Architect Conrad Johnston and his wife Katrina have sold their Balmain home.

The Stewart Place home was a 100 year old worker’s cottage before its 2009 makeover.

Set on a sloping 241sq m block, the Fox Johnston architects director bought the property for $860,000 in 2006 then added a modern open-plan extension.

The original cottage now contains three bedrooms overlooking gardens ­designed by Daniel Baffsky from 360 Degrees Landscape.

On the second level there is a bedroom with ensuite and an adjoining study.

The interiors have green walls and an internal atrium.

The home sold ahead of its weekend auction having been listed with a price guide of $2.4 million to $2.5 million through Cobden & Hayson agent Peter Gordon, with it selling at $2.5 million plus.

This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.

The clifftop Rovina estate which was the season's top Portsea property offering, has been sold for $10.7 million, well above its $8 million-plus price guidance.

CoreLogic RP Data put the seaside suburb's median house price at a record $1.8 million.

The five bedroom home has a Mediterranean villa influence interpreted by society architect Geoffrey Sommers.

The eclectic home comes with a separate bluestone cottage at the 3808 Point Nepean Road holding on Fishermans Beach accessed via a private walkway. 

Gerald Delany and Liz Jensen of Kay & Burton had the property inconjunction with Warwick Anderson and IIze Moran at RT Edgar.

It last sold in 1983 at $714,000 under mortgagee instructions through RT Edgar having previously traded at $450,000 in late 1977.

Businessman James O'Connor's 1983 sale came after his Mercedes dealership, Kew Star Motors hit some financing issues in the recession. 

The 1983 Rovina transfer paperwork was to Pacrana Pty Ltd, a company associated with Brighton businessman Brian Davis, the octogenarian 1950s founder of the Australian housewares company Décor Corp.

Rovina headlined Portsea's summer of limited 2016 prestige property listings in January.

UBS Australia boss Matthew Grounds is on the move, but not going anywhere far. The Mosman trophy home - bought for $11 million in 2007 with wife, Kimberley - has be become redundant listed for sale.

Ofcourse being a Mosman merchant banker he's staying on the suburb's property merry-go-round upgrading to a nearby $14 million acquisition.

Their redundant five bedroom home looks over Grotto Point towards the Heads. It's an easy walk to Rosherville Reserve, Chinamans Beach, Balmoral Beach and The Esplanade café scene.

The Phillip Corben designed 2007-designed contemporary home was updated with interiors from Burley Katon Halliday around 2009. Not sure who signed off on the Entertaining terrace with uplifting views built-in Beefeater BBQ Entertaining terrace with uplifting views built-in Beefeater BBQ There are striking seagrass wall panels and limewash timber floors with lots of white timber door panelling.

The space is all linked by a four person internal lift. All bathrooms have underfloor heating.

Its 733sqm of landscaped gardens including a 12.5m heated swimming pool and hedge framed level lawn in its cul-de-sac setting.

The Grounds family demolished a large Federation house on a 1680-square-metre block after paying $14 million to Patrick Allaway, the chairman of Saltbush Capital Markets, and his wife, Libby.

The Grounds maintain a Palm Beach retreat with Lleyton Hewitt and Bec Cartright as their neighbours for a time.

He briefly made the 2009 BRW Rich List with an estimated $40 million.

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telgraph.

The Toorak home of the former ANZ boss Mike Smith and his wife Maria, has been listed for sale.

Set in landscaped gardens with mature French lime trees, the five bedroom home comes with pool and a tennis court wrapped in hedging. 

The expressions of interest campaign closes March 22. 

It was designed by architect Wayne Gillespie with renovations by Rob Mills

Ross Savas at Kay & Burton is seeking $14 million plus.

Late last year Smith and his wife Maria purchased former Olympic Committee member Kevan Gosper’s three-bedroom apartment in South Yarra’s botanical gardens precinct.

The Smith's paid $9.75 million for the Hopetoun Avenue home in 2008.

The retain the landmark Spray Farm winery on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Mike Smith and his wife, Maria bought historic Spray Farm at Bellarine in 2014.

The Oporto burger business co-founder Gary Linz is thinking of upgrading on Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach. Presumably into his brother's Allen's recently completed joint development, the Bondi Pacific.

So he's selling his eastern suburbs prestige property portfolio.

His 155 sqm Bondi apartment is for sale through Barry Goldman and Martine Harvey of Raine & Horne.

They sold his neighbouring apartment sold for $2.7 million late last year.

Last weekend his luxury Tamarama property sold prior to auction having been listed with $4 million plus hopes.

