South Yarra office, apartment scene of interior designer Stuart Rattle's murder for rent

The South Yarra property that was the scene of the brutal Stuart Rattle society murder is new on the rental market.

The luxury office – and rear apartment where Rattle, the interior designer to Melbourne’s rich and famous, was slain in 2013 – was listed this week.

Advertising for 411-413 Malvern Road makes no mention of the property’s violent past, but the facade still bears Rattle’s name.

Rattle’s savage murder, at the hand of his long-time partner, was painted in court as a crime of passion.

His partner Michael O’Neill, who has been jailed for the killing, told the Supreme Court in February last year he snapped after Rattle called him a “frigid bitch”. 

O’Neill was sentenced to 18 years behind bars after admitting to bludgeoning Rattle over the head with a saucepan before strangling him with a dog leash at their home – the apartment on Malvern Road – in December, 2013.

O’Neill returned days later and set the apartment ablaze, with Rattle’s body in the bedroom, the court heard.

Agency Gorman Kelly promotes the property’s “exquisite renovation”, which includes “period charm and modern amenity with excellent retail exposure”.

The office and apartment fetched $2,050,000 at public auction last April.

Rattle was in-demand for his classically elegant style and was long regarded as one of Australia’s finest interior designers.

His death was mourned by his well-to-do clients – among them, Melbourne’s most wealthy and influential families.

The court was told his relationship with O’Neill was loving but deeply unbalanced, and O’Neill was fragile.

Sentencing judge Elizabeth Hollingworth said she accepted O’Neill had killed Rattle in the heat of the moment.

The property’s leasing agent could not be reached for comment.