Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Today at Chisholm & Gamon we are donning our Swarovski crystal hats, Versace leggings and dreaming about the palatial mansions of the rich and famous. Sometimes, we all need a little fantasy-lifestyle inspiration! Even if it comes in the shape of Liberace’s piano-pool.
The first luxury home we’ll ogle is the iconic Versace Mansion… talk about palatial luxury! This villa was purchased by the late Gianni Versace in 1992 for what could be considered a steal in today’s luxe-casa market - a mere $2.9 million. Gianni spent a cool $33 million in renovations – on features including 16th century French statues, a $10,000 marble toilet, five libraries and over a 100 million Italian mosaic tiles! This property recently sold to the Nakash family for $44 million, who were one of three bidders in a competitive auction lasting less than 20 minutes in the mansion’s swimming pool area. The Nakash family owns denim company Jordache Enterprises and the Hotel Victor. The new owner plans to operate the home as a hotel.
The beauty of millions of mosaic tiles at the Versace Mansion below:
Sometimes the rich and famous have particular tastes. One memorable design quirk belonged to Jayne Mansfield who had a fascination for love hearts and the colour pink. Her 40 room Mediterranean style mansion was painted pink throughout, decorated with cupids surrounded by pink fluorescent lights, pink furs in the bathrooms, a pink heart-shaped bathtub and a fountain spurting pink champagne! Aptly named the “Pink Palace”, Mansfield decorated her luxury pad by writing to furniture and building suppliers requesting free samples. This worked in her favour as she received over $150,000 in free merchandise!
Unfortunately the “Pink Palace” no longer exists as it was sold to developers in 2002 and demolished in November of that year. Do you think they discovered any secret casks of pink champagne in the debris?
Toorak, Brighton and Kew offer quite a few ogle-worthy residences more locally. Just this weekend past, a foreign investor was lucky enough to snap up a grand dame of a home in Toorak (images inset below). Paying $20 million, this investor sees value when it comes to property investment in Melbourne!
This trophy home is situated on prestigious St Georges Road, boasting land size of an acre, with a swimming pool, tennis court, green gardens and a lavish interior. Points of interest are in the intricate detailing – plaster work, a Gaggenau kitchen and marble finishes.
What’s the most amazing home you’ve ever seen? Virtually or otherwise? The question must be asked – is too much ever REALLY too much when it comes to luxury housing?