The new <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/yarraville-green-42-stephen-street-yarraville-vic-3013">Yarraville Green</a> development in Melbourne's inner west is showing that landscaping can be just as influential as architecture, with buyers responding strongly to the garden-first approach adopted from the outset by developer Excelon Projects and the project's design team.

Excelon appointed Six Degrees Architects and landscape architects SBLA to work collaboratively on the development, with a brief to create "a sustainable, design-led building with a focus on community."

That approach has resonated with buyers. According to Next Chapter Director Tom Hirini, who is leading the sales campaign, the landscaped communal garden has become one of the project's defining features, alongside its boutique scale and European-inspired cluster housing concept.

Local downsizers, right-sizers and established families already living in Yarraville and surrounding suburbs have accounted for the majority of purchasers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297740]

Yarraville Green will comprise 53 homes, including apartments and townhomes, arranged around the shared central garden to maximise connections to the landscaped open space. Parking has been moved underground, allowing the ground plane to be dedicated to greenery, pedestrian movement and communal spaces.

The landscape extends well beyond passive planting. Productive garden beds, a pergola, communal gathering spaces, garden sheds and a pet wash have all been integrated into the masterplan, creating spaces designed to encourage everyday interaction between residents.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297741]

The interiors continue Excelon's focus on craftsmanship, incorporating bespoke elements by Melbourne artisans including leadlight detailing by Adadaz, hand-turned timber hardware by Auburn Woodturning and blown-glass lighting by Ruth Allen.

Sustainability has also been embedded throughout the project, with Yarraville Green targeting an average 7-star NatHERS energy rating through passive design principles, rooftop solar servicing common areas and rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=144913 project_image_fid=297735]

Construction continues to progress at Yarraville Green, with structural works well underway and framing works approaching completion under builder Balmain &amp; Co. The project remains on track for completion in mid-2027.

Apartments at Yarraville Green are currently priced from $625,000, while townhomes start from $1.4 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=144913]

Joel Robinson

Garden-led design drives buyer demand at Yarraville Green

National diversified developer Fortis has officially launched Crest &amp; Walker, its latest Brisbane apartment development, with construction now underway on the 20-storey Newstead project.

Award-winning builder BINAH has commenced construction on the Bureau^Proberts-designed building, which will deliver a limited collection of 65 two and three-bedroom apartments on Kyabra Street.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373556]

The project marks Fortis' fourth active residential development in Brisbane, following River House, which is nearing completion, alongside projects in New Farm and Hamilton as the national developer continues to expand its South East Queensland pipeline.

Fortis General Manager – Development Queensland Dan Boman said Crest &amp; Walker reflects the developer's long-term commitment to delivering design-led residential projects in Brisbane's established inner-city suburbs.

"We're proud to be strengthening our presence in Brisbane with Crest &amp; Walker, particularly in such a sought-after lifestyle destination as Newstead," Boman said.

"Every Fortis project is shaped by its context, and we approach each one with the respect and care it deserves.

"Our focus is always on creating places that feel connected to their neighbourhood and elevate the everyday experience for residents. Newstead continues to evolve as one of Brisbane's most sought-after urban communities, and Crest &amp; Walker reflects our ambition to contribute meaningfully to that story."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373559]

Positioned between Gasworks Plaza and James Street, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/crest-walker-newstead-12-kyabra-street-newstead-qld-4006">Crest &amp; Walker</a> has been designed as a boutique residential address offering privacy and generous living spaces within one of Brisbane's most established lifestyle precincts.

The building features a contemporary brick podium softened by integrated landscaping, while the upper levels are characterised by restrained architecture and enduring materiality. Interiors have been designed to maximise natural light, acoustic performance and long-term liveability.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373583]

Residences comprise spacious two and three-bedroom floorplans, with two-bedroom apartments priced from $1.55 million and three-bedroom, half-floor residences from $3.95 million.

Residents will have access to a wellness-focused rooftop featuring a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, landscaped dining spaces and outdoor lounge areas overlooking Newstead and the Brisbane CBD.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=145922 project_image_fid=373571]

Sales are being managed by Slaite Projects, with Fortis expecting strong demand from owner-occupiers seeking a high-quality, design-focused apartment in one of Brisbane's most tightly held inner-city suburbs.

Completion of Crest &amp; Walker is slated for late 2028.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=145922]

Fortis expands Brisbane pipeline with launch of Crest & Walker in Newstead

The enormity of delivering a true skyscraper in Australia's new development market is often overlooked.

It has taken the best part of a decade since plans for Chevron One were first unveiled, but the 52-storey tower is now complete, with residents collecting their keys and moving into what has become one of the Gold Coast's most recognisable new landmarks.

Rising 127 metres above Chevron Island, Chevron One stands almost twice as high as any other building on the island. Its scale places it alongside the trio of towers at Jewel, arguably the last truly significant addition to the central Gold Coast skyline when they were completed around six years ago.

While there are several developments underway around a similar height to Chevron One, they are more concentrated within clusters of the highest towers in the city. The fact Chevron One sits within a developing precinct, looking back at the other high-rise developments in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, makes it a different proposition altogether. It will certainly become a reference point on the Gold Coast skyline.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68833]

Developer Bensons Property Group is behind the 52-storey tower, which has just shy of 250 apartments, along with an exhaustive list of resident amenity spread across what is the largest development site ever assembled on Chevron Island.

