One Of Hawthorn's Finest Hits The Market

In Hawthorn’s most desirable street, less than 15 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD and nearby to the Yarra River, leading schools and local dining precincts, this three-storey home is set on approx. 886sqm, offering 5-bedrooms, 5-bathrooms and space for seven cars.

Designed by Charles Salter, of Salter Architects, with interiors by Jessie Cook of Cook Gordon Architects, the home finds Harper & Sandilands oak flooring underfoot while bespoke panelling and brickwork arches come to define the home’s aesthetic.

The kitchen boasts Miele appliances and a Liebherr built-in double door fridge, marble benchtops, and a butler’s pantry while the connected living, meals and alfresco dining area is elevated with the aforementioned timber panelling and a fireplace.

A formal dining, study, laundry and powder room are also found here.

Also on the ground level is the master suite, which sees private access to the verandah, another fireplace, large walk-in-robe and ensuite decorated in marble with twin vanities, dark timber cabinetry and a standalone bath.

The combination of marble and dark timber cabinetry extends to the powder room, while marble is replaced with a granite vanity in the upstairs, pool house and lower ground family bathrooms.

Upstairs sees the other four bedrooms, one of which is privy to an ensuite, private balcony and walk-in-robe.

On the lower ground floor arrives an expansive family room which houses a cellar servicing 144 bottles. Elsewhere, the showroom style garage houses five vehicles and boasts its own rear-lane access. A further two car spots are also available on the property

The outdoor area truly impresses with an incredible in-ground heated pool alongside a pool house which acts as a covered resort-style pavilion complete with its own bathroom. It is further complemented by the alfresco dining area – ideal for entertaining – arriving with an in-built BBQ, tap, sink and mini-bar fridge, detailed with stone benchtops.

The home is fitted with multiple CCTV security cameras, with back to base monitoring, accessible via mobile while a 14 zone Sonos sound system is found throughout.

1 Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn, Melbourne is listed with Jock Langley (+61 419 530 008) and Emma Pierson (+61 409 182 310) of Abercromby’s Real Estate and is set for auction Friday 11 December. Price guide; $8.8 million.

Abercrombys.com.au

Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”

One Of Hawthorn’s Finest Hits The Market

Inspired family living in a coveted Melbourne location.

The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.