Businessman Wilson Lee puts Bellevue Hill trophy home Leura to buyers for $70 million

The Bellevue Hill trophy home Leura that sold in late 2015 for $30.8 million is again being shown to buyers, this time with a $70 million asking price.

The historic estate designed by government architect Walter Liberty Vernon and architect Howard Joseland on almost 4300 square metres set a suburb high the last time it traded when it was purchased by Chinese-Australian businessman Wilson Lee and his wife Baoyu Wu one day ahead of a scheduled auction.

It returns to the market with no major material improvements since, but a development application was approved in late 2017 for $7.5 million worth of “additions and alterations” designed by Weir Phillips Architects that include the removal of the existing garage and reconstruction of a new underground garage and a new caretaker’s apartment.

Lee is best known for heading up the Chinese wealth management service provider Noah Holdings but is also a keen yachtsman whose ocean racer Noahs II has been a regular competitor in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

The eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom residence with a ballroom, tennis court and swimming pool is being offered on the quiet through Ray White Double Bay’s Michael Finger, who sold it last time, following Mr Lee’s return to Shanghai.

“This property is irreplaceable,” said Mr Finger. “The land, the view, the aspect and the history make it one of Sydney’s finest estates.”

It remains an off-market sales campaign, but there are discussions to potentially take the property to market later this year ahead of another high-end auction.

Bellevue Hill’s highest price was set at the sale of the Rona estate in late 2018 for $58 million by property tycoon Terry Agnew to Jacqui and Richard Scheinberg, of the wealthy cattle and property investment family.

Both Rona and Leura are among Bellevue Hill’s finest estates and were built next door to each other more than a century ago for the sons of Sir Edward Knox of the Colonial Sugar Refinery empire.

Edward Knox had the Rona estate, and Leura was owned by his brother Tom, who had married into the Victorian pastoralist Ritchie family and who was the managing director of the stock and station agency Dalgety.

Built in the 1890s, the Federation Queen Anne-style residence was previously owned by Christine and Ken Allen of the Business Promotional Products company, who purchased it in 1986 for $7.3 million from property developer Bill Shipton.

Sydney’s trophy values have soared in recent years, particularly since the outbreak of COVID-19, as buyer demand has increased and the number of trophy homes has shrunk. The highest sale in Bellevue Hill this year is the home of former fashion designer Stephanie Conley-Buhre for more than $30 million, less than three years after she purchased it for $17.1 million.