'Pamela Anderson house' built for Sam Newman on the market
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/october31samnewman]}
The infamous ultra-modern “Pamela Anderson” house in St Kilda West that football commentator Sam Newman built has been listed with $1.5 million hopes.
Dividing locals on its merits, the large glass mural façade on noisy Canterbury Road has been a source of controversy since it was unveiled a decade ago.
The three-storey, three-bedroom house comes with a gourmet kitchen, a north-facing terrace with lap pool, a private courtyard with pond and a two-car garage.
James Scarff of Marshall White has listed the property with expressions of interest due November 15 on behalf of Ned Gestos and Nuria Ruiperez.
“The architect-designed residence is as well known for its spacious and thoughtful floorplan as it is for its internationally renowned façade,” Scarff says.
Designed by architect Cassandra Fahey in 2000, it won a Royal Australian Institute of Architects award, making news around the world given the Baywatch beauty’s appearance on the facade.
Fahey’s idea was initially rejected when she sought permission from Port Phillip Council given the good design guide suggested windows in the front, but with the help of the council's progressive town planning head, Jim Holdsworth, she eventually secured approval for the design.
At the time Fahey suggested: "I like to think of it as for the public, it's turning a little bit of Sam's house inside out and showing them a part of it."
The former Geelong footballer Newman built the house at the height of his playboy notoriety, but never lived in before he sold for $1.1 million in mid-2002 to financial adviser Sean Patrick Taylor through a company called Canterbury Park Pty Ltd.
It changed hands again at $1.5 million in November 2007 after a $1.4 million opening vendor's bid at its October 2007 auction. Newman paid $150,000 in 1995 for the 175-square-metre holding.