The new owners of the Cockatoo mansion, Ben and Betty Pop, discover a hidden story of the once abandoned house’s origins. Photos: Ian Currie.
The mysterious origins of a previously abandoned mansion in Melbourne’s south-east have been revealed by its new owners who have flown far and wide for their detective work.
Cockatoo’s long-time mansion was vandalized and frequently photographed on social media before Betty and Ben Pop bought it and received the keys in January.
Experienced planners as they were, the couple were not put off by the nondescript nature of the Woori Yallock Rd property, which included plastered walls and greenery growing through the windows.
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The Pops bought the house through Ranges First National Real Estate Belgrave and Cockatoo director Mick Dolphin and partner Anthony Iorlano for $900,000.
Mr Iorlano and Mr Dolphin said they have received hundreds of calls about the home since it was put on the market in 2024.
However, the ambassadors did not know much about the history of the house except that it was built by a couple from eastern Europe.
Back then, Mr Pop said he and his wife planned to turn the mansion into a Toorak-style luxury pad with the hope of including an infinity pool and roof garden, as shown in artist renderings of the completed project from Berwick-based Tomic Design.
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When it was put on the market in 2024, the mansion was the most viewed residence in Australia on realestate.com.au for a year.
An artist’s rendering of what the mansion will look like in the future once the renovations are complete. Credit: Serge@Tomic Design, @cockatoomansion on Instagram.
They expect it will take 2.5 years to complete their major renovation and are sharing the journey with followers of the Cockatoo Mansion Renovation Project Instagram page, @cockatoomansion.
The couple have been renovating the area around the mansion and removing rubbish from the house with plans to start renovating it once the local council approves their plans.
As part of their research into the area’s history, Pops has been looking for old newspaper clippings and talking to members of the community who are connected on social media.
A member of the public sent Mrs Pop an article which was published in the local newspaper, The Gazette, in 1980.
Ben and Betty Pop inside the house that was carved and destroyed during all the years it was vacant. Photo: Ian Currie.
The mansion was listed for sale in 2015 and was sold to new owners who planned to turn it into a farm, but never did. They put it on the market in 2024.
It detailed how the original owners, a Romanian-born man named Miodrag Boljanac and his wife Radmila, spent more than eight years building their dream home.
They lived at the address with Mr Boljanac’s parents after moving from Yugoslavia to Australia.
Pictures show sculptures of Roman deities lining the front steps of the house and a Union Jack flag flying from one of the balconies.
The garden was full of flowers and the family also raised chickens.
The Gazette piece said Mr Boljanac was a frugal builder, always buying in bulk to save on costs.
The facade of the house in 2015, with statues of Roman deities lining the steps.
At one point, he bought 66 identical chandeliers.
And after finding out that it would cost $250 to demolish the tiny house in the white ant-infested area, he burned it down after telling the local fire department about the plans and inviting workers to attend the event in case anything went wrong.
Surprisingly, the Pops also found an architect who designed the mansion.
They traveled to Western Australia to interview 89-year-old Alex Tufekcic and posted videos of the interview on Cockatoo Mansion’s Instagram.
![650 Woori Yallock Rd, Cockatoo - for herald sun real estate. Leave the street number of the publication. Credit: @cockatoomension on Instagram. Owner Betty Pop and former builder Alex.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 768 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Owner Betty Pop and the mansion’s original architect Alex Tufekcic flew him to Western Australia to interview him. Photo: @cockatoomension.
Ms Pop told the Herald Sun that Mr Tufekcic’s daughter contacted them on the mansion’s social media pages.
After meeting her daughter in person, she introduced Pops to her father and they later flew to WA to interview her.
Mr Tufekcic told Ms Pop that he started working with the Boljanacs, whom he described as hardworking, humble and down-to-earth, in 1965-66.
The Boljanacs wanted this mansion to reflect the hard work and effort they put into building it “so everything is better than usual”, noted the former architect.
He revealed that the family lived in a shed in this area, which has been demolished for some time, while the mansion is being built.
Future infinity pool rendering of mansions. Photo: Serge@Tomic Design, @cockatoomansion.
Ms Pop said one of the most interesting parts of the interview was finding the part in the middle of the house that served as a veranda.
Mr Boljanac decided to close the gap after finding a number of windows at the Dandenong factory.
When Ms. Pop asked the story behind the green interior walls of the mansion, Mr. Tufekcic replied that this color was loved by the family because it shows the confidence of being in nature.
However, Ms. Pop’s research revealed that the previous owners may have believed that the color would help ward off evil spirits and the Roman-style statues in front of the house.
The green walls date back to the early days of the mansion. Photo: Ian Currie.
Mr Tufekcic described the mansion as having good feng shui and a “very happy place”.
Also, he recalled the many times local building inspectors visited the Cockatoo site to inspect the construction which would result in Mr Boljanac going above and beyond to meet their needs.
“It was always like this, they said 10cm and he made 20cm,” said Ms. Pop.
“The inspectors were always very happy and obviously they left with ten chickens.”
New homeowners plan to keep or pay tribute to some of the street art in their renovations. Photo: Ian Currie.
Ms Pop said she would like to show Mr Tufekcic around the mansion when he visits Victoria in the future.
“I wonder if he’ll ever come to Melbourne and walk around the house again?” he said.
She and her husband are hoping that their renovation plans for the mansion will please its owners after years of being vacant.
“I want to make them happy and proud,” said Ms. Pop.
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