No house,no worries:Vendors who razed their home look to smash Mosman’s record

One of Mosman’s most expensive properties,the Beauty Point waterfront estate owned by developer Bryan Rose,is quietly for sale complete with boat shed,slipway and tidal beach,but no house.

Fortunately for Rose,it isn’t bricks and mortar that is expected to lure high-end buyers to the property,but the fact it commands almost 5500 square metres,making it the largest privately held waterfront parcel in Mosman.

The property was for 35 years owned by the late car dealerLaurie Sutton until he sold it in 2012 for $20 million toYing Li,from China,who in turn sold it to Rose in 2017 for $22.45 million.

Rose,who heads up development giant Rose Property Group that was founded by his rich-lister parentsBob andMargaret Rose,lived in the house with his family until it was demolished more recently,and development approval granted for a Giles Tribe Architects-designed house set across four levels to go with a tennis court and swimming pool.

Work has stopped on the excavated site and Rose has opted to instead sell it after he says he was approached by a few unsolicited offers and given a looming empty nest scenario.

Forbes Global Properties’ Ken Jacobs,who has it listed off-market in preparation of an official launch early next year,is yet to set a guide,but local industry sources say given trophy home values have doubled in many parts of Sydney in the past decade buyers should expect to spend close to $40 million.

Incidentally,Mosman’s record was reset at $33 million last year thanks toFlorian Struengmann,son of German healthcare billionaireAndreas Struengmann.

For those with a penchant for expensive holes in prime locations,the Tamarama home project in waiting owned byJustin Topper,of the AI Topper leather goods family,is for sale for more than $30 million.

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The 575 square metre block was originally planned as a luxury home project by Built chairmanMarco Rossi and his partnerStephanie Stokes after they purchased it in 2008 for a then suburb high of $11 million.

But despite demolishing the house and commissioning designer digs by US architectWallace Cunningham they opted out of the job and instead put it to the market for someone else to do.

Listed in 2016 for $15 million it didn’t sell until mid-2021 when Topper purchased it on a nine-month settlement for $13.25 million.

Inflation gone mad

Inflationary pressures are getting pretty bad in Bellevue Hill as house shoppers compete to pay over and above all reasonable prices. The latest local home owner to cash in on the collective madness isJennifer Hershon,widow of former Berlei Hestia bossMichael Hershon.

Just 24 hours after it was listed for sale with a $30 million guide by Ray White Double Bay’s Adam Reichman it has sold for an undisclosed price,presumably for close to that amount.

The Victoria Road house was throughout the 1960s home to CSR bossSir Edward Ritchie Knox until he died in 1973,and last traded in 2002 for $7.15 million when sold by former Watch Gallery directorTony Koo.

Also doing well from the local boom this week isKim Seder,wife of Squareknot founderMike Seder.

Two years after the Seders purchased their Bellevue Hill home for $15 million from horse racing identityNick Vass they have sold it on the quiet for $26.5 million. That’s a capital gain of more than $5.5 million each year they owned it.

Admittedly,there were some cosmetic updates,but there’s more work to be done judging by the development application approved by council last week for $3.8 million worth of “alterations and additions” by PopovBass.

The sale is part of $60 million worth of sales for Laing+Simmons Double Bay’s D’Leanne Lewis,who when not filming real estate reality TV showLuxe Listings has also sold the Seders their new home.

Lewis declined to be drawn on details,but the well-informed local talk reveals the Seders are staying in Bellevue Hill,having purchased a newly built house on the other side of the hill for about $23 million.

1788’s best buyers

Olympic gold medallist-turned-recruitment bossMark Kerry and his wife,interior designerLynda Kerry, have found new digs to replace the almost $30 million house they sold in Darling Point toLucinda andHamish McLennan.

The Kerrys are heading to Double Bay,where sources say McGrath’s Craig Pontey and Alison Coopes,of her eponymous agency,have sold them a penthouse in the SJD developed 1788 building for more than $15 million.

Meanwhile,McLennan has had an eventful second half of the year,the least of which is the move east and $17 million sale of the family’s Lavender Bay home. Earlier this week he was ousted as Rugby Australia chairman following Australia’s disastrous World Cup campaign.

Hopefully,the chairman of listings company REA can finish the year by selling his Berry hobby farm,Cedarvale,given its asking price has dropped from $7.2 million to $5.9 million.

Going for a Song

Wealthy Chinese scionJeremy Jianmin Songhas returned the historic Macquarie Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage in Vaucluse to the market,this time with $11.5 million to $12 million hopes.

Song,chairman of Chinese-owned conglomerate Nanshan Group,which owns a 20 per cent stake in Virgin Australia,had listed it in 2019 with $8.5 million guide but without luck.

Song,whose fatherSong Zuowen is worth an estimated US$2.9 billion according toForbes,has listed the 1881-built cottage with McGrath’s Robert Alfeldi.

Holiday at home

The Watsons Bay home ofDr Philippa McCaffery,founder of Clear Skincare Clinics,andPhilip Damp is for sale with a $30 million guide through Sotheby’s Michael Pallier.

McCaffery and Damp purchased the 468 square metre property in 2014 for $9.2 million,making them one of 10 home owners fronting Camp Cove Beach alongside the likes ofStephen Lowy,developerVaughan Blank,developerAllen Linz and filmmakerGeorge Miller.

The house dates back to 1890 and claimed absolute beach frontage until the public promenade was built in the 1950s. It last traded for $9.2 million in 2014,but has been redesigned since.