The Avalon Beach residence on Stokes Point was originally designed by architect Rosalie Stollery for coal industry supremo Malcolm MacLennan and his partner Kim Turner before it was sold to the Yazbeks five years ago.
To its credit,architect Robert Burton undertook the latest reincarnation of the six-bedroom,seven-bathroom residence on 1600 square metres,now known as Celeste,complete with a feature staircase,interiors by Burton in collaboration with Sandra Cotter,landscaping by Space Landscape Designs,a 21-metre pool,inclinator from waterfront to street,sauna,private jetty and boatshed.
The lavish,high-spec rebuild is vying with the $40 million Palm Beach weekender of developers Bob and Margaret Rose to beat the$27.5 million record set by WiseTech billionaire Richard White in Palm Beach.
But the sale comes at a tumultuous time for Robert Yazbek,co-founder of embattled Atlas Construction Group.
Liquidator Bruce Gleeson,best known for his work unravelling the Ponzi scheme ofmissing fraudster Melissa Caddick,was handed administration of Atlas after it was embroiled in ongoing litigation with developer Fitz Jersey,a company controlled by billionaireFortescue Metals investor Kie Chie Wong.
The dispute has ended a 30-year friendship and business relationship between Wong and Yazbek,that since 1985 has included a number of building projects,including the construction of Wong’s Maroubra home.