4 Adori Place, City Beach

I’ve been watching this property since it came on the market in approximately October 2008 and sixteen months on, it’s still for sale. Paul Tonich, a well known and very successful real estate agent, can’t seem to offload his own home. He’s even passed the listing to his brother Nathan.

From my recollection, Brian Burke Homes built it as a show home and then took several years to sell it. History appears to be repeating itself again and poor Paul can’t find a buyer. He started at offers over $5.25 million in October 2008 and now it’s been revised down to offers from $3.8 million.

I really feel for people who have their property on the market for extended periods of time. To undergo that ongoing stress, would be a strain. However the reason a house doesn’t sell, is that it’s overpriced and Paul should know this. From memory the asking price is nearing what he paid for it and with the stamp duty and interest on the mortgage (if he has one) has resulted in a pretty bad investment.

The house looks very comfortable, but it is definitely no architectural gem. The elevation and views are lovely, but there are lots of sea view properties in City Beach and this block is a good one, but it’s not the best around. Many favour the views out the back for privacy reasons, as I do. I do hope that Paul sells his house, but I think his price expectations may not be met. While there have been a few anomalies with properties going for over four million with similar features in the area, he might be hanging out for quite a long time.

Also one final musing, the number ’4′ is very unlucky for the Chinese as the number in Chinese sounds like the word for death. My mother forbade me from buying a house which was numbered ’4′ and while we both have a four in our house number (as do my parents in law) that doesn’t seem to be as unlucky. When I look at the real estate listings I notice that a majority of the listings have a four in the number and particularly units for sale always seem to be be unit 4. Could it just be a coincidence? Perhaps we can blame his luck on that number?

S. Tate

Having only been in full time work for three months I entered the property market with my city view property ten years ago. Completely untouched since it was built in 1965, my house had an original floor plan containing four bedrooms, two living rooms and lots of immaculate timberwork. What a find! Even the walls hadn’t been painted since it was built and the colours will still hand written onto the architect’s plans.

An Eric Moyle design for a family of seven, I snapped up the deceased estate and set to work restoring it. I didn’t want to deviate too far from the original intent and I purchased  furniture to match. Despite the enormous amount of work (much of it done by me) I got it looking fabulous and recaptured the original charm. I was happy to save the house as the other potential purchaser made an offer with the intent to demolish it.

After finishing renovating about a year ago, my desire for a new project began to build. After purchasing my new property, I quickly put my beloved house on the market. I was hoping to find someone else who l oved it as much as I did. My house is now sold and I’m sure the new owners will have an array of plans for it. Letting go is difficult but the rooms will soon be full with children and new ideas.

Check out the photos below.

S. Tate  

My new home

I think I jinxed myself (in a good way) with my last post. I know it was a few months ago and I’ve been very quiet since then and guess what? I bought a new home! That’s why I’ve been so quiet. Firstly I found a house not unlike my current one – a renovator’s dream in a magic location with distant views of the sea and views of the river, which will get built out. It looked like the same architect designed it as my current house, and despite being in a godawful state, it had great bones and amazing potential. However, it was just a bit too far away from our places of work to be a good move (though I will blog the property shortly, as it’s a cracker). One property after three years of intense searching…surely I couldn’t find something else…

Then I got this overwhelming feeling that I was going to find a property in a coincidental way. I told my husband about it and he was sceptical, so I took off on a long walk with my mother (she’s always up for a property search) and my dog Ray. Within twenty minutes I by chance saw an agent I know, stop and jump out of her car and walk into a property. I knew the property as it belonged to the parents of a friend of mine and I’d been there a few times, well over a decade ago.

I just knew that it meant that the property must be about to come on the market and my mother and I excitedly made plans. My husband called the agent shortly after and indeed the property was about to come on the market. Not wanting to miss out, we arranged an inspection and made an offer shortly after. It’s so rare that I like anything, so we made a generous offer so we could secure it.

What did we get for our investment? A sprawling 1012 sqm block with a 1930s Marshall Clifton home and a large tropical garden. The home is situated at the back of the block, so it’s very secluded and it feels like you live at the edge of a park. The house needs a lot of work, but it has great bones.  The living room is like a hotel foyer, with exposed beams and rooms are delineated with brick arches in the Spanish style. The lights turn on by tugging a long rope and there is a large copper fireplace. It’s definitely quirky and unique, which is exactly what we were looking for. A renovation in the 80s has seen some aspects changed to make the house appear very ‘Hollywood Hills’ from the outside.

