It’s been in the same Italian-Australian family for more than five decades and now 19 Arnott St, Mont Albert North, has hit the market.
Design firm founder Damian Corney has listed his Italian grandparents’ house which served as inspiration when he fitted out comedy trio Sooshi Mango’s Lygon St restaurant.
The Mont Albert North home, held by Mr Corney’s family since 1973, remains in original condition from the Franco Cozzo furniture to the basement and cantina where salumi and prosciutto was made.
In 2024, Mr Corney’s design, print, and installation company, Grafico, installed wallpaper in the Carlton eatery Johnny, Vince and Sam’s Ristorante, established by Sooshi Mango members brothers Joe and Carlo Salanitri and Andrew Manfre.
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Since then, Mr Corney has even appeared in a clip filmed by the comedians at his North Melbourne showroom.
His business’ wallpapers are also known for being used in properties renovated on television’s The Block, with other clients including Louis Vuitton, Essendon Football Club and Zagame Automotive Group.
Mr Corney said he started Grafico inside his nonna and nonno’s garage.
“It’s funny because I now work with interiors every day, and looking back I realise that this house was probably one of my earliest design influences,” he said.
“I know it certainly helped when we designed the Sooshi Mango restaurant wallpapers – I certainly channelled all my childhood at nonna’s house in that design work.”
Damian Corney, as a child, pictured with his late nonna Domenica.
The basement and cantina which formerly housed wine and pasta making implements, plus stored preserved foods, which has since been turned into a rumpus room.
A young Damian Corney with his nonno Nicola and nonna Domenica.
Mr Corney said that the residence’s authentic Italian character and history made it the real deal when it came to the tread of nonna-maxxing – a lifestyle trend where people maximise their life and wellbeing by adopting the slow-paced, intentional daily habits of an Italian grandmother, aka a Nonna.
“The funny thing is that none of it was consciously designed to achieve a particular aesthetic, it was simply how my grandparents lived,” he said.
Damian Corney’s grandparents bought this chest all the way from Italy to Australia. It’s pictured outside the North Melbourne home where they first lived.
Comedy trio Sooshi Mango Joe Salanitri, Carlo Salanitri and Andrew Manfre at their Italian restaurant in Lygon St. Picture: Mark Stewart.
Mr Corney grew up enjoying the fruits of his grandparents’ talents in both the kitchen and the garden.
While cleaning out the house, Mr Corney discovered his grandparents’ green immigration chest from when they came to Australia in the 1950s.
The address of Arden St, North Melbourne, where they first lived with other European migrant families, remains visible on the lid.
Mr Corney took the trunk back to the address and photographed it outside, with the resulting post on his Instagram going viral.
Hundreds of other social media users commented and shared their own family’s stories of immigration, and an art gallery in Italy requested some of the photos for an exhibition.
Damian Corney and wife Adele with the comedy trio Sooshi Mango.
The kitchen is fitted with a dishwasher, pantry and several cupboards.
Franco Cozzo would be in raptures.
Nicola passed away years ago and Domenica died at the age of 98 earlier this year, leading to their wider family’s decision to sell the 19 Arnott St property.
The four-bedroom abode, listed with Noel Jones’ Daniel D’Assisi, features terrazzo flooring, four living areas, a downstairs bedroom with its own ensuite and kitchenette, and a double garage.
Mr Corney said he spent much of his childhood at the house, helping in the kitchen and the backyard growing fruit, vegetables and herbs.
“One memory that always makes me smile is helping nonno make homemade wine in the basement and cantina,” Mr Corney recalled.
“He would let me have a few little sips with him under the staircase where he thought nonna couldn’t see us. Of course, she knew exactly what was happening.”
The Palladiana marble flooring, a traditional Italian mosaic style surface made from marble fragments.
One of two bathrooms in the home that’s zoned for Koonung Secondary College and close to Box Hill North Primary School, Balwyn East Village and Westfield Doncaster.
The backyard where Mr Corney’s grandparents grew their own fruit, vegetables and herbs.
Among his favourite features are the lounge and dining rooms, known as “the good room”.
“Like so many Italian homes of that generation, it was the room you weren’t really allowed into unless it was a special occasion,” he said.
His family is open to some of the Franco Cozzo furniture remaining with the home if the buyers like it.
The house will go to auction at 11am on October 17 and is currently priced at $1.55m-$1.68m.
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