The country retreat of legendary Melbourne restaurateur and arts patron Rinaldo Di Stasio offers total peace and seclusion just an hour’s drive from Melbourne.
Positioned on 80 acres over two titles in the renowned Gruyere winemaking region, the setting is breathtaking. An extraordinary estate wrapped by the Warramate Fauna and Flora Nature Reserve, the landscape is teeming with native wildlife.
At the end of a long, ascending driveway sits the elegant, sophisticated residence. With sweeping unobstructed views over the valley extending to the mountains of the Great Dividing Range this special house was born of a lifelong friendship between Rinaldo Di Stasio and the late internationally acclaimed architect Allan Powell.
Built in 1995 their collaboration has created a structure that is a masterclass in restraint. As much art as architecture, it is reflective of the owner’s passions and the architect’s genius. Combining both classic Italian mood and contemporary Australian design with art, food, and wine, it is a unique sanctuary. It is also a home – both liveable and comfortable.
Walking up stone steps a magnificent courtyard reveals itself. Decades old plane trees and a circular reflection pond create a captivating mood. Renowned architectural photographer John Gollings has called this the entrance to “the best designed house in the world”.
Sitting alongside the courtyard is an enormous gallery that currently houses an extensive art collection. This reception room offers the opportunity to host seated gatherings of around 30 people. Memorable occasions easily catered for by the commercial grade kitchen and its hidden butler’s preparation room. A huge light filled space that can produce for volume but also offers an intimate mood for simple meals.
This unique building, with floor heating throughout, contains three bedrooms with foundations and Powell-designed plans for a further three self-contained living areas. The master bedroom suite has direct access to the estate’s pool that appears to cantilever out over the property, magically hovering in the landscape.
Directly beneath the pool is a large atmospheric entertainment space, also suitable as the perfect cellar area.
The living and dining rooms whilst separate flow into one another and are centred around grand open fireplaces. Their dimensions equally ideal for contemplative seclusion or for small, invited gatherings. The expansive walls offer opportunity for art or are just as beautiful left without.
The estate, set amongst the best terroir in the Yarra Valley, is the highest in the region. It includes a seven-acre retired vineyard with fully automated irrigation system, two brimming dams and the winemaker from the past 22 vintages poised to resume work if desired by the new custodian.
