Howzat! Cricket stars Alyssa Healy and Mitchell Starc buy luxury $25m estate

The Northern Beaches’ Forest District is well known for its grand mansions and luxury acreage,but despite its many equestrian estates it has never managed to secure a sale in the rarefied trophy home market of more than $20 million. Until now.

Star cricketersAlyssa Healy andMitchell Starc have pulled off the high-end deal of the year,paying almost $25 million for a Terrey Hills estate known as Charlotte Park.

The sale price has smashed all Forest District suburb records,topping not only Terrey Hills’ $14.1 million high of a few months ago when GWS Giants deputy chairmanAdrian Fonseca sold his spare equestrian estate,but also the almost $16 million sale earlier this year by Millennial Chinese wine distributorYunlong Zhang for the Starship Enterprise house in Elanora Heights.

Charlotte Park is a worthy record-setter. The 1.8 hectare estate features a recently built residence reminiscent of the homesteads of California’s Napa Valley,which was a major construction and design job by luxury home design and construction firm Cadence&Co led by architectMichael Kilkeary.

Beyond the house,its add-ons include everything from equestrian facilities,stables,a tennis court,swimming pool,cabana,pavilion,at least one fire pit,a fairly impressive chicken coop,a kitchen garden,and some of the suburb’s best district views.

Cashing in on the property isSimone Mills,best known as the mum ofSydney Swans co-captain Callum Mills,and wife of Cadence’s co-founderDarren Mills.

Charlotte Park was quietly on offer for $25 million by Sydney Country Living’s Shayne Hutton,who declined to respond to queries. Recent speculation cricket’s golden couple hoped to buy it given their bid for more space and more privacy was confirmed this week care of a caveat on title.

The sale price more than doubles a previous suburb high of $12 million when rugby league legendBrad Fittler and partner Marie Liarris sold acreage to Telstra’s former chairmanJohn Mullen.

But the purchase is a bitter-sweet one forStarc and Healy,given it means they have to sell their much-loved North Curl Curl home. The designer digs,built by former Miss UniverseJen Hawkins and her husband,builderJake Wall,goes under the hammer next weekend for $9 million.

It isn’t just real estate funding the couple’s new home. Starc,who already ranks among Cricket Australia’s highest paid contractual players,revealed he plans to put himself forward for next year’s Indian Premier League,billed as the richest cricket league in the world.

And Healy,who is tipped as a likely successor to replace recently retired captainMeg Lanning,is already contracted to play for India’s UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League.

Australia’s top cricketers have long shown a penchant for high-end real estate,even if all of it now sits in the shade of the Healy and Starc’s Charlotte Park. Former Test captainMichael Clarke owns $13 million digs in Vaucluse,Test captainPat Cummins calls home a $9.3 million house in Bronte,andSteve Smith has his Bronte house up for sale with a revised guide of $6.5 million.

Grand flippers

Car mechanic ownersSteve andCarmen Davidson are selling their Bellevue Hill residence two years after they purchased it for $28.5 million.

Inflation being what it is,and cosmetic upgrades not being cheap,buyers are being offered a guide of $37 million to $38 million by Laing+Simmons Double Bay’s D’Leanne Lewis.

The Davidsons,owners of the Bondi Junction Auto Services garage,purchased theirEspie Dods-designed property from film producerAntoinette “Popsy” Albertwhen they sold their Vaucluse home for $37.5 million to former Labor MPRos Kelly and former Westpac chiefDavid Morgan.

The Davidsons have form when it comes to flipping high-end property. Their former Vaucluse home was one of Sydney’s great trophy home flips given they had purchased it in 2018 for $17 million.

The couple owned the leasehold to Vaucluse’s Macquarie Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage. They paid $2.5 million for it in 2002 and sold it for $7.5 million in 2016 to wealthy Chinese scionSong Jianmin.

There was also a Darling Point duplex to keep them busy between cars:purchased for $5.25 million in 2014,it sold two years later for $7 million. Lewis says there’s been an upgrade of the Bellevue Hill residence in the two years they’ve owned it. It comes to market as their corporate interests settle on a $7.85 million house in Woollahra.

Homesdale’s record

The landmark Church Point property Homesdale owned by TV and film directorBruce Hunt and his artist wifeTheresa Hunt has sold,setting a local house price record in the $7 million range.

The exact result remains undisclosed by Forbes Global Properties’ Ken Jacobs,but it sold within its $7.2 million to $7.9 million guide,topping former Airtasker chairman JamesSpenceley’s $6.8 million sale last year.

The non-waterfront estate was built in 1911 by Sydney mayorJohn Young,and was home to film directorPeter Weir in 1971 when he shot his first film,also calledHomesdale. It was redesigned by architectAlex Popov in the 1990s before it was purchased by late actressCarol Willesee,who sold it to the Hunts in 2001 for $2.8 million.