The tower has been the talk of the town for years, says Ray White Projects Gold Coast agent Caitlin Rosenboom, who is selling the remaining apartments.

"People have been watching Chevron One go up for years," Rosenboom says, adding that many prospective buyers have been surprised by the scale of the views once they step inside.

"It's only when they walk through a completed apartment that they truly understand the position of the building," Rosenboom says.

"The views are jaw-dropping. Whether you're looking east over the ocean, across Surfers Paradise, along the river systems or out to the hinterland, every level offers something different but equally impressive."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=360215]

One of Chevron One's defining advantages is its location on the eastern side of Chevron Island on Stanhill Drive, a position which protects the views forever.

"There's only one row of houses between Chevron One and the water, and the height restrictions along the river means views from Chevron One can never be built out,"&nbsp;Rosenboom says.

While new apartment developments continue to emerge across the Gold Coast, Rosenboom says opportunities to secure a completed apartment with this level of outlook are becoming increasingly rare.

"The size of the site is something that would be incredibly difficult to replicate today," she says.

"That's allowed Chevron One to deliver the sort of amenity, open space and resident facilities that very few projects can offer. There are not many completed apartment buildings on the Gold Coast right now that can compete with the combination of scale, quality and amenity."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=6515 project_image_fid=68839]

There's around 2,000 sqm of amenity solely for the use of residents of Chevron One. Club One features a uniquely shaped swimming pool that mirrors the footprint of the building itself, set within a extensively landscaped gardens. There's also an indoor pool and spa, a fully equipped gym with a Pilates room, a yoga garden, a bookable private dining area and lounge that can host up to 30 people, and a 24-hour concierge service.

As for the buyers, Rosenboom is fielding enquiry from everywhere: Sydneysiders and Melburnians looking at the new and off-the-plan market following the changes in the Federal Budget, as well as those looking to relocate, through to South East Queenslanders seeking either a permanent home or a weekender bolthole.

"The Gold Coast lifestyle continues to resonate with people relocating from the southern states, and when they see the views and the quality of what's been delivered at Chevron One, it becomes very easy for them to understand the appeal," Rosenboom says.

A diverse mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments remain available, with each offering "something a little different", be it the orientation and views, configuration, or level, to suit a wide variety of buyers.

The remaining apartments are ready to inspect in person, by appointment.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=6515]

A decade in the making: Residents to move into Chevron One as construction wraps up

A general rule of thumb in new apartment developments is that the penthouses get the rooftop.

It's a formula that's become commonplace across Australia's apartment market. Residents might have access to a pool, gym or barbecue facilities on a dedicated lower level, but the most desirable outdoor spaces are typically reserved for the highest-priced homes at the top of the building.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Property Group</a> has taken the opposite approach.

Rather than dedicating the rooftop to a handful of buyers, the Gold Coast developer has made it the centrepiece of its Flourish collection, creating expansive shared spaces from the best vantage point in the building.

The philosophy has reached its most ambitious expression at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-soleira-palm-beach-1150-1160-gold-coast-highway-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Soleira</a> in Palm Beach, where two rooftop precincts connected by a skybridge will deliver one of the most extensive lifestyle offerings seen in a residential apartment project on the Gold Coast.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374053]

"We're seeing a clear move toward developments that offer more than just an apartment," Sherpa Group founder Christie Leet said.

"People want spaces that support how they actually live, whether that's working from home, staying active, or spending time with family and friends.

"That's where amenity becomes critical. It's not just about what's included, but how those spaces are designed to be used every day."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374052]

The breadth of amenity has already attracted buyers across multiple demographics. Younger first home buyers have been drawn to Soleira's one-bedroom apartments, a product rarely delivered in Palm Beach, while families have responded to practical inclusions such as the shallow children's pool adjoining the main lap pool and the extensive communal recreation areas.

Instead of a single rooftop, Soleira delivers two distinct lifestyle zones.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=372547]

The southern rooftop has been dedicated to wellness, featuring a gym, yoga and Pilates studio, work-from-home facilities, a wellness centre, spa, and hot and cold plunge pools.

The northern rooftop focuses on recreation and entertaining, incorporating a heated resort-style pool, private dining rooms, pizza ovens, barbecues, a golf simulator, children's recreation areas, and what is expected to be the Gold Coast's first rooftop basketball court, which will also double as a squash court.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=374054]

Beyond the rooftops, Soleira will introduce 1,500 sqm of curated retail beneath the towers, creating one of Palm Beach's first genuinely mixed-use lifestyle precincts where cafés, restaurants and convenience retail become part of residents' everyday lives.

Sherpa has also retained management rights across the development, allowing it to oversee the long-term operation of the building through a 24-hour concierge model. The developer is also exploring additional revenue streams within the precinct aimed at helping offset ongoing body corporate costs for residents.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150017 project_image_fid=370962]

While Soleira is the largest project Sherpa has delivered, the rooftop-first philosophy has been evolving for several years.

