Grand art deco penthouse in Sydney's landmark Macleay Regis lists for $6 million

The rise of apartment living is often discussed as a modern phenomenon in Australia, but there are pockets in our major cities which house long-established buildings that have epitomised glamorous living for years.

The Macleay Regis apartment building, in Macleay Street in Sydney’s Potts Point, is such a building.

An iconic landmark, its gorgeous art deco features, grand entrance lobby and luxurious finishes over nine storeys attracted the cream of Australian society when it was built in 1939.

In the massive penthouse lived Harold Christmas, one of the founders of the Woolworths empire, who commissioned the tower from well-known architects Pitt & Phillips on a design inspired by New York’s Rockefeller building. He had it built on the site of two original houses in Elizabeth Bay.

“And it’s still an amazing penthouse today,” says Victoria Morish, related by marriage to the Christmas family, whose own parents became only the third owners, buying it from legendary radio presenter Grace Gibbons.

“It used to be the whole top floor but has since been divided into two, with my parents’ penthouse by far the bigger one.”

That grand 350-square-metre penthouse above 12 Macleay Street, with views from the Harbour Bridge to The Heads, is on the market for $6 million.

It follows the death of Morish’s father, the much-awarded gynaecologist Professor Malcolm Coppleson. His late wife, Patricia, a model he met in London when he helped her after a fall from the step of a bus, later became Vogue’s editor-at-large.

Their son Mark Coppleson, Morish’s brother, says it was a tough decision to sell. “It’s just got an incredible feel about it,” he says.

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Certainly one of the grandest of apartment blocks to be built in Sydney during the inter-war years, Macleay Regis originally had a kitchen on the eighth floor from which waitresses would travel in a service lift delivering meals to residents. Its laundry and drying room was the first in Sydney to have coin-slot-operated washing machines, while it also had a full concierge service.

The penthouse is palatial in size and ambience, with soaring ceilings, cypress parquet flooring, a baronial dining room panelled in oak, and a vast living room with a stone fireplace. It leads to a sheltered north-east-facing rooftop garden with majestic views, yes, befitting a king.   

Di Jones agents Jane Schumann and Gary Sands will take the residence to auction on October 5. 

“You simply don’t see this kind of penthouse in Sydney,” Sands explains. 

“It offers history, a beautiful style of living, an impressive volume of space, a gorgeous terrace with amazing views, a fabulous location… It’s unique.”

See more of 905/12 Macleay Street, Potts Point here or download the Domain app to find more art deco gems on the market