Linz bought the house for $3.52 million in 2010 and briefly leased it with a $4,000 a week asking price.

Architecturally designed, the freestanding home has been converted from four bedrooms to three, the master retreat now including a sitting room, sandstone terrace and marble spa ensuite.

Set on 266 sqm, the property features an entertainer's cabana beside the heated mosaic tiled pool and jacuzzi.

Gary is the son of Sam Linz who founded Barbecues Galore.

Gary's newest venture, Monsters in Darlinghurst which slow cooks its burger meats for 12 hours and has the marketing tagline 'the fastest slow food in town'.

He other endeavours since Oporto included Kings Cross rib and chicken restaurant SGT. Sams.

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.

With ambitious $13.5 million hopes, Clyde Cottage, the now restored one-time Woollahra childhood home of Dame Joan Sutherland, had it first open for inspection yesterday.

The queue which occasionally extended onto Queen Street appeared to be mostly opera and architectural buffs.

But then Atlassian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes was spotted walking through the village.

But he walked right past the open front gate, instead heading to the newsagency of buy five copies of The Australian newspaper which featured him all over the front page.

Cannon-Brookes and wife, Annie spent $12 million last year in Centennial Park after selling in Paddington.

Clyde Cottage, which has had a makeover by studiointernationale and May+Swan Architects, is being sold by Singapore billioniare Ronald Ooi, who was educated in Sydney.

It last sold for $4 million in a dilapidated state.

The house became Sutherland's home after her father died suddenly on her sixth birthday in the early 1930's and sold by the family sold in 1951.

Several years before her death Sutherland noted: "Unfortunately, from the time my family gave up the house, the deterioration set in.”

Considered among Singapore's richest, Ooi secured $1.35 billion when his 40 year old family securities and investment broker company was sold several years ago.

The restoration and extension of Clyde Cottage retained the original residence at the front, and added two interconnected pavilions behind it that include the ultra-contemporary main living areas.

Domino’s Pizza downsizing head Don Meij has sold his Clayfield house for $3,125,000.

It cost him $3.75 million. The Clayfield home went on the market as the business offshore growth sees him spend more time overseas with 1400 stores in six countries.

“The Clayfield home is a large, historical beautiful home on a big property and does take more to upkeep," the spokesperson advised.

"As you can appreciate with Don’s travel commitments, this wouldn’t always be that easy.

"I can confirm he still lives in Brisbane and is still very much a local ‘Brisbanite’.”

The New England style home, Plymouth in Riverton Street was bought in September 2013.

Leigh Kortilang of Ray White Ascot sold the 1,619 square metre property to buyers from Greenslopes.

There was a late scratching amid Sydney's 600 scheduled weekend auctions.

Racing couple Gai and Rob Waterhouse withdrew their longtime Mosman family home given insufficient competitive interest was lined up to bid for their prestige offering.

The battle-axe property in the exclusive enclave Clifton Gardens was listed with a price guide of $6 million.

The Waterhouse family have had the property for 32 years ownership since paying $457,500 in 1983 but have rented it out for the past four years.

They now prefer Balmoral and their Southern Highlands retreat, Dunsinea, the 40 hectare Mittagong trophy property.

The Melbourne Cup winning trainer and her husband, Robbie Waterhouse own in Melbourne having bought a whole floor Spring Street apartment for $4.3 million in 2014.

Gai, ofcourse, was always going to be distracted today by Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Day race meeting at Caulfield though she has just the one runner, Bonfire in the first. She has two racing at Randwick too.

The four bedroom Burrawong Avenue home has four bedrooms with wall to wall windows highlighting the southerly Harbour views over Shark Island and beyond.

Designed as three inter-connected pavilions, the 695 sqm estate has a mosaic-tiled pool in the rear central courtyard.

The Waterhouse's do not live in the property, but made homely with their family contents, the most impressive being a Garry Shead race day painting.

The master bedroom suite comes with an impressive hat display cabinet filled with Gai's hats and fascinators from past race days.

There were more than two dozen in behind the glass display cabinet when I breezed through this week's open for inspection which was little quiet.

Apparently the week before 2088 Realty listing agent Sally-Anne Lawlor oversaw a cast of thousands with Chinese an Indian buyers and even a French family.

"It was a bit like the UN," she suggested adding she was happy to sell to anyone.

The scratching from the auction doesn't come as a huge surprise.

Although the Sydney market is recording healthy mid 70 percent clearance rates throughout February, Mosman is struggling to sell via auction at the moment, with only two sales last weekend out of its 10 auctions.