It began with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/amargo-6-12-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Amargo</a>, the first project released under the Flourish brand. Rather than competing at the ultra-luxury end of the market with oversized half-floor and full-floor residences, Sherpa focused on creating lifestyle-driven apartments supported by resort-style shared spaces.

Amargo introduced more than 800 sqm of rooftop amenity, combining wellness facilities, heated pools, entertaining areas, cabanas, pizza ovens and private dining spaces into what was designed as an extension of residents' homes rather than a facility used only occasionally.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=146527 project_image_fid=366550]

That approach continued with Flourish Oasis, where the same amenity-led philosophy was refined into a more boutique development. Strong demand from Sherpa's growing VIP database saw much of the project sold before it reached the broader market, reinforcing buyer appetite for apartment communities centred around shared lifestyle experiences.

Flourish Amargo is slated for completion mid-way-through next year, with Oasis to be delivered by late 2027. Flourish Soleira is expected to complete in 2030.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=150017]

Sherpa takes amenity to the sky as Flourish Soleira captures booming Palm Beach demand

As apartment living continues to evolve across Sydney's growth corridors, the quality and distribution of shared spaces is increasingly shaping how residents experience home. Rather than functioning as add-ons, amenities are being embedded into the daily rhythm of a building, supporting everything from quiet retreat to social interaction, often within a single vertical community.

At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/aeris-melrose-park-nursery-street-melrose-park-nsw-2114">Aeris</a> in Melrose Park, this approach is resolved through a layered amenity offering that unfolds from ground level through to its upper podium. Developed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sekisui-house-australia">Sekisui House Australia</a> in partnership with Hankyu Hanshin Properties, the project introduces 468 apartments across two towers and a mid-rise building, positioned at the highest point of the broader masterplan.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=359199]

The amenity experience begins at street level, where two courtyards sit within a landscaped setting that connects residents to the wider network of parks and green spaces. These green spaces are not isolated pockets but part of a wider pedestrian network that links Aeris to the surrounding <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/melrose-park-nsw-2114">Melrose Park</a> precinct, including Central Park, future schools, and the Town Centre opening in July 2026. The result is a transition that moves from public to private without abrupt boundaries, allowing residents to pass through shaded, tree-lined environments before reaching the building itself.

Moving upward, the focus shifts to the level five podium, where the primary communal facilities are concentrated. This space brings together a 16-metre swimming pool, outdoor seating areas, and a communal BBQ zone arranged to take advantage of elevated outlooks. Seating is positioned beneath pergolas, creating pockets of shade that extend the usability of the space throughout the day. The pool edge aligns with views toward the wider district, reinforcing the sense of elevation that defines the project’s positioning.

In the adjacent building, this is complemented by quieter, more contemplative spaces, including an outdoor cinema set within the same level. Positioned to operate primarily in the evening, it introduces a different tempo to the shared environment, shifting from daytime activity to after-hours use without requiring separate zones.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=360299]

The podium also accommodates an intimate private resident gym. Located on the lower levels, it gives residents convenient access to fitness facilities without leaving the building.

Above, the elevated podium sky deck extends the amenity offering, providing additional open-air spaces with elevated outlooks across the surrounding landscape. While more restrained in program, this upper level reinforces the project’s vertical progression, from ground-level greenery to elevated outlook, allowing residents to move between distinct spatial conditions within a single address.

This distribution of amenities reflects a deliberate response to how residents use space across the day. Sekisui House Australia Sales and Marketing Director Peter Kalaf points to the role these shared areas play in shaping buyer demand. Aeris has been conceived as more than a collection of apartments, with the podium pool, gym and outdoor cinema forming part of a broader lifestyle offering that extends the home beyond each individual residence.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=426 project_image_fid=360300]

What distinguishes Aeris is not the inclusion of these elements individually, but how they are arranged in relation to one another. Active, social, and passive spaces are layered vertically rather than separated, allowing residents to choose between them without leaving the building or moving far from their apartment. This proximity supports both routine use, such as a morning swim or evening workout, and more occasional gatherings, whether around the BBQ area or within the cinema setting.

The amenity design also sits within a broader framework of connectivity across Melrose Park. The Melrose Park Town Centre, anchored by Coles and Dan Murphys, features a mix of retail, dining, health and lifestyle offerings, bringing everyday convenience closer to residents. By the end of the year, more than five hectares of parks and open space, equivalent to around seven football fields of green space on residents' doorstep, will further enhance the precinct, allowing the internal facilities at Aeris to operate as an extension of the wider neighbourhood rather than a substitute for it.

