Property baron Stephen Burcher buys $15m Woollahra mansion

Property baron Stephen Burcher has bought back into Sydney’s eastern suburbs prestige market, paying more than $15 million for a grand Tuscan-inspired mansion in Woollahra.

Burcher has been a key player in the few high-end transactions recorded this year, scoring more than $23.5 million for his Rose Bay home after three days of post-auction negotiations through Ben Collier, of The Agency.

The head of Burcher Property Group and his wife Melissa had made no secret of their desire to move to Woollahra, but the off-market nature of the deal meant few were expecting it to be the four-level home of Tim Hordern, chief investment manager at Kaos Holdings, and his wife Victoria.

Word of the sale first leaked when Hordern bid his neighbours farewell, for what sources say was a bullish purchase price of more than $15 million. At that level the Edgecliff Road mansion would be the fourth highest house sale in Woollahra.

Ben Collier declined to comment on the deal, much as he wouldn’t when he landed the buyer on Burcher’s Rose Bay property, but the double deals rank as two of the few such ultra-prestige deals this year.

The Horderns bought the four-level mansion with a lap pool and nanny’s quarters in 2015 for $9.5 million from former Trivett boss Matt Duncan, who has recently bought a replacement Victorian Italianate mansion nearby for $8 million.

The property proved a windfall for Duncan, who had paid $8.3 million for it in 2010, but not so Irene Caldwell-Ash, who’d paid $10.25 million eight months earlier from Simon Tilley and his then-wife Nellie.

Salters sell up in Longueville

Lawyer Brian Salter has not only put his time as legal counsel at AMP behind him, but has listed the Longueville home he has long shared with his wife Brigit with a price guide of $10 million.

The couple first staked a claim to what is one of the best positioned properties on the Longueville peninsula in 1997, when a double block sold under the hammer for $3.42 million with DA-approval for four houses on site.

The neighbours breathed a sigh of relief, however, when the dreaded redevelopment was instead split into two properties, with the Salters paying $1.64 million for 1500 square metres on which they built their striking three-level residence with a swimming pool and views over Woodford Bay to the Harbour Bridge.

One of the few Arabella Street properties claiming street-to-waterfront reserve land and privately set behind a double garage, it is listed with McGrath’s Brent Courtney and Sotheby’s International’s James McCowan.

Salter resigned as legal counsel at the wealth manager a year ago in the wake of the investigation into the fee-for-no-services scandal as part of the banking royal commission in which Salter was alleged to have played a key role in making changes to an independent report, a claim he has denied.

Art deco in demand in Woollahra

Rabobank senior executive Cathy Doyle has timed her recent downsize well. Having pocketed $6.9 million in December for her West Pennant Hills mansion this week, she paid $3.55 million for an art deco property in Woollahra.

The property was configured as two apartments when marketed by Pillinger’s Brad Pillinger and Michael Paroulakis.

The purchase follows Doyle’s appointment last October to the board of AMP Super, which should be fun in the wake of the banking royal commission.

From Seaforth to the eastern suburbs

Founder of boutique advisory VCA Partners Christian Nicks has put his designer Seaforth property up for grabs to return to the eastern suburbs.

Nicks, who previously headed Investec investment bank, bought the Phil Corben-designed residence on Powder Hulk Bay in 2016 for $4.2 million from Cushman & Wakefield chief bean counter Deborah Kemp and David Hill, who had commissioned it.

A rifle through public records shows Nicks was previously renting an art deco spread in Rose Bay that was bought last October for $1.9 million last October by The Bachelor‘s Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards.

Nicks has listed his Seaforth residence for $4 million to $4.4 million through Glen Wirth, of LJ Hooker Seaforth.

Banking on it in Bellevue Hill

Commonwealth Bank senior executive George Confos and his wife Shelley have sold their Bellevue Hill home.

Records show, it was purchased in late 2015 for $6.75 million – care of a Westpac mortgage – and has been renovated in recent years.

There’s some strict confidentiality surrounding the sale price through D’Leanne Lewis, of Laing+Simmons Double Bay, but a source said it transacted for close to $7.2 million. Settlement will confirm that result.

Southern Highlands weekender up for grabs

Former Deutsche Bank managing director and current CHi-X boss Vic Jokovic and his wife Michelle are selling their Southern Highlands weekender for $3.6 million.

The 11-hectare property was bought in 2003 for $1.125 million and comes complete with a self-contained studio, tennis court, pool and an olive grove.

The Killara-based couple have listed it with Samuel Lindsay, of Drew Lindsay Real Estate.

Another Mosman flip for de Laet

Developer Olivier de Laet has a penchant for buying and flipping Mosman homes, and so it is little surprise to see his Balmoral slopes purchase of two years ago returned to the market.

The Lavoni Street property last traded for $4,492,000 when de Laet purchased it, offloading his Clifton Gardens Federation house for $8.25 million that same year to PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Christa Marjoribanks.

A redesign followed to create a contemporary five-bedroom home for which McGrath Mosman’s Claudia Portale is taking expressions of interest until March 29 with an $8 million guide.

Paddington pad hits the market

Cosmetic surgeon Alia Nasser and her dentist husband Nasser Elhage have put their Paddington property up for grabs with a $7.5 million guide.

The couple bought the 450-square-metre property with a central courtyard and swimming pool (comprised of three dwellings on three titles) in 2013 for $5 million, a few months after they’d sold their futuristic San Souci mansion for $3 million.

Ben Collier, of The Agency, takes it to auction on April 6.

Change of tactics at The Cove

Gibraltar-based businessman Graham Hellier has given up on his latest bid to sell his penthouse atop The Cove at The Rocks.

Bought in 2006 for $10 million, the three-storey penthouse atop Harry Seidler’s The Cove at The Rocks was on and off the market in recent years, most recently with a $21 million asking price.

Expect it to see it leased in coming weeks.

“Paleo” Pete Evans has also given up on selling his Malabar house.

The MKR judge pulled it from its February auction at the last minute amid torrential rain, and the “negotiations with buyers” has since been replaced by plans to rent it out.