There pressure continues as there were 15 Saturday auctions scheduled in Mosman, the busiest suburb across Sydney.

Mosman's median house price is tracking at over $3 million for the first time $3 million with a recovery given a long dip following the GFC, according to CoreLogic RPData. 

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.

The Drummoyne home of Crust Pizza founder Costa Anastasiadis and his wife Lauren sold at weekend auction.

They have plans to trade-up to the waterfront at Henley.

Crust Pizza started as one store in 2001 up to about 120 stores 11 years later when the business was for $41 million.

The following year they spent $3.7 million on a waterfront mansion across the Parramatta River with renovations on the property since then.

Ray White Drummoyne’s Chris Wilkins and McGrath’s Aladdin Hassen were expecting $2.5 million at what was expected to be a big turnout for the auction with 15 contracts issued beforehand. 

The property last traded as a far less glamorous Californian bungalow in 2008 for $1.02 million then underwent a substantial backyard renovation in 2010.

This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph. 

Singer songwriter Melissa Higgins has sold her warehouse conversion in Melbourne's Abbotsford.

The red-brick residence has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and an outdoor entertaining terrace.

Architecturally designed, the converted warehouse has maintained original features such as high herringbone ceilings and exposed Oregon pillars.

Higgins bought the property for $1.825 million in 2012. More than $2.1 million was expected.

Expressions of interest were set to close through Kay & Burton listing agent Sarah Case on February 29.

Retired swimming golden girl Stephanie Rice has sold her Paddington, Brisbane home.

Place Paddington agents Tim Douglas and Scott MacDonald secured the sale.

Stephanie Rice posted her gratitude on Instagram about the sale of her four-bedroom, three-bathroom property for an undisclosed price.

Rice purchased the home on Kennedy Terrace in 2010 for $1.265 million.

She used the house for investment purposes renting it out at most recent at $1050 a week.

It’s believed the recent sale was motivated by her move overseas.

Trying you luck in Los Angeles isn't just for would be stars of the screen. The longtime boss of the Business Chicks network, Emma Isaacs is selling her Sydney family home having headed across the Pacific.

The home listing comes after they relocated to Los Angeles late last year following the launch of Business Chicks America.

The local Business Chicks network is now a decade on 35,000 members strong across Australia.

Emma has opened an office in LA after moving there with husband Rowan and their three daughters.

She has recently taken the global CEO role on her move to the US and appointed Olivia Ruello the Australian CEO.

The move is set to benefit their Australian members as expansion brings growth opportunities and access to top international market.

They paid $2.265 million in 2014 for the architecturally designed Northbridge home.  

The privately positioned 903 sqm elevated block comes with two level family home in Peter Fudge designed gardens.

The four bedroom home is built out of rammed earth, a natural and sustainable material with supposed health benefits, which assisted when her eldest daughter was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

McGrath Chatswood agents Olivia Chung and David Howe have hopes of $2.95 million to $3.15 million at its March 12 auction.

It is currently being rented out at $2,600 a week.

Emma started her life in the business world establishing a recruitment company called Staff It after two attempts at university.

At 25 years old she sold the business and bought Business Chicks in 2006 after attending one of their events whilst working at Staff It.

Their stylish events have continued to be popular, hosting the likes of Sir Bob Geldof and Sir Richard Branson, the latter's biography being an inspiration in Emma's success.

Emma's most inspirational entrepreneur is Bill Gates and she told of an evening she spent in front of a fire talking about how he started Microsoft when he was a guest speaker in Sydney a few years ago.

Isaacs believes an increase in the visibility of female entrepreneurship is setting a precedent, showing what's possible and encouraging more women to go out on their own and give it a go, something she has said she took from Sir Richard Branson.

As a woman in the business world, Isaacs has said it is easy to lose femininity and stressed the importance of not conforming and dressing too masculine.

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.

Ray Blythe, owner of Victorian Renovations has listed his South Yarra property.

The circa 1871 property was formerly a private hotel.

It has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, large living and dining rooms, sunroom and home office.

It has a remote double carport, additional off-street parking, workshop and a cellar.

The 593 sqm property has been listed by David Volpato of Marshall White holds the $3.3 million listing.

It last sold at $1.1 million in 2010.

Clinical nutritionist and wellness coach Jessica Sepel and her husband Dean Steingold, the co-founder of Productify, have quickly sold their Darling Point apartment.

The couple bought the 90 sqm, two bedroom apartment for $923,000 just under two years ago. The couple, who married in late 2015 after meeting in Johannesburg six years ago are off to Los Angeles.

