Pharmaceutical billionaire Dennis Bastas has lodged plans for a $38.5 million renovation of Coonac, Melbourne’s most expensive house, which sold last year for more than $100 million.
The heritage-listed Italianate mansion in Toorak – dating to the 1860s and built for pastoralist and financier Robert Bruce Ronald – would be partially demolished under the proposal, with a double-storey rear extension, basement expansion for car parking and amenities, and a modification to the front fence to allow an extra vehicle access point.
The demolition would remove the tennis court, pool and pool house, parts of the masonry fence, gardens to the south and west of the service wing, and a series of non-original additions including the conservatory, first-floor balcony and alterations to facades.
The proposal states the demolition would be limited to non-original additions and that the original fabric of Coonac would be retained.
The new extension, rising 10.6 metres and designed to sit lower than the main eastern building so as not to dominate the heritage dwelling, would feature stone finishes in light tones and limestone solid blocks.
Plans include multiple living areas, dining and lounge rooms, a family room, study/library and kitchen opening to a terrace, with five bedrooms, bathrooms, a sitting room, mezzanine and retreat upstairs.
The home was sold by logistics boss Paul Little and Jane Hansen, chancellor of the University of Melbourne, in a deal tipped at between $115 million and $135 million, though the price will be confirmed at settlement.
While Bastas initially denied knowledge of the transaction, planning documents list Gina Bastas as the permit applicant and name Dennis Bastas as a client on landscape drawings.
Source: The Age.
