Vermont South: Jefferson Ford founder lists huge Vermont South property which could shatter suburb record
Simon Jefferson and wife Pam are selling their Vermont South property.
Jefferson Ford founder Simon Jefferson and wife Pam have listed their Tuscan-inspired estate for a $5.75m-$6.25m sale that could top the Vermont South record by more than $1m.
Mr Jefferson’s name has become synonymous with car sales in Melbourne as his family-owned auto group became one of the city’s biggest — with 430 employees selling everything from Fords to Mitsubishis, Toyotas, Skodas, Hyundais and Subarus across 17 locations.
But while hard work and car sales paid for the family home at 3 Ngumby Court, the local landmark is the product of his wife Pam’s creative flair and taste for art.
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Designed to mimic a Tuscan villa, originally with a pink exterior, by interior design legend John Coote, the home features marble floors, chandeliers, silk walls — a kind of padded fabric partition more commonly seen in castles, and is surrounded by topiary gardens that have long been a source of delight at Open Garden days.
The home has gives off Italian wine region vibes.
Inside the grand living space with fireplace and chandelier.
The chic kitchen design with an American oak island bench.
But the Jefferson’s three kids, Paul, Brett and Natalie, remember it wasn’t always that way and took 40 years to perfect.
Natalie Jefferson said her family’s first home had been a simple Ferntree Gully address built by the company owned by the father of Skyhooks frontman Graham “Shirley” Strachan.
By the time they moved to Vermont South, Jefferson Ford had gone from a start-up that had borrowed from the bank and his wife’s family to a huge success.
“But when they first built it they didn’t have the money to put a lot of furniture in, they had to build it up slowly over time — so it’s quite grand now,” Ms Jefferson said.
In the years that followed her father’s penchant for sausages at dinner were indulged from a kitchen that has since been renovated to feature an American oak island bench and Gaggenau appliances.
Simon Jefferson in his garden. Pictures: Stuart Milligan
Jefferson’s children say the home took their parents 40 years to perfect.
More often than not dinner was a never before tasted meal, clipped from the newspaper or a recipe book by her “amazing cook” mother. The latter were usually sold, in deals negotiated by her father, when the family hosted open garden days.
The proceeds, along with those made from selling cakes baked by the family, were then donated to diabetes research.
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Ms Jefferson said while the home was being sold, the family would be hanging onto memories including the backyard wedding of her brother Brett, now Jefferson Ford chief executive, where a dance floor and marquee were installed over the pool.
She’ll particularly miss her dad’s jigsaw puzzle room, part of an extension added by architect Graham Fisher, that looks out to the trees and lawns of the garden.
“Whoever gets it is going to be very lucky,” she added.
“It’s very peaceful and beautiful. We were very lucky to live there.”
A space which Mr Jefferson used as his jigsaw puzzle room.
The pool at the bottom of the steps.
The estate also has a clay tennis court.
Sales records show the Jeffersons bought the property for $75,000 in 1980 before building the house that stands there today.
Ms Jefferson added that the artwork around the home collected by her mother over the years was the subject of an upcoming book.
On the edge of the Bellbird Dell Reserve, and set on a sprawling 4000sq m allotment, the house itself spans 575sq m with frontage to what is known locally as Vermont South’s golden mile.
The primary bedroom with large walk-in robe.
Another bedroom adorned with artistic wallpaper.
The home is close to shopping plazas, as well as top schools including Vermont Secondary College and Wesley College.
Docking Real Estate director Adam Docking is handling the sale of the “spectacular” home and said walking through its formal areas provided a sense of being “immersed in European heritage”.
Features like silk walls that might sound like an extravagance also provide phenomenal noise reduction, leaving the home with an “absolute feeling of solace”.
“It’s a landmark property for the eastern suburbs, not just Vermont South,” Mr Docking said.
“And it should set a well-deserved record. It is the most magnificently appointed, well thought out and presented home that I have seen in my three decade career.”
It should easily smash the current $4.15m price record set at 240 Morach Rd in 2016.
He said an eastern-suburbs family from closer to Melbourne’s CBD looking for an upsize would most likely claim the keys.
The Jefferson’s had listed a sprawling waterfront allotment in Dromana with a $20m asking price earlier in the year, but have changed plans and opted to sell their family home instead.
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