Ray White Double Bay listing agent Gavin Rubinstein was expecting between $1.2 million and $1.25 million for the sale with the price remaining undisclosed.

The buyer has also remained unconfirmed, however Gavin suggested the property would appeal to first homebuyers, investors and downsizers.

Jessica put her Bachelor of Health (specialising in Nutritional Medicine) to good use and is now a blogger and author and aims to empower clients to make good choices every day.

Dean's company Productify has built a B2b service that specialises in sharing product information between online retailers and their suppliers. 

This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.

The now restored and extended Queen Street, Woollahra childhood home of Dame Joan Sutherland has been listed with ambitious $13.5 million hopes.

It is being offloaded by Singapore billioniare Ronald Ooi and wife Erica Han who paid $4 million in 2011.

The four bedroom house became Sutherland's home after her father died suddenly on her sixth birthday in the early 1930's. 

The now restored Clyde Cottage was sold by the family sold in 1951.

Considered Singapore's richest people, Ooi sold his 40 year old families securities and investment broker company for $1.35 billion to Maybank.nge.

Undertaken by studiointernationale and May+Swan Architects, the original residence at the front was maintained and two interconnected pavilions were added.

The property was built between 1853-63, Sutherland's grandfather Alexander Alston extended the home to add a second storey

Several years before her death Sutherland noted: "Unfortunately, from the time my family gave up the house, the deterioration set in.”

Dame Joan had properties in Chalet Monet, Les Avants, Switzerland and Bellevue Apartments, Potts Point, Sydney and Villa Rocca Bella at Whale Beach.

No expense was spared on by Ronald Ooi, who attended university in Sydney.

His family have since opted to reside permanently in Singapore.

Moelis managing director Andrew Martin and his wife Kate secured around $7.5 million for their Darling Point home last weekend through McGrath agent Ben Collier.

The couple paid $825,000 for the freestanding 1900's home and added a heated swimming pool.

The 525 sqm property has five bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The Martins are off to Paddington having paid around $10.5 million for the the converted furniture emporium sold by billionaire tech entreprenuer Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife, Annie late last year. 

Andrew has over 20 years of experience globally including roles at UBS and with Rothschild. 

There's been a rush of designer own listings for auction across the inner city.

The interior designer Diane Fernandes and her foodie husband, Peter Kypreos, best known for co-founding Darlinghurst's Buffalo Dining Club, are looking to sell their renovated Zetland cottage.

McGrath agents Marnie Seinor and Brad Gillespie are expecting over $1.3 million at its March 12 auction.

The terrace has two bedrooms, each with original fireplaces.

Diane, whose projects have included Tokyo in Surry Hills and Jimmy Liks in Potts Point, teaches at Sydney Design School. 

The stylish Rozelle townhouse of interior stylist Natalie Fryer (above) didn't sell at auction yesterday.

Lydnsey Kemp of Belle Property Balmain passed in the property at $2.05 million with four interested parties in the three bedroom Terry Street strata title property that was bought new in 2007 for $1.46 million.

Natalie set up her own property styling business, m2 Property Presentation six years ago which focuses on helping agents and vendors boost the appeal and saleability of their homes.

Last month McGrath agent, Angus Gorrie sold the home of Mary Brandon, owner of interior design firm MBBD.

Her four-bedroom property boasts views over Sydney Harbour across Cooper Park.

The View Street property fetched $2.72 million. 

This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.

Businessman and commentator John Hewson has listed Invergowrie, the Tudor-style Exeter estate, this time for April 16 auction.

Built in the 1930s for the BHP industrialist Sir Cecil Hoskins, the seven bedroom house comes with library, ballroom, studies and billiard room.

The 26 acres grounds have Paul Sorensen gardens with tennis court, bocce pit, swimming pool, croquet lawn, orchard, vegetable gardens, a Japanese garden with waterfall, aviary and three guest houses.

Designed by architect Geoffrey Loveridge, Invergowie replaced Headlands, which had been owned by the Yates seed family.

Before that the Badgery family had what remains the landmark feature of the village of Exeter.

After several changes of ownership, Invergowrie was bought in the 1960s by the Fieldhouse family who invited Paul Sorenson to return and substantailly reverse his earlier planting; for while the Hoskins preferred to have trees and shrubs around the house leaving the boundaries open, the new owners wanted the main plantings to be on the boundaries.

Title Tattle gleans the main Invergowrie gates were relocated from Sydney in the late 1960s by the Fieldhouse family.

Hewson and his wife, Jessica Wilson have enlisted Michael Maloney at Richardson & Wrench Bowral.

The trophy home sale came with $7.5 million expectations this time last year.