Fairwater, Australia's first $100 million house sale, bought mortgage-free

Australia’s first nine-digit house sale has settled with records showing the most expensive house purchase is unencumbered.

The lack of finance required to buy Fairwater, the $100 million Point Piper property, will surprise few familiar with the buyer – software giant Atlassian’s co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes – given he has no mortgages on his three houses in nearby Double Bay and is ranked among the richest Australians.

The 1.12 hectares of absolute beachfront is next door to another of Australia’s most expensive discretionary purchases, the Elaine estate bought by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar for $71 million last year.

Ken Jacobs, of Christie’s International, declined to comment on the specifics of the Fairwater sale but has previously noted that people buying at that level don’t need a mortgage.

“If they do have a mortgage it’s only because it makes financial sense to leverage off the asset and invest elsewhere given the low interest rates on residential property,” he has said.

The Cannon-Brookes family has already moved into the property ahead of settlement, say local sources.

The couple exchanged on the property just two weeks after it hit the market, telling Domain exclusively: “We love the idea of raising our four young children in this historic property, filling the house and gardens with love and laughter through the years.”

Fairwater is the largest privately-held property on Sydney Harbour, and the 1881-built residence designed by leading Victorian architect John Horbury Hunt is one of the most significant heritage houses in the country.

It was built for stockbroker Francis Edward Joseph and last traded in 1901 for £5350 when purchased by Sir James Oswald Fairfax, grandson of The Sydney Morning Herald co-founder John Fairfax.

It was listed for sale by the executors of the estate of the late Lady (Mary) Fairfax, who died a year ago, aged 95.

Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar were ranked equal 11th and 12th on this year’s Financial Review Rich List, worth $5.16 billion.