Moran Art Prize

The Moran family have at times been steeped in controversy. They also live now as a happy family unit in the extraordinary Swifts in Darling Point. Swifts, built in 1876 by Sir Robert Lucas Lucas-Tooth is possibly the most valuable house in Sydney with it's many acres.    

The Moran Art Prizes are amongst the most valuable in Australia and the awards were given out today in the beautiful Juniper Hall  (also owned by the Morans and faithfully restored) in Paddington.
Louise Herman won first prize with this stunning portrait of photographic artist Bill Henson who has also been surrounded by controversy over his work.
Alisha Staines picked up the Student Prize Year 10-11 for her photo those that don't jump will never fly (left) and below that is Emily Riley's Colour of Life the winning snap in Student Year 9-10

The exhibition of all the winning photographs and much much more is now on at Juniper Hall in Oxford Street Paddington

Right :  Bill Henson, Lewis Miller, Edmund Capon & Peter Moran with Louise Herman accepting her award.

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Cirque du Soleil opened last night in the big top at the Entertainment Quarter at Fox Studios.

Attending as our snap shows: actress Claudia Karvan and her son, Alex Greenwich MP and Sharri Markson the Media Editor on the Australian Newspaper.

"Ridiculous" Parties!

 

 Five days after the Shuttle wrote of the continuing dramas over one of Sydney's premier properties, Swifts in Darling Point, the local newspaper The Wentworth Courier  adds to the tale with the following story :

 

"Saga over parties at Swifts branded 'ridiculous'

SWIFTS owner Kerry Jones has hit back at residents in the dispute over events at the historic Darling Point mansion, labelling their concerns “ridiculous”.

The newly-formed Darling Point Residents Action Group alleges that a string of events at Swifts since the property was restored by the Moran family a year ago have clogged the streets and disrupted the neighbourhood."

Kerry Jones (ABC TV)

 The local resident's spokesperson is quoted saying : “We fear that Swifts may become a commercial events centre and impact severely on the community,” 

Mrs Jones has responded :".... the two recent weddings held at the property were private events for friends...There are a few mischievous residents deliberately trying to confuse myself and the council about the difference between commercial and private use,” .

Two weddings in as many weeks. Charity fundraisers, an antiques fair, a publisher's Christmas party and a Melbourne Cup Day party are just a few of the events in the past year.
 One should be so lucky to have that many friends but with a mansion of 57 rooms, a ballroom and nearly two hectares of manicured lawns, friends are bound to be thick on the ground. Residents are concerned that the Gothic style house is being operated as a de-facto reception centre and say traffic on days when parties occur make parking a nightmare in the snooty harbour side suburb.

Kerry Jones is the former head of Australians For Constitutional Monarchy and successfully helped scupper the 1999 Republican referendum when colonials voted in the affirmative to keep the British monarchy as head of state.

Swifts was built in the 1880s by John Tooth, a beer brewing millionaire who wanted a bigger ballroom than the nearby Woolahra mansion Rosemount, home of the department store Jones family (no relation to Kerry Jones) and Government House. The Austrian brewing Reschs family bought the house and bequeathed it to the Catholic Church where it became home to the Cardinal for a few decades. Two Popes have stayed there.

In 1997 the nursing home tsar Doug Moran (Kerry Jones' father) paid $12M for the crumbling mansion and spent an estimated $12M restoring the sandstone edifice. Today the property is valued at over $60M in a suburb where just a pied-de-terre can command $1M. The Moran family themselves have had some bitter feuds but are now united and all living at the home.

Another typical Sydney saga that should run and run with all the right elements : money, property, family fights, champagne parties and a good dose of NIMBYism. 

Wedding Blues

First we had the 'wedding of the year' (Sunday Telegraph) -well it was the first wedding of 2012- when top shoe designer Terry Biviano married footie star Anthony Minichiello at the very grand St Mary's Cathedral in what was described as Sydney's Big Fat WAG Wedding.

The bridal party and guests then de-camped to Swifts, the magnificent 57 room Georgian Castle in Darling Point, home of the extended Moran clan. With it's magnificent ballroom and acres of sweeping lawns, Swifts is becoming the venue of choice. 

Guillaume & Terry

Minichiellio & Biviano

A week ago the beautiful former model and boutique hotel owner Terry Kajos got hitched to her handsome French beau Guillaume Sadourny at Swifts watched on by a host of pals like Stedman's catering boss Mandy Quinn and fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer who twittered updates throughout the day and as the night wore on.

