International photographer Michel Canetti is listing a Camberwell Victorian home for sale
Artist Michel Canetti is selling his Camberwell Victorian “Chesney”, which he calls a home where “house and art speak the same language”.
Chanel and Louis Vuitton photographer Michel Canetti has painted his Camberwell home as he prepares to return to Europe after 20 years in Melbourne.
Canetti, whose 45-year career spans Argentina, France and Germany, has exhibited for global luxury houses including Chanel, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Guerlain, and has been listed four times among the “200 Best Photographers in the World”.
The Virca 1886 Victorian carries price expectations of $4m-$4.4m and serves as a residence and studio, with artwork on display throughout.
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The Camberwell location has hosted its Australian chapter, doubling as a working studio and private gallery over the course of two decades.
“Yes, many of my works have been in this house,” said Canetti.
Although most of his international work focused on advertising and magazine illustrations, his Melbourne years also produced large-scale works on canvas exhibited in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
“For 45 years I have been working around the world as an illustrator on paper, especially for advertising and magazines,” he said.
Inside Michel Canetti’s studio at his home in Camberwell, the one room where he says “everything happens”.
Michel Canetti’s Camberwell restaurant reflects his “classic” taste, full of antiques and traditional European pieces.
The Herald Sun first visited Michel Canetti’s home in Camberwell in 2015, returning now as the singer prepares to return to France. Photo: Janine Eastgate
“Those were small works, then I also painted on canvas when I was in Australia, and those large works are represented here.”
The four-meter high and vaulted ceiling in the living room creates what he describes as a classic atmosphere, reinforced by French antiques that he took with him when he moved 20 years ago.
“When I arrived 20 years ago, I brought most of my furniture from France,” he said.
“Some pieces I bought in Australia, but most of them are from France.”
The living room of this Camberwell home pairs a fireplace with a soaring ceiling, one of Michel Canetti’s favorite areas for its “classic atmosphere”.
A circa 1886 Victorian “Chesney” from Camberwell enters the market with price expectations of $4m-$4.4m.
Despite the artworks rotating as new pieces are completed, he said the aesthetic has remained constant.
“I put my furniture and my paintings, and to be honest, I haven’t changed much since then,” he said.
He confirmed that he will take almost everything with him when he returns to France.
An unusual 1200sq m corner plot in Camberwell, where Marshall White Boorondara’s Anthony Smith calls land of this scale “very rare” in the Prospect Hill pocket.
Michel Canetti says he imported most of his furniture from France, giving the Camberwell home a distinctly European, vintage feel.
Marshall White Boroondara agent Anthony Smith said the commercial core of the campaign was a rare 1200sq m approx. corner holding, a scale increasingly lacking in Camberwell’s prestigious streets and blue-chip school district.
“That size of land holding is rare … and this is a big block,” Mr Smith said.
“In and around Prospect Hill … you get large allotments, but this size block is rare.”
The works on display throughout Michel Canetti’s Camberwell Victorian transform the home into a private gallery built over decades of outstanding international works.
The online listing notes highlight options to renew and extend, rebuild or develop the store subject to council approval.
The property is scheduled for sale on March 14.
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