Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett has spent up to $5 million to buy one of South Yarra's most famous Victorian mansions.
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The Vue de Monde restaurateur and wife, actor Madeleine West, have splashed out on the luxurious Cromwell Road property "Barwon", following a well-worn trail of rich and famous who have crossed the Yarra to flasher digs.
In a bid to keep the deal quiet, the property was bought in Ms West's legal name, Melanie Ann Weston.
The previous owner bought the double-storey 1881 Victorian for $2.8 million in 2005, undertaking a renovation and modern extension that has given the house four bedrooms, two studies, cellar, pool and self-contained apartment in the pool house.
Listed in July last year with price expectations of $5 million-plus, the property passed in on a vendor bid of $5 million and has languished on the market ever since.
Agents Kay & Burton did not respond to a request for comment.
The couple's current home in Kensington sold over the weekend for a price believed to be $1.6 million to $1.7 million.
A meal at Bennett's legendary restaurant, which sits on the 55th floor of the Rialto Tower, runs from $150 per person for a 4-course ala carte menu to $250 per person for the gastronomes menu.
Bennett is the latest in a series of celebrity chefs – and Masterchef alumni – to upgrade in the last year.
George Calombaris moved from a $740,000 two-bedroom Victorian terrace in Fitzroy North to a $2.735 million 1930s-era house on Toorak's Grange Road.
Returning home after two years in Sydney, Gary Mehigan spent $3 million to buy a four-bedroom mansion in the prestigious Gascoigne Estate in Malvern East.
French chef Jacques Reymond is also believed to be the buyer of a $2 million modern home on Ormond in Elwood that recently changed hands.
cvedelago@theage.com.au Twitter: @chrisvedelago