Construction at Aeris continues to gather momentum, with ground floor slabs expected to be completed in late 2026 before the first sections of the buildings begin to rise above ground.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=426]

Elevated amenity anchors daily life at Aeris, Melrose Park

International

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The movie-making casino billionaire James Packer has bought a house in Israel, following his friendship with one of Hollywood’s high profile independent film producers Arnon Milchan.
Packer told The Daily Telegraph in early March that he had bought a house in Tel Aviv.
The Australian media diarist Sharri Markson pinpointed it yesterday as in Caesarea, halfway between Haifa and Tel Aviv. But its purchase price and other details have yet to emerge.
It has emerged Packer has also befriended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lives in the suburb, dining with him several times.
“Spending time with Arnon and Prime Minister Netanyahu has been an amazing eye-opener for me and it reinforces how lucky we all are in Australia,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph columnist John Lehmann in the must read, Lehmann at Large column.
James Packer now divides his time between Israel, the United States, Asia and Australia where his Bondi Beach pad was withdrawn from recent marketing. 
<a href="https://www.realestatecaesarea.com/searchForm.php?l=&amp;ls=&amp;search_PropertyType=&amp;ListingID=&amp;MinPrice=&amp;MaxPrice=&amp;rooms1=&amp;rooms2=&amp;bath1=&amp;bath2=&amp;AgentID=&amp;before=&amp;Access=&amp;Suitability=&amp;HomeAge=" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/caesarea-il-isr" target="_blank">Sotheby's International</a> have listings in the suburb of up to US$12.5 million (A$16.45 million). One of the offerings was the onetime home of the painter Reuven Rubin and his wife Esther designed by the architect Arie Elhanani together with Rubin in 1967.
James Packer is believed to have been introduced to the Netanyahu family through Milchan, who the casino tycoon has described to confidants as his “best friend”. 
Arnon Milchan produced Pretty Woman, Natural Born Killers and L.A. Confidential.
Caesarea has the country's only full-size golf course, which originated after James de Rothschild was reminded by the dunes surrounding Caesarea of Scotland's sandy links golf courses.
On his death, the James de Rothschild Foundation established the course in the late 1950s with American professional golfer Herman Barron, the first Jewish golfer to win a PGA Tour event, helping develop the course.
Wikipedia noted: "Modern Caesarea had a population of 4,500 people, the only Israeli locality managed by a private organization, the Caesarea Development Corporation.
"The town was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as the port city Caesarea Maritima. It served as an administrative center of Judaea Province of the Roman Empire, and later the capital of the Byzantine Palaestina Prima province during the classic period.
"Following the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, the city had an Arab majority until Crusader renovation, but was again abandoned after the Mamluk conquest.
"It was populated in 1884 by Bosniak immigrants, who settled in a small fishing village.
"In 1940, kibbutz Sdot Yam was established next to the village.
"In February 1948 the village was conquered by a Palmachunit commanded by Yitzhak Rabin, its people already having fled following an attack by the Stern Gang.
"In 1952, a Jewish town of Caesarea was established near the ruins of the old city, which were made into the national park of Caesarea Maritima."
"The Phoenicians discovered it, Herod fell in love with it and dedicated it to the Roman Caesar," the local leading agent website said. 
"Augustus gazed upon it and said, ‘‘hasten slowly‘‘.
"He was followed by Tiberius and Marcus Aurelius, Caesars from the West and Caesars from the East, Arabs and Crusaders, the Seljuk and Turks, Genefal Allen by, Hanna Senesh and Yehuda Amihai... everyone wanted it, settled here and left behind their own mark of love. The antiquities, the sea, the serene bay -nature‘s very own offering of beauty,"<a href="https://www.caesarea-realestate.co.il/eng/art.asp?art_type_id=149" target="_blank"> agent Chana Kristal said on here website.</a> "Caesarea was purchased by Baron Edmond de Rothschild during the 19th century and donated to the Caesarea Edmond Bengamin de Rothschild Foundation upon the establishment of the State of Israel, with the aim of developing Caesarea into a unique and qualitative neighborhood, to become one of the finest residential, tourist and industrial areas in the world," she said.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Billionaire James Packer's Israeli trophy home suburb

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Omaha Beach, one of the leading summer playgrounds for New Zealand's rich and famous, has secured a recent NZ$3 million (A$2.95 million) sale price, a record for the northern end of Omaha.
The concrete block and cedar, three bedroom, two bathroom retreat pad bought by an Auckland family through Bayleys agent Mark Macky.
He told the New Zealand Herald the record price was evidence prices on the seaside spit had bounced back from the global financial crisis.
Omaha Beach is one of the leading playgrounds for New Zealand's rich and famous including Prime Minister John Key, former Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, and one of New Zealand's wealthiest women, Diane Foreman - a popular area because it is less than an hour from Auckland.
James Wilson of Quotable Value noted the Auckland coastal holiday market showed signs of strengthening but the gains were modest compared to residential areas in Auckland.
The recent NZ$3 million sale price for the '<a href="https://www.newzealand.com/au/feature/new-zealand-bach/" target="_blank">bach</a>' in sand dunes at 39 The Southern Isle at the northern end of Omaha showed it is closing in on the flashier southern end where prices already top NZ$4 million (A$3.93 million), the paper reported.
Fringed by pohotukawa trees, the house was a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.bayleys.co.nz/Listings/Auckland/Rodney/Omaha/1810451" target="_blank">stylish award winning Lindy Leuschke contemporary design</a> built in 2006 offering single level living some 20 paces though the dunes brings you to that spectacular white sandy beach.
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 New Zealand holiday homes shrug off global financial crisis

