Prestige Property: Quamby Estate, Hagley, TAS
One of Australia’s most historic homes hits the market.
One of Australia’s most historic homes hits the market.
Quamby Estate has adopted diverse and distinguished roles in the rural, cultural and political life of Tasmania.
The historic manse – which dates back to 1828 – remains as one of Australia’s most desirable family homes.
The 10-bedroom, 10-bathroom, 5-car parking pile is surrounded by some 64-hectares of prime farming land, ideal for those who prize privacy, and are searching for a comprehensive escape from city life.
The picturesque homestead – built in an Anglo-colonial style – is a heady mix of art and architectural wonder with an elegant flagstone paved verandah wrapping around the residence to the north and east – bringing beautiful light to the home.
With a distant view of Ben Lomond plateau the house enjoys double-hipped roods and attics and is structured around a transverse hall. Aside from the ballroom, which was added later, the principal rooms open directly onto the verandah through eight-pane French doors in pairs with transom lights.
Upon entry one is led into the hall which sees two evocative reception rooms – each embodying the home’s classic character with French doors and fireplaces and a library wedged between.
Elsewhere, the dining room’s soaring ceiling, floorboards and generous proportions are ideal for entertaining with an adjoining bar and fireplace adding a layer of intimacy to the residence.
The kitchen – which is built to a commercial quality – ensures Quamby has indeed, moved with the times.
The expansive residence is privy to 10 bedrooms, each accompanied by a sophisticated ensuite.
However, the estate is not limited to the historic homestead, with Quamby including its own manicured nine-hole golf course (yes it has its own golf course), complete with its own clubhouse delivered in a converted stables building.
Further Quamby’s light-filled function room, Georgian era coach house and extensive farm outbuildings play to the estate’s adaptability, with many hosting weddings on the grounds.
Built for Sir Richard Dry, who became the first Australian born state premier, the home sits just 10 minutes from the township of Hagley, and only 30 minutes from Launceston.
The listing is with Knight Frank Tasmania’s Sam Woolcock (+61 400 813 033). Price guide, $8-$10 million; knighfranktasmania.com.au
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A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.