Durie eyes eco-luxury villas

A COMPANY co-founded by celebrity gardener and entrepreneur Jamie Durie plans to turn a private country estate in Victoria into a major luxury accommodation precinct, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) has reported.

Located just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne, the estate comprises the iconic Stonefields garden set on 27 hectares, with Durie’s luxury resort group Opulus Hotels reportedly purchasing the site for $11 million.

The group now plans to further invest $70 million to transform close friend Paul Bangay’s former home into a celebrity-chef helmed restaurant and lobby, which will be surrounded by 50 private villas.

Guests will be able to enjoy the gardens during stays at the luxury eco-resort, which is slated to open in mid to late 2025, as well as a swimming pool and a sitting room with a fireplace.

Eco-friendliness is an important focus of the project, Durie emphasised, with planned features including air purification systems, a ban on volatile organic compounds paints, solar passive architecture and an on-site fleet of electric vehicles for guests to use on sightseeing trips.

“It’s going to be contemporary Australian architecture surrounded by Australian native landscape,” Durie said.

”But we will also take some design cues from some of Paul’s beautiful formality.”

According to Opulus co-founder, financier and hotelier Dominic Lambrinos, the estate’s room rates will be somewhere in the region of $900-$1,100 per night.

Stonefields estate represents Opulus Hotels group’s second acquisition, following its purchase of a 110-hectare site overlooking the Bass Strait in north-western Tasmania late last year.