As Victorian health authorities stepped in and took over the Epping Gardens nursing home after over 120 residents rested positive for COVID-19, the couple behind the facility, Peter and Areti Arvanitis, had something very different to come home to.
Their Toorak home was snapped by Vogue Living back in March, and, well, it’s certainly a step up from the conditions in the couple’s nursing homes, where the aged care watchdog reported a “severe and immediate risk to residents”.
Areti and Peter Arvanitis, of Epping Gardens aged care home
notoriety, did a Vogue Living photo shoot of their Melbourne mansion in March https://t.co/MsYyTcsC3T pic.twitter.com/4IIqPN2J8h— Ben Eltham (@beneltham) August 2, 2020
Described in the article as “the Melbourne mansion with Gucci in almost every room”, the couple’s Sims 2-looking hodgepodge is as fugly as it is ostentatious. Although, not gonna lie, it’s defs luxurious.
Interestingly, the Vogue article refers to the owners by first name only: Areti and Panagiotis. However, an Australian Stock Exchange listing application for Estia Health states that Panagiotis, one of its directors, is “also known as ‘Peter Arvanitis’.”
According to company documents obtained by Guardian Australia, both Areti and Panagiotis Arvanitis also own half of Heritage Care, which runs the Epping Gardens facility.
As nursing home residents suffered from a lack of systems designed for “identifying and responding to abuse and neglect of consumers”, according to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Vogue article notes that Areti joked about their architect “suffering now that the house is complete” after five years of work.
The families of residents in Epping Garden also complained to Guardian Australia that their loved ones weren’t washed enough, or properly. Meanwhile, the Arvanitis’ en suite (not even their main bathroom) has a custom tub, marble walls and a chandelier made of vintage Murano glass.
While residents who were unable to get out of bed complained that food was left outside their door (and thus left uneaten), the Arvanitis household has two kitchens – one for show, and one that’s concealed, where their private chef works.
Upon finding out this juicy info, heaps of people, including one federal MP, noted just how huge the gap is between the the Arvanitis home and the condition in their nursing homes.
This says too much about aged care. https://t.co/MfJHR2aIxp
— Andrew Giles MP (@andrewjgiles) August 2, 2020
When I hear of efficiency of the market for aged care this is what I will now think of https://t.co/Rnz12JFQic
— Elizabeth Humphrys (@anintegralstate) August 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/AlexDevantier/status/1290056119222583296
https://twitter.com/ErinCBuckley/status/1290028074092777472
https://twitter.com/JKenyonMusic/status/1289924667050885122
The couple moved into this “dream home” monstrosity earlier this year, but their previous mansion was equally lavish.
These homes, apparently, are what you can get from being at the top of the aged care industry.
