You Wish: a mansion in South Yarra's Royal Botanic Garden precinct

Snainton, 80 Clowes Street, South Yarra
About $9.5 million

Imagine that your backyard was the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The grand 80 Clowes Street is just 80 metres from Melbourne’s iconic gardens.

Here, French bistro Entrecote and the Bot hotel are the swish local watering holes.

Named Snainton and built about 1900, the brick mansion occupies a plum 919-square-metre parcel in one of Melbourne’s most coveted residential spots.

Modern touches are balanced with the delicate period flourishes and grand proportions typical of the home’s era.

A carved timber staircase splits the ground-floor living, dining and kitchen areas from the upstairs bedrooms.

The sitting and dining room are lavish, with picture windows and soaring art nouveau ceilings.

The main bedroom – one of five – also has deep windows overlooking the verdant garden.

At the rear is a swimming pool, and the basement houses a wine cellar – for the top plonk you can pick up at the Bot – a recreation room/cabana, third bathroom for freshening up after a pool dip, and large garage.

Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello is handling the expressions-of-interest campaign, closing on June 21.