Lucky me…

S. Tate

Though I do know a few older relatives and friends who took longer. My great aunt took 12 years to find a house when their house was to be taken through compulsory acquisition, as a result of a new freeway going through. My mother’s friend took seven years to find a house she wanted in Floreat.

I’m looking for a block value house that is liveable (that should be pretty easy shouldn’t it?!) on a large block, with views from the ground floor, at the rear. Unfortunately, none of them ever seem to come on the market. It’s completely understandable though; why would you want to sell something as precious as that? Unless you have financial problems or decide to move to another state or country, you would only be leaving in a casket.

Now this takes me to what’s on the market around the western suburbs at the moment? All the rubbish that other people don’t want. House on busy street, pokey house with bad feel to it, yep that’s on the market. Hmmmm brand new and on Dalkeith Road? That doesn’t sound too bad does it? Pity that it’s opposite the cemetery. Regular house in busy position, opposite the school – yes that’s on the market too. Not the lovely houses in the quiet part of the same street with views, but the ones that people want to offload to get a house they’d much rather have. Yuk!

It’s a bit like men, particularly when you’re older – all the good ones are gone. Only the ones that are pretty average are left. If you do find a good many over 30, it usually takes a while. If they do come on the market, they’re snapped up fast. I watch the real estate market like a hawk, ready to swoop as soon as something comes up. I’m primed to call and get taken through the property the moment the email hits my inbox.

I’ll let you know if I find anything, but to be honest, I think my journey will be long, as I search for the holy grail.

If you’re an architecture buff and you’re in LA, it’s worth checking out. Check the Hollyhock House website for details.

We also drove past the Ennis House in Los Feliz, which is a massive property with amazing views across LA. It was open to the public but restoration and maintenance became too costly so it’s on the market for $US15 million. We also went past the Storer House which is similar to the others, with the concrete block construction. While on Rodeo Drive, we spotted a little known shopping centre that he designed.

I think if Iwanoff’s Marsala House was in LA, there would be a stream of visitors to that too.

S. Tate

The view from 16 Lentara Crescent, City Beach

As an avid watcher of real estate in Perth over several decades, I note the properties that regularly come up for sale and those that don’t. The unremarkable properties that aren’t unique in architecture or location, turn over regularly. The real prime blocks or those that are blessed with a beautiful, architect designed home rarely come on the market. This all makes sense; who likes to sell something that they treasure so much, to purchase something else inferior? Not many people.  Unless it’s a deceased estate, the owners have financial problems or are getting divorced, the house remains unavailable to all that desire it.

When I was madly in search of a property in City Beach, my mother and I spent hours walking the suburb, trying to identify the best properties. I was looking for a block value house that I could live in for a few years and then demolish. Plus it had to have ground floor views of the sea from the rear, preferably to the north to take advantage of the winter sun. Some of the few properties that I found that satisfied these needs, were located in a short space of Lentara Crescent.

To my delight, eighteen months ago one of the special few, 16 Lentara Crescent­­ came on to the market and I enquired on the price. I was shocked to hear that the asking price was $3,800,000! This wasn’t in the region of my budget so I had to forget about it. Fast forward to now and it’s on the market again (I guess it didn’t sell last year, and rightly so, it was overpriced). Now it’s the more reasonable price of $2,550,000 but in that time, my attention has moved to another suburb.

If you’re looking for an amazing building block in City Beach, then this is a cracker.  Views that can’t be built out are hard to come by, and are a wonderful blue chip investment. I also forgot to mention that it currently contains a rentable house, so you can spend a few years planning your new abode and/or saving up for it. I’ve noticed a real slide in the property prices in City Beach in the past year, so it’s a great time to grab a bargain. Particularly as this is the beachside suburb closest to the city (hence the name). This property should sell in the $2,100,000-$2,250,000 range in the current market. My only hope is that I don’t change my mind and decide to buy a property in City Beach again and have missed my chance to get my hands on this one.

Check out 16 Lentara Crescent.

S. Tate

Kaufmann house by Richard Neutra

I was lucky enough to visit Palm Springs in California recently and experience its mid century architecture first hand. Palm Springs is located in the desert, 177km east of Los Angeles and is warm year round. I visited in August, when the temperatures are at their highest, and the maximum was approximately 40 degrees Celsius for each day of my visit.

What struck me was the similarity to the weather in Perth, though there was no congruency between the architecture in both cities. Palm Springs developed their unique style back in the forties and they’ve maintained it, with the entire city embracing the low sitting, one storey abodes. Built for the hot, desert weather, they nestle into the hot sands, contain wide eaves and a succulent based garden. They have got it right and people such as me come, not for the warm weather and the parties, but to experience the mid century masterpieces in person.

