Car dealer Laurie Sutton buys Elizabeth Bay's historic Berthong trophy home

One of Sydney’s most prolific trophy home traders, the retired car dealer Laurie Sutton, has emerged as the mystery buyer of Elizabeth Bay’s historic trophy home Berthong.

This is the 1880s-built residence that was once home to Russell Crowe and the Murdoch family before it was listed four years ago with a $35 million guide by Ken Jacobs, of Christie’s International.

Details on the sale have remained a tightly-held secret since the transaction was first revealed in May. Despite the sale result remaining under wraps and no comment from Mr Jacobs, Sutton’s purchase was leaked on Tuesday by multiple sources after Domain reported he had sold his Darling Point home for $32 million.

Sutton’s purchase puts his name beside the two highest sales this year, with Berthong expected to settle at more than the $32 million paid for his Darling Point home by Pamela Lee, wife of Borg Constructions co-founder John Borg.

Sutton briefly listed his Michael Dysart-designed home in Darling Point 18 months ago for $35 million with Alison Coopes, of her eponymous agency, who was also involved in the sale of Berthong.

Berthong was known as Macleay House when built in 1886 and acquired by the wealthy music publisher Frank Albert in 1936.

The Murdoch family bought it in 1995 for $6.8 million from the late ad man Michael Ball, with the upstairs used as the Sydney home of Rupert Murdoch, and downstairs left to son Lachlan and his wife Sarah.

Russell Crowe had recently won an Oscar for his role in the blockbuster Gladiator when he bought it from the Murdochs in 2001 for $9.2 million, but only owned it for two years before he secured $11.5 million from lawyer Peter Ziegler and his wife Andrea.

Crowe took his money to Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf the following year when he bought his $14.35 million pad.

Sutton’s purchase of Berthong is expected to set a suburb high for Elizabeth Bay when it settles.

Sutton is no stranger to high-end deals in otherwise slow prestige markets. One of the worst performing years for prestige sales after the global financial crisis was in 2012 when Sutton traded in his Mosman estate in Beauty Point for $20 million, to buy the Palm Beach plantation-style residence Kalua for a record $22 million.

However, Sutton bought his Darling Point trophy home in the boom market of 2007 paying $18.5 million to nightclub entrepreneur Barry Wain.