Inside Melbourne’s first $100million home

A luxurious mansion tied to one of Australia’s most influential families has hit the market with the potential to smash property records.

The Myer family’s historic Cranlana estate in in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak was listed for sale on Wednesday with a $96m-$105m price guide.

A sale within the guide would smash Melbourne’s current price record of $80m set by crypto gambling billionaire Edward Craven just a kilometre away in 2022.

While Mr Craven is planning to knockdown the property for a $145m rebuild, Cranlana is on the Victorian Heritage Register due to its historical significance.

The eight-bedroom home sits on a plot of land of more than 11,000sqm of land bordered by a stone wall and Italianate iron gates on Clendon Road,.

It’s grandiose sunken garden was designed by architect Aarold Desbrowe Annear – his only known garden – and one of the few left in the suburb, The Age reported.

Heritage Council Victoria notes the garden was influenced by Myer founder, Sidney Myer, who remodelled the property heavily after buying it in 1921.

He lived in the home until his death in 1934. His widow, Dame Merlyn lived there for another 48 years until she died in 1982 and was then handed to Myer Family Investment.

The eight-bedroom home was built in 1903 but redesigned by Myer founder, Sidney Myer, after he purchased it in 1921

The property listing describes the garden as ‘completely private, utterly tranquil and filled with rare and century-old trees and plants, it is a botanic marvel’.

‘Behind a 100-year-old Wisteria ‘hedge’ there is the north-south mod grass tennis court and picturesque pool with pool house,’ the listing reads.

‘Numerous outbuildings including a self-contained cottage, former stables, potting shed, workshop, gardener’s headquarters and triple garage are at the rear of the main residence and accessed via a second driveway.’

The property has since been used by the Myer family for programs run by the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership and for philanthropic events. 

‘Cranlana has been an important and treasured home where many generations of our family have come together,’ Myer Family Investments chairman and grandson of Myer’s founder, Sidney Myer, told Domain last month.

It features a one-of-a-kind garden (pictured) designed by architect Aarold Desbrowe Annear which helped put the home on the Victorian Heritage Register

It also features sculleries, preparation rooms and kitchens with multiple ovens for keen entertainers

‘Indeed, Cranlana in its own right, is of important cultural and historic significance in Victoria.

‘With over 100 years of family ownership, and with our fifth generation expanding, the time has come to pass the keys of our home and its magnificent garden to a new owner and custodian.’

Beside the historic gardens, the home also boasts a marble foyer, library, reception, morning, and drawing rooms, a formal drawing room and a ballroom. 

It also has the capability to entertain a number of people with sculleries, preparation rooms and kitchens featuring multiple ovens. 

Among the eight bedrooms are also a main bedroom, a guest bedroom and two self-contained one-bedroom apartments on the property.

Marshall White director Marcus Chiminello has been appointed to sell the property via expressions of interest.

‘Cranlana is without peer in the Victorian property market,’ Chiminello told Domain.

‘Once-in-a-generation opportunities like these often create their own market, and we anticipate interest from buyers locally, nationally, and from afar that will be excited about the opportunity to become the new custodian of Cranlana.’