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More first time buyers in the United States are turning to parents for financial assistance when buying a home, and the ways parents contribute are likely to shift to some degree, according to a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trend-of-parents-helping-millennial-children-buy-first-home-is-on-the-rise-300054767" target="_blank">survey commissioned by nonbank lender loanDepot LLC</a>.
17% of parents with adult children between the ages of 18 and 35 expect to help their children buy a home in the next five years, compared to 13% in the past five years — an increase of 31%.
First time home buyer activity is already close to an all-time low, but the share of home sales attributable to that group would be even smaller if not for the financial assistance parents have provided to many young adults, said Dave Norris, president and chief operations officer at loanDepot LLC.
75% of millennial-age respondents who said they have received financial support from their parents when buying a home said that assistance made it possible for them to buy a home, he said.
But the ways that parents provide this assistance may be shifting, the results suggested.
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<a href="https://inmannews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how-parents-are-helping-loandepot.png" target="_blank"><img class="wp-image-152315 size-full" src="https://inmannews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how-parents-are-helping-loandepot.png" alt="how parents are helping loandepot" width="881" height="322"></a>
Source: loanDepot
65% of parents who helped their kids buy a home in the last five years chipped in by putting money toward a down payment, with almost two in 10 of that group covering nearly 90% of a down payment, according to the survey.
But only half of parents who expect to help their children buy homes in the future anticipate subsidizing a down payment, with less than one in 10 indicating that they expect to contribute 90% or more of a down payment.
The survey suggests that parents who lend a helping hand to their children who buy homes in the years ahead will be more likely to provide assistance by paying off student loan debt or letting their kids live at home so they can save money than they were in the past, according to the survey.
<a href="https://inmannews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/obilgation-to-repay.png" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;"><img class="wp-image-152305 size-full" src="https://inmannews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/obilgation-to-repay.png" alt="obilgation to repay" width="729" height="238"></a>
Source: loanDepot 
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United States first time home buyers turning to parents: loanDepot

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Bellamont Forest near Cootehill, County Cavan, described by Mark Bence-Jones in A Guide to Irish Country Houses as "one of the most perfect examples of a Palladian villa", has been listed for sale.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/bellamont-forest-cootehill-co-cavan/3117572" target="_blank">There is</a> an asking price of €1.35 million on the 18th century palladian villa.
It was Australian John Coote who bought back his ancestral home in 1987 for a reported IR£500,000, then restoring Bellamont before putting it on the market in 2010 with overly ambitious €7.5 million expectations.
Coote died suddenly in 2012, and the house is now for sale on the instructions of receivers for Coote's company, Thameside Holding, this time with its reduced price of €1.35 million.
Designed by Edward Lovett Pearce and built between 1725 and 1730, architectural historian Dr Maurice Craig (Country Life, 1964), wrote Pearce's design was based on Palladio’s Villa Rotonda at Vicenza and Villa Pisani at Montagnana. 
The Irish National Trust, An Taisce, has noted the 290 year old building has been vacant for a number of years and "<a href="https://www.antaisce.org/buildingsatrisk/bellamont-forest-cootehill?page=1" target="_blank">does not appear to be maintained</a>." 
Most of the external fabric remains, but there are obvious signs of deterioration, particularly water penetration. 
"There is no immediate danger of collapse but the condition is such that unless urgent remedial works are carried out the building will sharply deteriorate," the Trust noted. 
<a href="https://search.knightfrank.com/gwr100023" target="_blank">Bellamont Forest</a>, the first Palladian house in Ireland, is set amid one thousand acres of parkland, woods and lakes, including sporting rights in the surrounding forestry.
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It was built for Thomas Coote, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, designed by his nephew, Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, whose other works include the former Houses of Parliament in College Green, now The Bank of Ireland. 
He later became Surveyor General of Ireland, a post which he held until his death in 1733. 
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The house is four bays square, built over two storeys, with a basement. The internal floor area is approximately 1,032 square metres. The house is built of red brick with ashlar facings, and has a Doric limestone portico, with pediments over the windows. 
Title Tattle especially loves the exquisite overhead oval cupola. 
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Bellamont Forest is 110 kms from Dublin and 75 minutes from Dublin International Airport, so listing agent Ganly Walters expect strong international buyer interest.
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The late John Coote, the jetsetting international designer of Classical 18th-century houses, came from a notorious family.
The first to make his mark in Ireland was Sir Charles Coote, a military adventurer who died in battle at Trim, Co Meath, in 1642, leaving estates in four counties to his four sons. His youngest son, Col Thomas Coote, was granted the O’Reilly lands in Co Cavan at the Act of Settlement in 1662. 
He married a Miss Hill from Hillsborough in Co Down and founded the town of Coote Hill (now Cootehill). On his death in 1671, his estate passed to his nephew, also Thomas Coote, who became a Lord Justice of the Kings Bench in Ireland, and was made a Knight of the Bath ‘in testimony of his good and laudable service in suppressing tumultuous and illegal insurrection in the northern parts of Ireland’. He also established Cootehill as a prosperous linen town.
On marrying his third wife, Ann Lovett, in 1697, Coote became the uncle-in-law of Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, a cousin of Vanbrugh, and by far the most important architect working in Ireland in the early 18th century. 
Its name was later changed to Bellamont Forest by Coote’s grandson, Charles, who inherited in 1764 and became the Earl of Bellamont of the 2nd creation in 1767.
The new Lord Bellamont was a complex figure, being variously described as a man of ‘the highest refinement’, but also as a ‘tyrant’, ‘madman’ and ‘a person of disgusting pomposity’. An inveterate womaniser, he sired at least six illegitimate children, all of whom were provided for in his will. He was tried in 1764 for murdering a man during the 'Oakboy' rebellion which he helped to repress brutally. He got off and is immortalised in a camp portrait by Joshua Reynolds in the National Gallery.
On his death in 1800, the estate passed to these descendants who lived on at Bellamont Forest, becoming gradually ever poorer.
In 1874, Edward Smith JP, having amassed a considerable fortune from the coal trade between Liverpool and Newry, bought the Bellamont house and lands for £145,000. Following his death in 1880, the estate passed through various members of his family until 1984, when what <a href="https://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/property-news/luxury-property-in-ireland-for-sale-24455" target="_blank">Country Life</a> described as the ‘troubles’ in the North finally persuaded the last of them to leave. The IRA had used the estate as a training ground.
Three years later, John Coote seized the chance to buy it.
It was listed in 2010 after Coote’s three children all returned to settle in Australia. John Coote, noting the architect spent three years in Italy in the early eighteenth century where he toured the Veneto and Palladio’s villas, thought La Rotunda was his great inspiration.  
There was considerable sadness at John Coote's death given he was one of the great interior designers who buoyed Melbourne's property credentials, especially during the 1980s. 
His Melbourne client list included the Lews, Foxes, Elliotts and Kimberleys. 
His 1987 Corrie Perkin Good Weekend piece was headlined: "John Coote turns new money into old". 
The Australian born, RMIT-trained, Pimlico Road, London interior designer was last in the local headlines during his divorce from Andrea Coote over the settlement of what was dubbed "Coote Castle."
The local paper noted this week that some months after Coote's death, Cavan County Council issued enforcement orders regarding the removal of marble busts from the house. The statues, which occupied alcoves in the entrance hall, depicted generations of old Cootes. 
Their whereabouts are known.
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John Coote's 18th century Bellamont Forest, Cavan Ireland ancestral trophy home relisted