Who doesn't like a beautiful wedding with their gorgeous bridesmaids and happy couple, the partying on the rolling lawns and so on.?
But it appears Swift's neighbours are not sending their best regards and they are asking questions. Is Swifts now operating as a defacto reception centre for commercial events?.


Swifts rolling lawns are surrounded by tall apartment blocks and many residents are complaining that with several recent public events the noise has been extreme and parking in the streets filled to capacity.They say Swift's unique layout forms a 'bowl' that amplifies noise to the tops of buildings in which there are many well heeled and mainly older residents like the department store heiress Lady Walton.

One resident who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday "we were told by Swifts that they were organising a few charity events so that didn't seem too bad but recently they have had what seems to be commercial events and the word is that there are several more booked. We all became quite alarmed when we saw what looked like a commercial style kitchen being installed. Most of us are worried that Darling Point's peaceful atmosphere will be destroyed"

The Shuttle left a message for Woollahra Council to contact us with the current status of Swifts but they hadn't returned our call by Friday's end of business.

Dramas In Deepest Darling Point

Its home to some of the most desirable real estate in Australia-the harbour side suburb of Darling Point with its tree lined boulevards and grand mansions.

Tom & Nicolle once lived there. So does Edward de Bono when in town,Ita Buttrose, singer Helen Reddy, actress Rachel Griffith and the extended Bushels tea family, the Oxleys who have not only the legendary Carthona ( Tom wanted to buy it a s a wedding present for Nicolle and offered $25M ) but houses on either side to house their extended family.

Slap bang in the middle of the burb is arguably the most expensive private property on the Eastern seaboard, the neo Gothic castle of cream sandstone, Swifts.

Built in 1886 by Robert Tooth, it was once home to the Austrian brewer Edmund Resch, then owned by the Catholic Church (Pope John Paul and Paul IV have stayed there) and for the last 20 years it's been the domicile of the nursing home tsars Doug and Greta Moran.

Putting a price on Swifts is difficult with its acres of manicured gardens but the Morans spent over $20M on just restoring the house. The Morans, worth an estimated $300M have retired and their children Kerry and Shane now oversee Swifts despite the fact they were once estranged from their parents for several years. With 56 rooms to ramble about in avoiding each other possibly wasn't too difficult.

Of late though neighbours have become edgy as Swifts appears to be hosting gatherings every week from the Rolls Royce Club to Melbourne Cup Day parties to Cornucopia Committee charity fundraisers and magazine launches.

 A week ago there was an antiques fair and locals are becoming embittered about the lack of parking and the noise that emanates from the gardens and Moorish ballroom, the only parts of Swifts strangers get to see.

Residents claim a 'commercial' kitchen has been installed and for the past 4 weeks there has been a function there every Friday evening. Siblings Kerry Jones and Shane Moran say they got the appropriate council permission but residents of a block of flats opposite where Lady Walton, scion of the department store family lives say the noise has been deafening and it carries right up to their 24th floor.

Expect fiery council meetings in February 2012 when the chambers are in session again.

Partying at Swifts, Babs & Frank Sinatra

To Swifts-the spledifourous folly of a mansion in Darling Point.

Nearby Wolesley Road in Point Point  may well be the  "9th most expensive street in the world"  but Swifts is the most valuable private home on the continent.

It was for sale about 10 years ago for $40M with no takers. It's valued at around $85M today, clipping home loan's boss John Symonds recently built Point Piper house that cost a whopping $70M.

 It comes with several acres of park lands and a  mansion that has it's own ballroom with a Juliet balcony. Swifts is owned by the Moran family who have a nursing home empire. Doug and Greta Moran paid a lazy $12M for the property in 1997 and spent another ten restoring the derelict house.

 Our spy disguised as a potted aspidistra tells us the house has been divided into 4 apartments with the feuding family members living in the different quarters. The Morans have had their family disputes but at least they have a nice pad and the kids haven't left home.

Swifts was built in 1841 by the Eton educated Sir Robert Tooth who made his fortune from brewing beer in the colonies. He wanted a bigger ballroom than the NSW Governor and he got one. Sir Robert eventually retired to London where King George V created the Tooth baronetcy in honour of the families charitable works. Tooth was also one of the first to give his employees paid holidays, sickness pay and a whole range of benefits. 

