroom residence remains listed with $1.3 million hopes having last traded for $760,000 in 2009.
Title Tattle aims to tell readers of sale deals as soon as they happen – if not sooner – so the word is that Darren Lockyer, the 36-time Queensland State of Origin team hero, has finally sold his Brisbane house (pictured above). It was for listed for August 6 auction, and sold while he was overseas playing for the Kangaroos last month. The contemporary Paddington property cost Lockyer $1.49 million in 2004. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom place might have been expected to fetch around $2 million based on the standard growth (and then decline) experienced in Brisbane over the past seven years and a nearby $2.15 million would have given Lockyer some initial comfort.
But things got tough in Brisbane as spring went on. No public price estimate has been given by its listing agents Tim Douglas and Gail Miller at Place Estate Agents. Naturally it comes with barbecue facilities that befit any Queenslander sportsman.
And don't say that Title Tattle told you, but the word from Bellevue Hill is the family of the late tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat has decided to quietly offload a Bellevue Hill investment mansion (pictured above). It has been listed through Laing + Simmons Double Bay agent Bart Doff, who has$4.5 million plus hopes for the Rupertswood Avenue house. It has also been listed for rent at $3,650 a week. It was bought in 1982 for $900,000. The colourful entrepreneur Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat made several hundred million dollars from his purchase and resale of the Southern Pacific Hotel chain. After purchasing the chain for $110 million in 1981 he disposed of a large number of regional and lesser suburban properties at top prices and then in 1988, as the hotel market peaked, Tan Sri unloaded the group into the Hong Kong publicly listed company, William Hunt Holdings, for $540 million. Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat was once considered Australia's richest man and later he was ranked as the 108th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine in 2004.