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Savills International has taken time to take a close look at 12 leading world cities, particularly at urbanisation.
They all command world city status and attract, for different reasons, a wide variety of overseas investment while playing host to a wide range of international companies and enterprises.
"US real estate trends often lead the way for other parts of the globe and the repopulation, regeneration and city renaissance experienced in so many US cities over the past 20 years has been echoed in Europe and other ‘old world’ regions, while the urban growth in many ‘new world’ cities has tended to emulate an earlier, mid-20th century auto-oriented and high-rise US model of city-making," the report said.
Click to open in new window:
<a href="/images/2015/03/25/chart-mar-25-one.png" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/03/25/chart-mar-25-one.png" alt=""></a>
Source: Savills
The report noted the predominant theme in the West, or rather in the ‘old world’ – the pre 20th century cities of North America, Europe, Australia and Japan – has been the rediscovery of the city.
"Since the 1990s, patterns of depopulation dating from various points in the 20th century have been almost universally reversed in these old cities and businesses of many types have once again created revenues and wealth after previous decades of population decline, and in some cases, urban decay," Savills noted.
"The shift in city economies during the mid-1980s away from manufacturing and toward financial and business services made the location of goods and markets less important and once again put the interactions of people at centre stage.
"This has given cities a new currency: there is value in human interaction and the marketplaces that cities provide.
"Little wonder that London and New York rose from the ashes at this time to dominate the world city scene.
"This economic, geographical and financial phenomenon had big impacts on the real estate industry and these cities remain heavily invested by institutions, funds, private companies and individuals.
"In the 21st century, the emphasis on and need for human interaction on city streets is as great as ever."
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The cities investing in urbanisation around the world: Savills International

