The Sunday Times November 28, 2021 11
MOUNT MARTHA
Biscayne is a grand
residence on the
Mornington
Peninsula. It has
four bedrooms, a
pool, wallpaper by
Gucci, Hermès
and Ralph Lauren,
Italian oak flooring
and bespoke rugs,
plus private access
to the beach.
domain.com.auA$7.75M
Clockwise from
main: Princes
Bridge across
the Yarra river,
with views of
Melbourne’s
business district;
the Fitzroy
neighborhood is
a hipster haven;
beach huts in
Brighton; expat
Olivia Wilson
and her familyFIRST SIGHT
worlds: we live right on the beach but we
also have access to the museums, galleries
and restaurants of Melbourne.”
Wilson describes the food scene as
“another level”. “We came from sleepy
Somerset where there was one curry
house. Melbourne is so multicultural.
One night we might go for a Lebanese
banquet, the next we’ll have Peruvian,
the next dumplings.”
Just as Londoners meet at the pub to
socialise, Melburnians meet for breakfast
or brunch — usually a very healthy one.
“It’s not your average toast, bacon and
sausage breakfast,” Wilson says. “It’s your
avocado toast with feta and microgreens,
and beetroot frittata with sweetcorn
relish. That’s the norm.” The coffee scene
has to be seen to be believed. “My
husband has become a coffee snob since
we moved here. People will queue for 20
minutes where the coffee is really, really
good. You could get a bad reputation in
this city for drinking instant coffee.”
So where might Minogue, a self-
described “coffee maniac”, settle? Peter
Kakos, general manager for Victoria at the
Agency estate agents, believes the singer
might look in Toorak, the city’s most
affluent suburb, 5km southeast of the city
centre. Dubbed “the Beverly Hills of
Melbourne” by a cast member from RealHousewives who lives there, it has
Victorian and modern mansions, streets
full of Range Rovers and celebrity
residents such as the former tennis player
Lleyton Hewitt, whose A$16 million home
is for sale.
“Toorak is very Chelsea,” says Kakos, in
reference to Minogue’s longtime London
home, as are Albert Park and nearby
South Yarra; the latter is full of upmarket
boutiques and restaurants, and is one of
the city’s gay neighbourhoods, so
Minogue would have no shortage of
adoring neighbours. If she misses Hyde
Park, those areas are near the Royal
Botanic Gardens, a haven for joggers and
coffee drinkers on a Saturday morning.
Kakos thinks Minogue might also
consider Hawthorn East, mainly because
her sister, Dannii, lives there (she recently
bought a four-bedroom house for about
A$3 million); it’s a leafy eastern suburb
5km from the city, with period homes and
good private schools, but it’s a family area
that lacks buzz.
Kakos reckons Minogue is more likely
to head to bayside southeastern beach
suburbs such as Elwood, St Kilda or
Brighton. In St Kilda she could buy a flat
in the Saint Moritz, the One Hyde Park of
Melbourne, where the cricketer Shane
Warne reportedly bought a flat forA$5.4 million and some homes sell for
A$30 million. Brighton is famous for its
colourful beach huts and brunch at the
Pantry, but it’s much swankier than its
UK namesake: houses have pools, tennis
courts and high fences and start at
A$3 million; local celebrities include the
tennis player Todd Woodbridge and the
actor Eric Bana; Warne sold his mansion
there for about A$5.65 million last year.
For more seclusion Minogue might opt
for the Mornington Peninsula, a rural area
one hour southeast of Melbourne where
the US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres
was recently rumoured to be looking.
With its wineries, surfing beaches,
orchards and foodie scene, the peninsula
was once a holiday destination. It is now
a property hotspot since WFH became
the norm and average prices have risen
30 per cent in a year; you can get a
four-bedroom house by the beach near
Sorrento for about A$2.75 million.
For expats who don’t have a Kylie-size
budget, Kakos suggests looking in suburbs
about 30 minutes outside the city where
you could buy a family house and garden
for about A$1.3 million — try Cheltenham,
Doncaster, Templestowe, Blackburn,
Burwood. For Neighbours fans, Ramsay
Street is actually Pin Oak Court in
Vermont South, where a four-bedroomhouse sold in May for $1.6 million (it was
once home to Mrs Mangel). Hipsters will
want to look in Fitzroy/Collingwood, with
its narrow lanes, street art and vintage
stores; you could buy a two-bedroom
worker’s cottage for A$1 million. Be
prepared for competition all over town:
prices have spiked 20 per cent during the
pandemic, and most properties are sold
at auction in front of the house, with an
audience of 50 to 100 people. “It’s a
spectator sport, street theatre,” Kakos
says. “For sellers you get competition,
for buyers it’s all transparent.”
New expats should think about renting
for a year first, says Jade Costello, director
of Melbourne Rental Search, which helps
Brits find and secure a rental property
prior to arriving — she says the eastern
suburbs are more desirable than the west.
Expect to pay A$500 a week for a
three-bedroom house in Cheltenham.
She advises expats to buy a car to get
around, bring references or proof of
previous property ownership, and to offer
landlords A$10 or A$20 a week more to
get your application to the top of the pile
— there are 8-10 applications for every
listing at present.
With the return of Kylie the trendsetter,
expect the queues for housing,
and coffee, to grow longer.On the
weekend
I wanted
to feel like
I was on
holiday,
and I do.
I’m living
the dream
ALBERT PARK
Renovated this
year, this four-
bedroom family
home is a stone’s
throw from the
park with its sports
stadiums and lake.
The house features
a landscaped
courtyard with
a hot tub and
tool shed.
theagency.com.auA$3.65M
BRIGHTON
A smart, modern
three-bedroom
property which
opens onto a
formal living room
with an open
fireplace. French
doors open onto a
terrace, and the
master bedroom
has an en suite and
walk-in wardrobes.
theagency.com.auA$1.85M
5 milesPort
MelbourneEdithvale
To orak
Hawthorn East
Doncaster
Brighton
Fitzroy
Cheltenham
‘Ramsay
Street’St Kilda
Mornington Peninsula
South Yarra
City
centre