This unassuming concrete structure hides a spectacular Tuscan-inspired dream home with a floating pool and a 'postcard' view

By LOUISE ALLINGHAM FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA 07:26 17 Mar 2024, updated 10:41 17 Mar 2024

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A timeless state-of-the-art mansion with a unique design, a floating pool and its own art gallery and vineyard has to be seen to be believed.

The Di Stasio Estate sits atop a grassy green hill in Gruyere in Victoria's Yarra Valley, which is just over an hour's drive northeast of Melbourne. It's unique location boasts panoramic views over the Great Dividing Range.

The jaw-dropping property is owned by famous Melbourne restaurateur Rinaldo Di Stasio who built the home in collaboration with his friend and acclaimed late architect Allan Powell.

While the estate looks ultra-modern it was actually designed and constructed almost 30 years ago in 1995 with the cantilevered pool being added in 2007.

Di Stasio Estate is on the market for $9.5million-$10million and listing agent Tracey Atkins of Forbes Global Properties Australia told FEMAIL the home 'straddles the line perfectly between modernism and nostalgia'.

A gravel courtyard with a circular reflection pool shaded by a leafy canopy of old plane trees greets guests before they step foot into the chic Tuscan-inspired home.

Di Stasio and Powell took a pared-back approach to the interior design with a minimalist theme running throughout using raw industrial textures.

Bare walls and high ceilings were made so Di Stasio could hero his extensive art collection. There is even a stretching art gallery where he showcases an eclectic range of his favourite pieces.

The gourmet kitchen is, unsurprisingly for a renowned restaurateur like Di Stasio, fit out with industrial appliances worthy of a high-end restaurant.

Off the kitchen is a stylish dining room with a warming wood fireplace, terrazzo flooring, low-hanging pendant lights and cafe-style chairs as well as a sliding glass door looking out over the bushland views.

A cosy living room with a second roaring fireplace neighbours the main bedroom with a home study and restrained ensuite.

Outside is the long lap pool that looks as if it's hovering over the hill it sits on and overlooks the breathtaking mountain views.

Underneath the pool lies an atmospheric entertainment space where Di Stasio has hosted lavish soirees since the structure was added to the estate 17 years ago.

The expansive grounds are surrounded by Warramate Fauna and Flora Nature Reserve so feels secluded and tranquil and holds two damns as well as three hectares of vineyards which have grown the grapes for the wines served at Di Stasio's restaurants.

Di Stasio is the brains behind Rosati Restaurant and St Kilda's Cafe Di Stasio which opened in 1988 and has been hailed as one of Melbourne's best Italian restaurants.

Powell is one of Victoria's most famed architects whose other familiar creation includes the TarraWarra Museum of Art. He has worked with the hospitality legend not only on his Gruyere home but his elegant eateries.

Atkins said properties like The Di Stasio Estate rarely present themselves and it attracted 'immediate' interest as soon as it went on the market.

'(Di Stasio's) name is so well known in Melbourne, he's seen as someone who has such great taste and culture and he knows how to live life very well. That's been a real draw card and a fascination for people,' she said.

'It's a place you don't come across very often purely because it's been created by two great minds. He had such a great relationship with with Allan Powell, who of course was one of Australia's great architects. They together created a real intimacy and it really does feel beautiful.'

Di Stasio is selling his beloved estate, which he would use to escape the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, to focus on his new business and art ventures and is sad to be letting it go.

'He's owned it for 29 years and he just got to a stage in his life at the moment where he's concentrating on a new chapter with his restaurant and really leaning into some exciting new developments in the art space,' Atkins said.

'He's at a point where he just doesn't have time to spread across all of the various properties in his life. It's a hard decision for Rinaldo because it's been his place to escape to and bring his family and friends to for so long.'

The real estate agent said the property has attracted interest from domestic and international buyers who are keen to have their own slice of the quiet rural life in a 'romantic location'.

The Yarra Valley's such a great tourism destination and it's so close to the city so you get all manner of housing there. You get incredible lifestyle estates and then you have more modest places. This one would definitely be a stand out,' she said.

'Not just because of the beauty of the architecture but the rarity of the location in the fact that most of it is ringed by a floral and fauna reserve, which means it doesn't really have, for the most part, any neighbours giving it a real sense of escapism.'

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