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Some 36,342 London properties covering a total of 2.25 square miles are held by hidden companies registered in offshore havens, Transparency International research has shown.
The research – analysing data from the Land Registry and Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit – found that 75% of properties whose owners are under investigation for corruption made use of offshore corporate secrecy to hide their identities.
Transparency International has published a report titled<a href="https://www.transparency.org.uk/our-work/publications/15-publications/1230-corruption-on-your-doorstep" target="_blank"> Corruption on your Doorstep: How corrupt capital is used to buy property in the UK</a>.
It has launched an online campaign about corrupt money entering the UK property market. The report noted estate agents contributed to only 0.05% of all Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted. 
A visual story of this journey and interactive map detailing the number of offshore-owned homes per London borough can be viewed at <a href="https://www.ukunmaskthecorrupt.org/" target="_blank">ukunmaskthecorrupt.org</a>
"There is growing evidence that the UK property market has become a safe haven for corrupt capital stolen from around the world, facilitated by the laws which allow UK property to be owned by secret offshore companies," said Robert Barrington, executive director of Transparency International UK.
“This has a devastating effect on the countries from which the money has been stolen, and it’s hard to see how welcoming in the world’s corrupt elite is beneficial to communities in the UK.  
"It is astonishing that the UK has sleep-walked into this situation, and the government needs to act quickly to make sure that the UK does not become the destination of choice for global corruption. 
"Some relatively simple measures would be a good start, such as the Land Registry requiring transparency over who owns the companies that own so much UK property.”
Key statistics
<ul>
<li>
£180 million plus worth of property in UK have been brought under criminal investigation as the suspected proceeds of corruption since 2004. This is believed to be only the tip of the iceberg of the scale of proceeds of corruption invested in UK property. Over 75% of the properties under criminal investigation use offshore corporate secrecy. 
</li>
<li>The average price of a property under criminal investigation in the UK is £1.5 million. The minimum is £130,000, the maximum is £9 million and the median is £910,000. 48% of properties investigated were valued at over £1 million. 
</li>
<li>
36,342 London properties totalling 2.25 square miles are held by offshore haven companies. Of these, 38% in the British Virgin Islands, 16% in Jersey, 9.5% in Isle of Man, and 9% in Guernsey. 
</li>
<li>Almost one in ten properties in the City of Westminster (9.3%), 7.3% of properties in Kensington &amp; Chelsea, and 4.5% in the City of London are owned by companies registered in an offshore secrecy jurisdiction. Today, TI-UK launched an interactive map of London which reveals the statistics for each borough – <a href="https://www.ukunmaskthecorrupt.org/">ukunmaskthecorrupt.org</a>. 
</li>
<li>In 2011 alone, £3.8bn worth of UK property was bought by British Virgin Islands-registered companies. 
</li>
<li>According to the latest figures, which cover October 2013 to September 2014, estate agents contributed to only 0.05% of all Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted. This figure does not match the risks posed by money launderers to the UK property market.</li>
</ul>
Transparency International makes 10 recommendations for reform, calling for buy in from the UK government, lawyers, and estate agents to ensure that the UK property market is no longer a safe haven for corrupt funds. Action from the British Overseas Territories is also necessary to end this crisis. The key recommendation is that transparency should be established over who owns the companies that own so much property in the UK through making such transparency a Land Registry requirement.
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London estate agents turn blind eye to suspicious, offshore property purchasing

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All eyes are on Hollywood today.
Will Julianne Moore finally get her Oscar? What will she wear? Birdman or Boyhood?
In case you're wondering, our tips: Yes; Tom Ford (unfortunately, it turned out to be Chanel); Birdman.
To celebrate the 2015 Academy Awards, Property Observer nominates five outstanding Hollywood homes.
Stahl House 
 <img src="/images/2015/02/23/800px-Case_Study_House_No._22.JPG" alt="">
Source: Ovs, Wikimedia Commons.
Stahl House, aka Case Study House #22, is one of the most famous homes in the Hollywood Hills. Designed by Pierre Koenig and built in 1959 as part of the Case Study Houses program, the glass and steel modernist house has an "L" shape, and offers panoramic views of Los Angeles from its hillside perch.
The home has also been the set of many commercials and films (though none, to our knowledge, that have been nominated for an Academy Award).
Photograph: Julius Schulman
The Chemosphere
<img src="/images/2015/02/23/John_Lautners_Chemosphere_8189866290.jpg" alt="">
Source: evdropkick, Wikimedia Commons. 
The Chemosphere is not only a famous Hollywood home but a home made famous in Hollywood films.
Lautner's modern works are both a favourite of filmmakers, with Elrod House featuring in Diamonds are Forever, and the Schaffer residence appearing in A Single Man.
The Chemosphere is a one-storey octagon, set on a concrete pole. The feat of engineering and its distinctive look has seen the home often imitated in film - it was the direct inspiration for Sam Rockwell's pad in the Charlie's Angels film.
Hollyhock House
 <img src="/images/2015/02/23/Hollyhock_House.JPG" alt="">
Source: Sfoskett, Wikimedia Commons.
Frank Lloyd Wright's first Los Angeles project was Hollyhock House in East Hollywood. The home, which Wright described as being of a "California Romanza" style, was built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall.
Completed in 1921, the house is set around a central courtyard, with tilted walls at the exterior. The hollyhock itself is a motif used throughout the house.
3028 Paulcrest Drive, Hollywood Hills
<img src="/images/2015/02/23/mila%20kunis%20house.jpg" alt="">
Actress Mila Kunis sold her contemporary Mediterranean style home late last year for a reported US$3.995 million sum.
The <a href="https://www.estately.com/sold/3028-paulcrest-drive--2" target="_blank">house off Mullholland Drive</a> has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool and an eight-seat movie theatre. It features vaulted ceilings with exposed timber beams throughout.
Moorcrest
<img src="/images/phocagallery/2014/07/moorcrest-july-22/moorcrest_0000_1.jpg.jpg" alt="">
The incredible former house of Charlie Chaplin is now owned by musician Joanna Newsom and her husband, Emmy winning comedian and actor Andy Samberg.
The <a href="/news/from-incredibad-to-chaplins-pad-andy-samberg-and-joanna-newsom-buy-legendary-hollywood-home">Beachwood Canyon home</a> was originally built as part of the Krotona Colony, the national headquarters of an esoteric philosophical group called the Theosophical Society.
The home has Moorish, Gothic, Mission-revivalist and Art Nouveau influences. It was designed in the early 20s by Marie Russak Hotchener.
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jrichardson-uRX5hFdKfN

