The view from one of the Sorrento mansions bought by the Sass brothers behind development firm Oreana Group.
A Melbourne property development and investment family have splashed more than $60m on a series of three Sorrento clifftop mansions.
Oreana Property Group founders Tony and Steven Sass have been revealed as the buyers of the neighbouring homes after an extraordinary year-long buying spree that included historic Hindson House.
The three properties are believed to have 15 bedrooms between them, almost 10 bathrooms and some of the best views in the state with a combined size of more than 1ha.
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Oreana was founded in 1999 and has offices in Australia and Hong Kong and is connected with housing development sites Rockbank and Wyndham Vale.
Records show the homes were bought decades ago by Stuart Carter, better known as Len, who was another Melbourne developer behind the Carter Group.
His children now run the firm and have been connected with prominent sites including a planned $300m St Kilda Rd office tower revamp.
After Mr Carter’s passing the homes were spread among surviving family members, but have now been recombined by the Sass family purchases.
The homes come with their own jetty and a rarely used beach.
One of the homes included in the series of purchases.
Locals believe the developers are planning to turn the series of homes into a family holiday home compound.
Records show the first property hit the market in October 2024, before a second one was listed in February this year.
Industry sources said the third property, between the other two, was sold off market.
Titles for that sale show it was swapped to the name of a company that lists its address as the South Yarra premises of the Oreana Group in June.
The same company placed a caveat on a neighbouring residence in July via Birdsong Legal, while the final home also has a caveat on it from Birdsong Legal applied in the same month.
Real estate agents from Buxton Sorrento and RT Edgar handled inquiries for two of the homes when they were listed for sale.
One of the three homes purchased in the year-long buying spree.
The view from inside the impressive residence.
Local sources indicated the combo deal was believed to have topped $60m, with sales records showing one of the homes sold for $24m on its own.
Buxton’s James Redfern declined to comment on the vendors, purchasers or price of the homes.
However, he did confirm involvement in the sales which he said had transpired over the past 12-14 months and it was now “absolutely on the cards” that the combined residences could become “the most impressive coastal home in Victoria”.
Mr Redfern described the properties as having offered the buyers a “wonderful and special opportunity”.
He also noted that one of the homes, known as Hindson House, was a protected residence and would need to be retained if the new owners decided to make any changes to the combined properties.
RT Edgar’s Jeremy Fox was a conjunctional agent involved in the sales and also declined to comment on the homes’ ownership or prices.
Historic Hindson House was among the residences acquired.
Inside the historic landmark a coastal chic lifestyle awaits.
However, he did note the sales showed that Sorrento’s clifftop was still achieving strong results — despite a number of holiday homes in the coastal hamlet hitting the market in response to increased land tax costs.
Past listings for the homes show they are set above a semi-private beach with limited public traffic, and a private jetty for the residences.
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