The wonderful hand-painted on glass adverts for Tooth's beer that adorned hundreds of pubs (above) were mostly destroyed during the 1970's-the few remaining ones are worth a fortune.

Edmund Resch,an Austrian born brewer purchased the property from Sir Robert but never quite enjoyed the social cache of the Tooths. Edmund was considered rough and common.  It eventually became the home of the Catholic Archbishop before falling into ruin and being rescued by the Morans.



singer Wes Carr & Charlotte Gregg

On Friday the Cornucopia Committee held their annual charity garden party at Swifts. These 'society' charities are often given a rough time in the media but they really do good works. Everything is donated- from services to food, alcohol (Pommery champagne) and the committee ladies work really hard raising hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to go towards child protection.

The wonderful opera singer Mark Vincent sang (as did Maria Venuti) racing identity Angela Belle McSweeney MC'd and Texan born designer Charlie Brown organised a fashion show. A rain shower failed to dampen spirits although the ballroom furniture supplanted around the garden was hastily brought inside.



a sun shower

Nor was there a faux pas like the one in 1994 when the Cornucopia's honorary international ambassador Barbara Sinatra was presented to an audience on a boat cruise.

Babs was in town with her husband Frank Sinatra when she agreed to speak on a summer day cruise around the harbour. She was well known for her charity work in the USA and Australia especially for raising funds to help abused and neglected kids.

As she sat at the head table on the boat the time came for Mrs Sinatra to give her speech. The MC, a rather dotty lady got up to announce her and after shushing the audience said :

"I would now like to introduce Mrs Barbara Sinatra. Barbara and Frank Sinatra have been heavily involved in child abuse all their lives "!!



Maria Reveals Even More Than Usual

She's not the shyest gal in town- Italian Australian singer Maria Venuti, she of the colourful outfits and the ginormous bosom.

Maria has hit 70 years of age and she's happy to tell everyone about it with a tell-all book : A Whole Load Of Front.

She told the Shuttle on Friday that she had an affair with the late American entertainer Don Lane.

It was an affair she had forgotten about as it happened in the 70's when she kept detailed diaries written in shorthand. Maria had forgotten how to read shorthand over the past 30 years and recently had them translated while researching her book and the memories came flooding back.

La Venuti is a regular in the clubs around the country and has a big fan base in Italy, Greece and Dubai where she is regularly flown to by Emirates Airlines.

Maria was also entertaining at the Cornucopia Committee's charity day at Swifts. She just started her set as the Shuttle left to the sounds of Volare screaming over the treetops of genteel Darling Point. Windows were being shut furiously.

Here's a treat for you-Maria singing All That Jazz !

No Show As George Goes Home

A sharp eyed Shuttle reader informs us that George Michael jetted out of Sydney on the 20th February and obviously would not be attending the 2011 Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras last night.



George-now home

That make George and Rihanna the two latest celebrity non-shows at the Mardi Gras party following a long line of international acts visiting Oz  that happen to co-incide with the parade and party and that the local media begin inferring for weeks beforehand will be appearing at the party.

 It's become almost obligatory that anyone with the remotest gay following must somehow offer their entertainment services to the party even if it's for free. The chances of this happening when tour promoters already walk a fine financial line are remote. The only exception has been the saintly Kylie Minogue who sang (mimed) at the 2000 party.



"hate your media!"



It goes hand in hand with visiting celebs having to say they "love the country and have always wanted to visit" when questioned by local media.
 Oprah Winfrey  went overboard with her "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi !" screeches during her 2 local Opera House broadcasts while Eminem was refreshingly honest and said he couldn't stand the country or it's media- words spat out at a presser in 2002 much to the Shuttle's delight as we knew it would infuriate local scribes (and it did).

Or the claim that every visiting star who "loves the country" must therefore purchase a mansion in what international economists say is the most over-inflated real estate market in the world.

Thus we are still looking for proof George Michael purchased the Whale Beach house with magnificent sea views in which he holidayed in this year as reported in a daily newspaper of note, on a respected real estate website and on a morning TV broadcast. Our property mole says there is no record yet of such a transaction and that the house is available for rent or purchase since Mr Michael departed these shores.

 ## On Friday the Shuttle will attend the Cornucopia charity event at the most expensive private property in Sydney and Australia -Swifts in Darling Point, the castle like former home of the Reschs beer brewing clan.