And the Oscar for best house goes to: Five great Hollywood trophy homes

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Investors who are looking for the highest returns will continue to look for development opportunities, and Savills particularly favour outer London and the key regional cities as development opportunities in 2015. Speculative development activity will remain sparse, due to investor and lender caution, but those who are brave enough to undertake it will do well, it said.
Overall Savills expect that 2015 will be another strong year for UK real estate, but investors are going to have to work harder to identify markets and sectors that will deliver high returns.
"The commercial markets in 2015 will still offer opportunities for both risk-averse and risk-embracing investors, though the stronger than expected bounce in capital values in 2014 will diminish," the report said.
In London offices, the low level of availability will continue to deliver strong rental growth.
"We expect to see continuing strong demand from risk-averse international investors," said the report.
"Strong capital value growth was undoubtedly the key theme of 2014, with growth across all sectors stronger than we were forecasting at the beginning of the year.
"We expect to see continuing capital value growth across all prime sectors in 2015, albeit at a slower rate.
"The general election in spring 2015 will definitely have some effect on sentiment, though in the agricultural and commercial sectors we expect the effects to be relatively muted."
In the residential markets the threat of mansion tax, combined with the Mortgage Market Review could lead to a more sustained hiatus in capital value growth in 2015.
Generally Savills expect that the macro- economic story for the UK will remain benign, with base rates remaining unchanged until early 2016, and the combination of low oil prices and recovering incomes giving a boost to the UK consumer.
Savills expect that UK real estate will continue to deliver high returns in comparison to other asset classes.
"This will mean that domestic and international demand for prime and good secondary assets will be strong, though we expect to see more focus on supply and demand fundamentals in 2015, rather than just the potential for yield shift."
Savills top picks across all sectors are for markets with structural or impending undersupply.
Click to open in new window:
<a href="/images/2015/02/18/save%20feb%2018%20one.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/02/18/save%20feb%2018%20one.jpg" alt=""></a>
Source: Savills
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Savills suggest UK commercial investment strategies for 2015

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A cliff-top site known as the Ho Tung Garden sold last month for a record for a development site in Hong Kong. 
75 Peak Road sold at HK$5.1 billion (A$840 million), the largest deal in Hong Kong private residential market representing HK$82,258 (A$13,574) per square foot. 
Hong Kong media named the buyer as mainland tycoon Cheung Chung-kiu, chairman of listed Chinese property developer C C Land Holding, through the official buyer was listed as "Season Glitter".
The 1.15 hectare site at Victoria Park was offered through Savills International last month by the granddaughter of British-educated Hong Kong businessman Sir Robert Hotung, who built the complex in 1927. He was one of the first very successful Eurasian businessmen in colonial Hong Kong.
Sir Robert Ho Tung was the first non-European to receive permission from the Hong Kong government to reside in the Peak area. 
Its villa, known by its Cantonese name Hiu Kok Yuen, was controversially demolished in 2013. It had been on the list of 1 444 historic building in Hong Kong.
The main house of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Tung_Gardens" target="_blank">Ho Tung Gardens</a> was designed by a local architectural practice, Palmer and Turner. Before the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government had used the premises to house one of its military units. During the Japanese invasion in December 1941, the site received several direct hits. The house underwent renovation after the war. 
It was built in the Chinese Renaissance style, with a square tower with a Chinese tiled roof but resembling an Italianate campanile. 
The record deal for Hong Kong was brokered by Raymond Lee, CEO of Savills Greater China, and Patrick Chau, a director of residential development and investment at Savills Greater China.
Hotung's son, Robert, lived on the property between the 1960s and 1990s, and ownership passed onto granddaughter Ho Min-kwan in 2003, who unsuccessfully tried to sell it at a higher price several years ago.
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Ho Tung Garden site sold by Savills Hong Kong

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One in every three wealthy Chinese has property overseas, most of them residential properties, according to the luxury publishing and events group Huran Report.
As the domestic Chinese property market continues to slump, more and more wealthy Chinese investors have shifted their focus to overseas property markets.
Chinese investors invested over US$5.4 billion (A$6.91 billion) in overseas properties in the first half of 2014, and despite tension between China and Japan, Chinese investors flocked to Japan.
Australia as a destination ranked ninth.
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-ten.jpg" alt="">Canada
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-nine.jpg" alt="">Australia
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-eight.jpg" alt="">Britain
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-seven.jpg" alt="">Singapore
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-six.jpg" alt="">Malaysia.
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-five.jpg" alt="">Cyprus
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-four.jpg" alt="">New Zealand
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-three.jpg" alt="">US
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-two.jpg" alt="">South Korea
<img src="/images/2014/07/04/yellow-one.jpg" alt="">Japan
Source: Huran Report.
According to <a href="https://www.hurun.net/en/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Huran Report</a>, Japan became the top investment destination for Chinese property investment in 2014 mostly because of the depreciation of the Japanese Yen and a decade of deflation that squeezed the bubble out of the property market in Japan, the asiaone.com website noted.
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