‘Baz Luhrmann mansion’ sold for $37.5m

The former Sydney home of Baz Luhrmann has sold for an astonishing sum on the back of a different approach the Hollywood director would be proud of.

Last year, the former home of Hollywood royalty sat unsold for five months, this year there were four buyers fighting over it and the deal was done in just 12 days.

The former home of film director Baz Luhrmann and his costume designer wife Catherine Martin has sold for an incredible $37,500,000, which isn’t far off the original guide of $40m a year ago with a different agent.

The buyers are an eastern suburbs family.

The big difference was the way the latest agents Clint Ballard, Maclay Longhurst and Harriet France (who’d sold it in 2015 for her famous clients at $16m) of Sotheby’s pitched the grand seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion Iona at 2 Darley St, Darlinghurst to the market.

They’d put the guide at $27m, which must have been close to what the vendors were prepared to accept.

“It was a strong result,” Ballard confirmed this morning.

“There were six contracts out, with four competing for it and then it was down to two.”

He said the home attracted strong local and international interest. Initially, a private auction was planned down the track, in perhaps five week’s time.

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Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. Picture: Getty

2 Darley St, Darlinghurst is on a massive 2716sqm inner-city block.

“The campaign was brought forward due to the calibre of buyers and their eagerness to own the home,” Ballard said.

“A local buyer ended up with the keys which the current owners are delighted with.

“It was a hotly contested four-hour private bidding process.

“All parties are delighted and this result highlights the strength of the market for iconic homes.

“The agents would like to thank the owners for the opportunity to represent one of Sydney’s landmarket estates, Iona.”

The agents obviously knew what they were doing by setting the guide at a figure that would create competition.

As Ballard told Kirsten Craze a week ago for the Wentworth Courier House of the Week, which appears in tomorrow’s edition: “The guide we’ve set of $27m is a very compelling guide.

“We believe it should create a lot of interest and the owners are looking to move on with their lives.”

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It attracted both local and international interest.

An inground pool is one of the features.

Vendors Tim Eustace, who is Mercury Private’s principal adviser, and his partner Salvador Panui, have put their own stylish stamp on iconic Iona since buying it from the Luhrmann-Martins for $16m in 2015.

Ballard had said the $13m adjustment was more in line with today’s market, admitting the landmark address was challenging to price.

“These types of trophy properties are very hard to position,” he said.

“It’s very easy to look back retrospectively and think a price was over or under, but at the end of the day the previous sales campaign didn’t come to a conclusion.

“So, we’ve set a different course and we want to put it in a competitive environment.

“We wanted to recalibrate the property, and say to the market, ‘Look, it’s a genuine sale.’”

The seven-bedroom, seven bathroom Italianate manor sits on a huge 2716sqm block, which is massive considering its inner-city location.

The current owners modernised several elements of the 22-room house, specifically the kitchen which has undergone an complete transformation.

During their time at the 2716sq m property, they also nurtured the expansive landscaped gardens to render the estate more private.

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Baz Luhrmann at Iona in 2013.

The wraparound terrace is another highlight.

While the Hollywood heavy weights owned Iona, they ran their successful production company Bazmark from the address and conceived cinematic blockbusters including The Great Gatsby and Australia in the ground floor office.

Back in the early 2000s, VIP guests of the Luhrmann-Martins included married couple at the time, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, as well as her Moulin Rouge co-star Ewan McGregor.

Later, The Great Gatsby stars such as Toby Maguire and Joel Edgerton also partied in the elaborate mansion.

Behind the stately gates, which once hung at Grosvenor House in London, the large ground level floor plan features the original footprint with additions taking the total to 1035sq m of living space.

Meticulously restored, and updated with 21st Century luxuries, there are still numerous period touches such as elaborate stained glass windows and ornate 4.3m high ceilings.

Contemporary updates include bespoke wallpaper designed by Oscar-winning designer Catherine Martin.

Downstairs formal spaces include a large drawing room, a sitting room and a billiards room, all with classic fireplaces and doors to the traditional wraparound veranda, sprawling grounds and 20m pool.

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