Some of the crowd who battled the elements to attend the auction at 652 London Road, Chandler, last weekend.
Brooding clouds and torrential downpours failed to stop more than 300 people turning up to bid on the contents of 652 London Road, Chandler — Brisbane’s Hollywood-style mansion — last weekend.
More than 360 lots were up for sale and included everything from the estate’s Versace furniture to a compost bin to a grand piano — the only item not to be sold on the day.
Auctioneers battled inclement weather, pausing proceedings to cover televisions to stop them blowing away, during the marathon auction that started at 9am and finished about 12 hours later.
The weather proved too much some, who chose to abandon the driveway of the Chandler
Mr Mahmodi, film and television producer and music composer, said his grand piano was the only thing that he wasn’t prepared to let go of underpriced. AAP Image/Richard Gosling
mansion and continue bidding online from their own homes.
Nathan Dwyer, business development manager at Slattery Auctions and Valuations, which handled the auction, said the sale raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the owner.
“We and the owner were very happy with the result. It far exceeded our top expectations. It was a challenging day, but I think everyone had fun,” he said.
While the bulk of the items sold for between $700 and $1000, among the top-sellers were a dining table, which went for more than $10,000, as did a pair of horse statues and, unexpectedly, a set of curtains also broke the $10,000 price tag.
Some of the home’s curtains sold for more than $10,000.
“The curtains were really popular. I mean, they weren’t my style,” Mr Dwyer said, “but they were certainly a few people’s style, because there were alot of people who wanted them.”
As expected the Versace furniture, including a card table proved popular, with much of it going to a determined bidder from near by Fig Tree Pocket, with a similar-style house.
“It was almost like his arm was stuck up at one stage, he really wanted the Versace items. He kept trying to outbid himself., we had to tell him, “No it’s yours already, it’s your bid.”
All the Versace furniture proved popular with bidders.
Mr Dwyer said a good mix of people attended, including a large contingent of Chinese buyers, with more than 100 people registered to bid online.
The auction was held after the house in Chandler sold this month to a local buyer for an undisclosed sum, but more than the $3.85 million paid for it in 2018. However, the new owner didn’t wish to keep any of the contents.
The previous owner, film and television producer and music composer Hiwa Mahmodi said seeing his beloved items being sold at prices 10 to 20 times less than what he had paid for them was hard, but it had made many people happy.
Many things sold for well below their value and Hiwa Mahmodi said while he felt sad to see them go he was happy with the overall result. AAP Image/Richard Gosling
“There were many different aged people there, young, old, families with kids, it was like a goodbye party for me,” Mr Mahmodi said.
“The majority of the items were collectibes that I sourced especially for the house, and came from all over the world. They weren’t things you can buy here, so it made a lot of people happy and I am pleased for that.”
As for the piano goes, Mr Mahmodi said: “It was something very personal to me. It’s a big part of who I am and while I could have sold it, I wasn’t prepared to just let that go.”
Mr Mahmodi, who is originally from Sydney, spent about $1.5 million over the past two years decking out the house at 265 Lodon Road in the hope that he could use it as a set for Hollywood movies and reality TV shows, but COVID-19 had put a stop to that and led to the sale of the property.
While he has temporarily moved to the Gold Coast, he said he hoped to return to Brisbane one day and pick up where he left off with his venture.
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