PHOTO: Monika Tu
According to realestate.com.au the new Bellevue Hill mansion of the real estate agent and Luxe Listings reality TV star Monika Tu — which she believes is the ultimate feng shui house — is almost complete.
But she’s keen to add a solid sculpture in the back yard for what readers will agree is crucial: to keep the money in.
“I’m a big believer in feng shui,” she tells me during an exclusive tour of the luxurious four-level residence.
“It’s very important that when the money comes in, it doesn’t flow out again.”
I suggest a brick wall, but she says: “No, a sculpture, but it’ll be solid!”
Monika, 60, is coy about just how wealthy she is, but there’s no doubt the commissions are rolling in.
The staircase must go on the right. “Stairs cutting through the centre of the house like a knife is very bad feng shui,” Monika emphasises. Photo: Julian Andrews.
She sold $250m of property last year, including the Rose Bay waterfront trophy Villa Florida for $45m that Barry Humphries had let go for $2.52m in 1991.
As principal of Black Diamondz, her specialty is selling luxury property to local Chinese or Asian buyers.
Her own new house, which she shares with her husband and Black Diamondz co-director, Jad Khattar, who is 20 years her junior, has been a three-year project.
But it’s already paying dividends. “I’ve listed $90m of property this month,” she told me.
And she signed up the Vaucluse and Bellevue Hill vendors (two $35m homes and another worth $20m) right there in the new house.
“There’s so much good energy here!” she laughs.
Everything is very square on the outside, but circular inside. Photo: Julian Andrews.
Four feng shui masters have given the property the tick of approval, guaranteeing wealth and health.
“Everyone that comes here feels happy … feng shui isn’t a religion, not a superstition, it’s actually a science: ying and yang, balance and harmony,” she says.
Among the feng shui features — beyond the big black square door: a huge circular overhead light fitting; and, on the wall, a circular art piece, which exudes a purple or red glow, by multimedia artist Max Patte.
“The circles anchor the good energy in the house,” she explains. “Everything here is for a purpose.”
The huge circular overhead light fitting; and, on the wall, a circular art piece, which exudes a purple or red glow, help create “good energy”. Picture by Julian Andrews.
She points to two ceramic pots full of coins by the home office: “The four masters suggested this should be the wealth corner,” Monika says.
The kitchen must be on the east side of the house; there’s the crucial green outlook (Cooper Park); and the stairs go on the right (“Stairs cutting through the centre of the house like a knife is very bad feng shui,” Monika emphasises).
But she insisted on some Australiana. She points to her David Boyd landscape:“I love Australian art, and I love to introduce it to my Chinese friends,” she says.
And the home isn’t short on luxury. There are six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and a three-car garage.
The two ceramic pots full of coins by the home office in “the wealth corner”. Picture by Julian Andrews.
Monika in her dining room, which looks out over greenery. Picture: Julian Andrews.