[COM] 316-320 South Terrace | 51m | 14lvls | August Towers

[timtam20292]

Thank god. Been an eyesore for far too long.

[SRW]

It appears absolutely nothing has been done to repair the travesty of Davaar House, though

[Jaymz]

I'm still amazed people were allowed to move in with the tower in that state.

[SRW]

Restoration of Davaar House is finally underway. The building has been painted and the traditional verandah is currently being reconstructed. The interior is being fit out for 'Davaar House of Wellness' due to open in May.

Will be interesting to see how they approach landscaping, as the entire front garden was thoughtlessly concreted during construction of the underground car park.

[Llessur2002]

Really glad this seems to have come to a good outcome with someone who's actually cared about restoring the building properly. Shame about the monstrosity behind it...

Davaar House to reopen after multimillion-dollar restoration

Once a haven for squatters and vandals, a heritage-listed city mansion is set to re-open its doors after a multimillion-dollar transformation.


Davaar House will re-open in the coming weeks after a multimillion dollar restoration. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

Owners Fiona and Oscar Fiorinotto acquired Davaar House, on the corner of South Tce and Hutt St, in 2021 with plans to convert it into a luxury wellness centre.

With painstaking attention to detail, Ms Fiorinotto has overseen a two-year restoration project, and is set to open Davaar House of Wellness later this month.

She said the couple had blown the budget on the restoration project, but the result had “exceeded expectations”.

“It was so rundown and we knew it was going to be a big job, but I had a vision and we decided that we were going to go big with it,” she said.


Fiona Fiorinotto inside Davaar House before the restoration project. Picture: Michael Marschall


The new staircase. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

“I never wanted a task this huge. I was looking for a building and maybe a little reno – obviously this was not a small reno.

“But we really wanted to keep it as it was because it’s such a beautiful building, such a grand building, and so I didn’t really want to change that too much.”

The reopening of Davaar House, built for wine and spirit merchant William Johnston in 1876, follows years of neglect and the financial collapse of disgraced developer Sam Sgherza, who was previously planning a restoration of the mansion as part of his $35m August Towers apartment block adjacent to the property.

During Mr Sgherza’s ownership of the property, a historic fence was illegally removed, but Ms Fiorinotto tracked it down and has reinstated it along South Tce.

The wellness centre will offer a range of treatments including massage, facials, sauna, oxygen therapy, salt therapy, yoga, meditation and life coaching and counselling, as well as a cafe for clients and the general public.


Abandoned city mansion Davaar House is set to re-open its doors after a multimillion-dollar upgrade. Picture: Russell Millard


Abandoned city mansion Davaar House is set to re-open its doors after a multimillion-dollar upgrade. Picture: Russell Millard

Ms Fiorinotto said there were also several hi-tech pieces of equipment imported from Europe, including a “pilates pod”, offering customers access to a range of new and emerging treatments.

“We’re coming from more of a holistic approach to health and wellbeing,” she said.

“We have a spa here which does massage and facials, but we also have several new products like our roll shapes and hyperbaric chamber for oxygen therapy.

“I wanted to create a space where you could come and get some TLC, some care, some nurture, and do something that is good for you.

“We’ve tried to make all the treatments very customised to the individual. Whether you’re here for a yoga or a pilates session, it’s very intimate – small classes and you get to focus one-on-one with the teacher.”

From: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... 85363d8761