Italian inspiration: Inside the opulent Sydney home built as an ode to Versace

“An exclusive waterfront setting, spectacular architecture, opulent accommodation, a design distinguished by Versace bespoke furnishings and Italian craftsmanship, and an ambience of pure glamour.”

This is, in fact, the introduction you’ll find on the website of the Gold Coast’s Palazzo Versace hotel but it works equally well to describe our cover property, an exquisitely detailed, two-storey waterfront residence in the St George Shire.

Straddling a double block on the shores of Botany Bay, the home is a homage to all things Versace and comes complete with Versace furnishings.

Two years ago another Versace-inspired home set a record price in the St George district when it sold for $7.8 million in March 2015. Only five doors from our cover property on a 980-square-metre waterfront block, the Primrose Avenue auction topped Sydney’s results that weekend.

A few months later in Pyrmont, a glitzy Versace apartment in the Sydney Wharf development sold for $6.68 million.

These properties are genuine labours of love for their owners and Ida Street is no exception.

The house, currently for sale by negotiation for $9 million, took three years for master builders to complete. You’ll see why the minute you cross the threshold into the double-height foyer.

Calacatta book-matched marble adorns the floor and sweeping staircase, with a decorative border and an insert of back-lit honeycomb and chocolate-coloured marble adding finesse. These floors transition to handcrafted artisan parquetry in the living spaces, inlaid with marble and with a border of Greek keys. Truly impressive, the parquetry has been laid in all four bedrooms.

In the kitchen, the solid timber cabinetry is also book-matched. Imagine splitting a piece of wood lengthwise and then opening it like a book to reveal symmetrical patterning on each half – that’s the effect achieved here.

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It’s subtle but oh-so elegant. Add Medusa-head handles, marble tops and Miele appliances and it’s a kitchen for the fashion-forward.

You’ll be primed now to appreciate the book-matched marble in the four bathrooms. The most opulent is the upstairs family bathroom where a marble-wrapped circular spa bath sits beneath a sky window crowned by a leadlight dome and chandelier. A second leadlight dome on a much grander scale lights up the stairwell, which is balustraded in curved glass.

There’s more eye candy on the ceilings in the form of ornate cornices and decadent hand-painted plaster. On the walls are lit niches for art and Versace sconces, alongside fluted columns and silk curtains.

No Versace-inspired home is complete without adding gold to the material palette. There are 24-carat gold-plated mosaic tiles in the infinity-edge pool and spa, in the courtyard water feature and on the floor of the laundry and sauna.

There are a few more surprises in store – a rooftop plunge pool with hand-crafted mural backdrop, an integrated sound system and a solar system that allows the house to be energy self-sufficient. The karaoke-theatre room and bar in the basement doubles as a safe room, and there’s also a four-car garage.

With so much to look at inside, from book-matched marble floors to dazzling chandeliers and elaborate parquetry, it’s easy to forget that this home also commands some of the best water views in the suburb in the city’s southern subrbs.

Gazing east over peaceful Botany Bay towards Towra Point Nature Reserve, the property fronts a walking path that extends south to the St George Sailing Club and north to Dolls Point.

There are swimming nets just 100 metres from the front door of this property and agent Grant Dale of Unique Estates says buyers looking for boating facilities will find them in nearby Kogarah Bay.

Dale says the property’s stand-out feature is the level of detail and craftsmanship. “It’s rare to find this level of finishes outside of a six-star hotel,” Dale says.

See more of 110-112 Ida Street, Sandringham here or download the Domain app to find similar listings in Sydney. This feature is part of a Domain Deluxe package.