Visitors to realestate.com.au in October were loving homes that went big on scale, grandeur and fun.
House prices may be sliding nationwide, with stretched affordability and higher interest rates squeezing budgets , but you'd never guess it from the properties Australians are clicking on the most.
The 20 most-viewed properties on realestate.com.au this month included sprawling acreage estates, luxury villas, heritage mansions and waterfront showpieces.
A waterfront Gold Coast mansion was among the most-viewed Australian homes in October. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Either the very wealthy are untouched by the downturn, or the rest of us are simply craving a little eye candy while the market bites.
Victoria again led the list with eight properties, followed by Queensland with five, New South Wales with four and South Australia with three. Not a single apartment made our top 20.
The most-viewed property of the month was 'Le Palais' , an 11-bedroom, 20-bathroom extravaganza in Dural, a semi-rural suburb on Sydney's northwest fringe, with an eye-popping price guide of $41m to $45m.
The scale is monumental. About 4,000sqm of living space across three levels on five acres of formal gardens and sweeping private roads, with all the presence of a grand hotel.
'Le Palais' in Dural is Australia's largest private home with about an acre of internal floorspace. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
The three-bedroom guest wing is bigger than most homes. Five commercial kitchens and five hotel-standard bars serve a function wing that can host several hundred guests.
Then there's the 30-metre resort pool with a swim-up bar, a 960sqm sports enclosure, a rooftop golf facility, a 16-seat cinema and garaging for more than 40 cars. Marble from world-renowned quarries runs throughout.
The property includes a 30m pool with swim-up bar. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Agent Brad Pillinger of Pillinger Double Bay calls the property "beyond belief" and says the response has been massive, despite the price.
"It's in a world-class category of its own."
The home is clad in Italian marble, and its three levels can be accessed via lift. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
"That's why it's a luxury property," Mr Pillinger says. "How many luxury properties are built with just enough?"
They say we spend our lives trying to recreate our childhoods. Brad Illich took that advice literally.
His father, Frank Illich, owned Ashmore Palms Holiday Village, Brisbane Holiday Village and Earls Court Motel and Serviced Apartments.
Now Brad has built his own holiday park on 1.39 hectares at 31-45 Curtis Road, Tamborine Mountain . ‘Villa Tamborine' was our second-most-visited home of the month.
"His family built a lot of holiday parks in Queensland, and they won awards," says agent Sam Guo of Kollosche. "Then his kids wanted go-karting and water slides, so he built it all for them."
The playground is serious: a go-kart track with its own traffic lights, a putting green, a basketball court and an in-ground trampoline zone. A heated water park has slides, water cannons and a tipping bucket, and there's an eight-person hot tub and a Norwegian timber sauna too.
The six-bedroom, five-bathroom house has sunken lounges, fireplaces and a media room with a starry ceiling. And the place is surrounded by bushland, so the neighbours won't hear the shrieks of delight.
"It took him a few years to complete, but now he's selling to free up funds for a business venture," says Mr Guo.
It's for sale via Expressions of Interest with a guide of around $15m.
Some mansions have street appeal. 70 Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide has a 40-metre frontage on Adelaide's most prized boulevard and the confidence to match.
Built around 1927 for Mrs Charles Irwin and designed by Guy St John Makin, the chateau-style landmark has been listed on the open market for the first time in more than 20 years.
This five-bedroom North Adelaide mansion broke the South Australian price record when it sold in 2021, and is expected to break it again now that it's back on the market. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
It once held the South Australian price record, selling for $13.5m in 2021 in an off-market deal. The record now belongs to ‘Fairlea', the circa-1890 mansion at 11 The Avenue, Medindie , which agent Jamie Brown of Booth Real Estate Adelaide sold in April this year for $15m.
Now selling Pennington Terrace, Mr Brown expects the home to reclaim the record.
The 1927-built, chateau-style home includes five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
"It's always been a big masterpiece, and the owners have done it all," he says. "It's the position and the architecture, that French provincial style, with some of the best gardens you'll see. It has a very ambassadorial feel."
The 2370sqm block overlooks symmetrical French-inspired gardens, the Park Lands, the city skyline and Adelaide Oval.
The home includes expansive living and entertaining areas across two levels. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Inside, French 17th- and 18th-century themes run through both levels, linked by a dual spiral staircase and a discreet lift. Outside, there's a heated pool, a guest house with a sports room, and pavilions made for entertaining.
The vendor is moving on to buy two smaller homes, one in Adelaide and one in Melbourne, where his children live.
Wellpark House at 364 Albert Street, East Melbourne has watched over Fitzroy Gardens since 1873. Now it's the heritage heart of Orchard Piper's brand new Albert Street redevelopment, and it's never looked better.
This 1873-built East Melbourne house is on the market for $18m-$19.8m. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
It has Paris-residence polish in spades — think herringbone floors, Rosana marble fireplaces, wall panelling and pale pink bathrooms. A private lift serves all four levels, and the entire first floor is built for parties, with soaring ceilings and French doors opening onto a parkside terrace.
The primary suite spans the whole upper floor while downstairs, there's an 800-bottle wine cellar.
The home has had a full luxury renovation throughout. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Agent Sarah Case at RT Edgar says interest has come from locals, interstate and overseas, with some buyers flying in to inspect.
"It's something you'd discover in Paris or London. There's a lot of romance in it. It's historic, but it has all the modern luxuries we want today," she says.
The Paris-style property has attracted interest from wealthy international buyers. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
"You can renovate a home and create beautiful interiors, but you can never replicate a position opposite Fitzroy Gardens. It's the most luxurious house closest to the CBD you'll find."
It's for sale via Expressions of Interest, with a price guide of $18m-$19.8m.
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