ACU cuts vice-chancellor's official residence and lists Mosman house for $5.5 million

The Australian Catholic University has ended its decades-long practice of housing the vice-chancellor in an official residence and has put the Mosman mansion that was, until recently, home to Professor Greg Craven and his wife Anne up for sale for $5.5 million.

The decision follows the recent retirement of Professor Craven as vice-chancellor after 13 years in the job, and his replacement by sociologist Professor Zlatko Skrbis.

ACU chief operating officer and deputy vice-chancellor Dr Stephen Weller said that, following the appointment of Professor Skrbis, the university undertook a “benchmarking review” in which it was decided to stop providing an executive residence.

“The proceeds of the sale of the house will be addressed in the context of overall priorities in the university budget,” Dr Weller said.

The 1904-built house sits in Mosman’s Golden Triangle and is surrounded by some of the suburb’s most expensive homes, including the $14 million mansion of former UBS boss Matthew Grounds, and those of philanthropist Neil Balnaves and multimillionaire environmentalist Rob Purves.

Ray White Lower North Shore’s Bernard Ryan, who has listed the ACU property with Geoff Smith, said the original home was extended at the rear in the 1970s and 1980s to create what is now a five-bedroom home with just as many living areas, a separate study and a swimming pool. A March 30 auction has been set.

Professor Peter Drake was vice-chancellor when the ACU purchased the Kirkoswald Avenue property in 1992 for $885,000, following in the footsteps of Sydney University’s move to provide its vice-chancellor with an official residence in Woollahra.

At the time the move by Sydney University to buy a Woollahra mansion for $2.6 million sparked criticism as it followed the introduction of the Higher Education Contributions Scheme and cuts to tertiary education funding by the federal government.

Sydney University ended its practice of housing its vice-chancellor in an official residence last year, selling the Woollahra property for $9 million to Naomi Triguboff Travers, the niece of billionaire property mogul Harry Triguboff.