Mystery $30 million buyer of Vaucluse's Loch Maree set to farewell Bellevue Hill

Venture capitalist Clark Perkins and his wife Marguerite are expected to start packing up their ultra-contemporary Bellevue Hill residence in coming weeks given they’ve bought the architect Michael Dysart-designed residence Loch Maree on the Vaucluse waterfront for almost $30 million.

Sources say buyers are already being quietly chaperoned through the couple’s Cranbrook Road residence, and if a double-digit deal isn’t negotiated over the summer break expect to see it hit the market in the new year.

The two-storey residence was a relatively new build when Perkins, who heads up private equity firm Mercury Capital, bought it in 2007 for $8.1 million.

The Perkins are upgrading to the Vaucluse home of hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz and his wife Debbie, who bought the nearby $65.25 million Phoenix Acres last month through Ray White Double Bay’s Craig Pontey and Elliott Placks.

Hightailing it to the Highlands

Penny Fischer, former Camden councillor and daughter of state Liberal MP Pru Goward, didn’t win preselection in the state seat of Wollondilly in June, but she and her medico husband Dr Michael Ayling are moving to the Southern Highlands electorate anyway.

Given the upcoming move, a December 15 auction has been set for the couple’s 1897-built Camden home, Brookfield House, which they bought in 2010 for $805,000.

Stuart Davies, of his newly formed shop Inglis Davies Property, is asking $1.3 million to $1.4 million for the grand four-bedroom home with swimming pool.

Records show Fischer bought 4100 square metres of land in Burradoo last year for $779,000, amid talk the family plan to build a forever home.

Downgrade for Dastyari

Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari has re-emerged on the Sydney housing market as the owner of a $1.61 million townhouse in Five Dock.

Dastyari and his wife Helen made the property downgrade to the three-bedroom digs from the Californian bungalow in nearby Russell Lea they sold in May for $1.9 million.

Dastyari formally resigned from Parliament in January after a series of revelations over his ties to Chinese Community Party-linked political donor Huang Xiangmo.

A whale of a sale in northern beaches

Entrepreneur and trophy home collector Simon Tripp has made a return to the glamorous northern beaches holiday market after more than a decade, buying a $5.3 million house on Whale Beach that was listed with LJ Hooker Palm Beach’s David Edwards.

Tripp owned a getaway in the area until 2007, when he sold his Palm Beach retreat for $6.55 million to Angela Fleming, widow of grocery tycoon Jim Fleming.

Tripp’s interest in the Mulgoa estate, Fernhill, came to an end early this year when it was sold for $27.25 million to the state government.

Balderstones double down

Film producer Deborah Balderstone is no doubt too busy delving into the angst of Baby Boomers for the movie Palm Beach with her co-producer Bryan Brown to undertake a redevelopment of the Darling Point investment she bought last year for $4.9 million.

That would explain why the parkside duplex has been listed, despite a recent DA approval to redevelop it into a luxury triplex.

Expect to pay something in the $6 million range through Julian Hasemer, of 1st City Real Estate Group.

Meanwhile, Balderstone and her investment manager husband John Balderstone are also fishing for a $7 miilion buyer through the Sotheby’s International website for the Victorian house they bought in May for $5.9 million set next door to their Darling Point investment.

Off the menu at last

Hats off to restaurateurs Leo and Vicki Varvaritis, who five years after listing their Spanish mission-style home in Vaucluse have sold it for what a local source put at close to $12 million.

The couple behind the Georges restaurant at King Street Wharf bought the landmark 1920s property, designed by architect F. Glynn Gilling, for $800,000 in 1984, when their Georges restaurant in Double Bay was near its zenith.

In 2013, the Gilliver Avenue home was listed with $8 million hopes, raised to $12.8 million two years ago.

Having been listed with a who’s who of Double Bay agents since, sources say it was sold by Brad Pillinger, of Pillinger Real Estate, who offered only “no comment” to inquiries.

The reverse tree-change

HSBC’s head of global markets and treasurer Guy Dickinson is selling his Bowral retreat, Crossways, given talk he plans to settle back in Sydney.

Dickinson was based in Singapore in 2010 when he bought the 1930s property on 1.1 hectare for $2.3 million from London-based co-founder of the Institute of British Culture, Baron Steven von Kohorn, and his wife, etiquette instructor Baroness Anette von Kohorn.

Di Jones’ Kate McCullagh has a $2.95 million guide.

A spot of horse-trading

Meanwhile, the Burradoo property Ripley has been put up for grabs by YourShare Financial Services boss Luke Kean and his wife, dressage champion Sally Kean.

The couple bought the grand six-bedroom residence in late 2015 for $3.45 million to move closer to town and the schools, selling their acreage Carinya in Bowral for $4.8 million.

Despite adding a new kitchen and updating it since, the Keans are wanting to return to something with more space and equestrian facilities.

Di Jones’ Kate McCullagh has a $4 million to $4.2 million guide.

Striking gold in Vaucluse

Still on the good times in Vaucluse (will they never end?) Mei Peng, wife of mining executive Zhian Zhang, is the circa $19 million buyer of the Federation mansion of the late nightclub founders Helen and Andrew Andrews.

Sotheby’s International’s Michael Pallier won’t disclose the exact sale price, but a caveat on title revealed Peng’s purchase.

Zhang, a major shareholder of Inca Minerals and of mineral explorer Australian Hualong, isn’t expected to sell the $8.3 million house in Bellevue Hill he bought in 2013 any time soon, given a long settlement on the Vaucluse property and plans to rebuild on the 2100-square-metre property.

Meanwhile, Sun Xu, who owns the Longhurst Property Group that bought the Edgecliff Centre in 2016 for $138.7 million has bought a $10.8 million house in Vaucluse in a company name.

The Wentworth Road property is expected to be a rebuild job for Sun, much like the Vaucluse Road property bought next door to Kincoppal Rose Bay Convent for $15.45 million in 2014.