Laurie Sutton sells $15.5m Potts Point penthouse days after he bought it

Prominent retired car dealer Laurie Sutton has done well for state government coffers this year. No sooner did he settle on his $15.5 million penthouse in Potts Point’s landmark Villard building than he resold it for more than the purchase price.

Given a little more than $1 million in stamp duty on Sutton’s purchase, the mystery buyer has no doubt added a further $1 million stamp duty to the collection plate.

Sutton only took possession of the Ercole Palazetti-designed property in May from digital media boss Matthew Kapp and his wife Joanna, making it the second highest sale in the high-end neighbourhood – topped only by the $16 million high of last year when audio king Peter Freedman bought his Ikon penthouse.

Sutton originally planned to downsize to the penthouse from his $35 million Darling Point trophy home in March, prompting the Michael Dysart-designed residence to be briefly listed with Alison Coopes.

Like the state government, Jason Boon, of Richardson & Wrench, is another beneficiary of Sutton’s rethink on his downsizing plans. Boon sold it to him last year and, despite no comment from the agent, sources say he resold it for more than Sutton’s purchase price.

Raise a $5.2 million toast to Queenscliff

Long-time former Australian Hotels Association president John “Thorpie” Thorpe and his wife Trish King have up-scaled their home real estate nearby their Harbord Beach Hotel paying $5.9 million for the Queenscliff residence of processed meat heiress Kristie Ward and her husband, vet David Ward.

Kristie Ward, daughter of Primo Smallgoods co-founder John Hunt, bought the Northbridge trophy home of Robert and Kelly Salteri, of the Transfield infrastructure giant family, for $21 million two years ago, freeing the Salteris to buy atop the yet-to-be-built Opera Residences at Circular Quay for $27 million.

The Wards listed their masterbuilt Queenscliff beachhouse, bought in 2006 for $1.9 million, last year for $5.5 million, and most recently with Belle Property’s Anthony Calacoci before it sold.

Meanwhile, Thorpe and King, who have owned the Harbord Beach Hotel since 1978, have sold a nearby block of three apartments in Freshwater for $3.71 million through James Smyth, of Smyth Estate Agents.

Off-menu delight for Doyles

Veteran Sydney chef Greg Doyle and his wife, Jenny, have done an off-market deal on their Palm Beach weekender, pocketing $3.875 million for the designer digs.

The Doyles bought the Norma Road property in 1989 for $500,000 and soon after commissioned a redesign by acclaimed architect Luigi Rosselli that was featured on the cover of Vogue Living in October 1994.

Doyle is renowned for opening the seafood restaurant Pier in Rose Bay in 1991 for which he soon after scored two hats from the folk at the Good Food Guide. It was upped to three-hat status in 2007 until he made the unprecedented move in 2010 to hand back the hats.

The weekender was listed in 2016 with $3.8 million hopes but did not sell. It sold recently through Michael King and Noel Nicholson, of Ray White Palm Beach, with records showing the buyers were pharmacist Pablo Siufi and his wife, Carolina.

McCloy makes a splash

High-profile former Newcastle mayor and property developer Jeff McCloy has made a decent arrival in Sydney, buying a harbourfront apartment in Woolloomooloo for $3.9 million in a company name.

The three-bedroom spread in the Wharf Terrace complex was, until recently, owned by US-based pet care baron Jeff David and his wife Genevieve before it was sold by LJ Hooker Double Bay’s Alain Waitsman. The David family bought it two years ago for $3 million as a downsizer option from their recently sold $9.19 million Vaucluse mansion.

Larger-than-life McCloy was mayor of Newcastle from 2012 until 2014 when he resigned amid controversy over his appearance before the Independent Commission Against Corruption related to his donations to a Liberal Party candidate during the 2011 campaign in contravention of the ban on donations by property developers. Undeterred, in 2015 he unsuccessfully tried to overturn the ban on developers donating to politicians in the High Court.

Building capital in Edgecliff

George Marias, owner and boss of stockbroker Petra Capital, and his wife, Domenica, have bought a landmark Tudor Revival manor in Edgecliff for $5.2 million.

This is the 1934-built residence designed by renowned architect John Brogan as part of the historic Eynesbury Estate and previously owned by James Packer’s former sidekick Matthew “Ched” Csidei until he sold it a decade ago for $3.05 million.

Furniture businessman Kevin Pudney has owned the historic Edgecliff Road residence for the past decade, listing it with Phillips Pantzer Donnelley’s Jason Pantzer and Tristan Oddi late last year for $5 million.

Time-out in the Highlands

Retired surgeon and former rugby league player Bill Roney and his wife Sara have bought a holiday home away from their Point Piper beachfront home, paying $6.325 million for the Southern Highlands’ Eleuthera Farm Cottage.

The Exeter property of Jo-anne Mason was an off-market sale with records showing it was sold by Drew Lindsay Real Estate’s Karl Zabel and Sandie Dunn.

Mason did well from the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired property given she owned it only three years and paid $4.25 million for it from mining entrepreneur Chris Kyriakou.

The sale comes as Burradoo House returns to the market amid rumours its owner Rose Deo is heading back to Sydney.

Deo bought the 1930s residence on 9900 square metres in late 2017 for $5.38 million, and a few months later sold her architect Richard Rowe-designed home Rosehill Farm in Kangaloon for $5.35 million to techie Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie.

Knight Frank’s Deborah Cullen has the listing.

Getting all neighbourly in Lavender Bay

Dentist Christopher Ho and his wife, Melanie, have joined the Lavender Bay set, paying $11 million for the recently built residence of former Metcash chief Ian Morrice and his wife, Linda.

The Morrices will remain neighbours to the Hos, having bought the dress-circle Bay View Street site in 2014 from lawyer John Lattin and his wife, Helen, and commissioning two complementary residences on site by architect Steven Isaacs, with Linda Morrice doing the interiors of each.

It was sold by Tim Foote, of Belle Property Mosman, who earlier this week sold the house a few doors away of interior architect Christina Wood and fund manager husband Chris Bedingfield for a suburb high of more than $16.5 million to a buyer from the northern beaches.