I wish we had a few more houses like this in Perth. They are so pleasant to be in and sensitive to our hot climate. I truly believe we could learn a lot from this unique city.

While I was there I stayed at a magnificent retro hotel, The Parker. Our room was sublime and the grounds were an oasis of green in the desert. A highly recommended escape from the real world. View some of the treasures I captured on my holiday.

S. Tate

The Cliffe, Peppermint Grove

The demolishing of houses is an issue that I’ve always been very passionate about. I can’t stand it when I see an old house demolished and replaced with an ugly modern house. Don’t get me wrong, I love modern houses, but I don’t think that a lovely old house, with beautiful period features should be demolished in order to make way for unoriginal, new one. Once a few years have elapsed, the owners realise their new house has dated and generally move on  build another house elsewhere, repeating the behaviour. They leave a dated house that doesn’t fit in with other properties in the area and then in a few years the house is demolished again…

When I look for my perfect building block, I look for houses of no significant architectural merit. Their demolition wouldn’t alter the feel of the area. I have been patiently waiting for a property in my favourite street, where there are a smattering of tired looking 60s project homes which have been built on the back of a very large block. The rest of the street is full of federation houses and Californian bungalows, which I won’t touch. This is not because they’re heritage listed (they’re not) but due to the fact that they are part of the history of the street, and ethically, I refuse to be part of their destruction. Not that it’s perturbed others who have happily flattened some of them in recent years to construct boring, ugly monoliths.  I’ve been waiting several years and I might have to wait several more, but that’s OK, it’s worth waiting to get the best.

Patience didn’t seem to be something that Dr Deryk Foulner had when he purchased 5 Victoria Avenue, Claremont, a heritage listed property. He wanted a new house, he wanted to make money by subdividing the block, he didn’t care about the house at all. After illegally demolishing it, he is being forced to reinstate the property. I think this a fantastic way of teaching him a lesson and making a precedent to deter other wannabe demolishers. However it doesn’t bring back the past – it will be a new house and all the history left with the truck on the day it was demolished.

Dr Foulner will probably appeal the decision, so it will be interesting to hear what the final decision is. If it is upheld, it will be an expensive lesson for Dr Foulner.

 Mark Creasy has gone about removing his heritage listed property The Cliffe in Peppermint Grove the right way. Despite 14 years passing, he has abided by all the laws and has even offered to have the house moved. Considering all that he’s gone through, I’m amazed he hasn’t just given up, renovated the house and moved in. Though after all of this his marriage has broken down, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he just sold up once the direction of the property is sorted out once and for all.

S. Tate

The street is a cul de sac, nice and close to Napoleon street, and only a stone’s throw to PLC. It’s a handy location, though the street doesn’t have a fantastic feel as it’s a lot more narrow than the main streets such as Forrest and View. It’s marginally better than Columba Place, which is another cul de sac which isn’t as well located and a little noisy at the Stirling Highway end.

The house itself has been quietly on and off the market for a couple of years. Being a deceased estate, the owners don’t need to sell so they’ve been holding out for a good price for years. Sadly, it’s not one that people would be clamouring for as it’s a lot of money for quite an average property. The house is terrible. Plain and simple. A project home built in the early 80s (my guess) that has no appealing features at all. It’s dark, the rooms are poky and no amount of renovation could resurrect it. As a block it doesn’t appeal either as its northern sun seems to be blocked by the house behind, as well as some large trees in the back yard. These trees could be removed, but they are mature, attractive and quite frankly don’t deserve to be chopped down.

The price is too high and this has been confirmed by the lack of buyers for the property. It would be better suited to the 2 million mark and even then, I think most buyers wouldn’t be overly excited to purchase it.

Block rating – 5/10 – only for the suburb and the handy location

Architectural rating – 1/10 – for the fact it can be rented out (and currently is)

Would I buy it? Definitely no. Though scraping together 2.25 million would be difficult too!

View the property.

S. Tate

You might have noticed the banner at the top of this web page in a few local newspapers of late. It is a segment of the painting by Colin Madgwick ‘Regal Perspective’ (shown above) and is fact a painting that I’m lucky enough to have on my wall at home. This painting is currently on loan to LK Galleries and is headlining  Colin Madgwick’s exhibition ‘Perth Art Deco by Night’. It is on until 30th May and you can check it out online at LK Galleries.

S. Tate