Retail mogul splashes $12 million to buy his neighbour’s house

Most ordinary Sydneysiders struggle to find a home that fits their needs and budget in the same neighbourhood, leaving us with a great housing mismatch. But not in Vaucluse it seems.

Gary Levin, director of Baby Bunting and Cheap As Chips Discount Stores, and his wife Rossalyn have been lucky enough to snap up the home next door in Vaucluse, a caveat lodged on the title this week revealed.

The home sold in early December for about the price guide of $12 million, industry sources report.

Although it’s a downsize in price, it’s not clear how much of a downsize it is in space as the home is not much smaller than their last. The house sits on a larger block with the same number of rooms, but with fewer bathrooms and car spaces.

It was the home of Macquarie Bank managing director and chief executive Stuart Green, and his wife Alison.

The couple purchased the north-facing property for $5.2 million in 2015. The pair look to be downsizing too, but it’s not yet clear where. They sold through TRG’s Oliver Lavers, who declined to comment.

The skip and a hop move by Levin, who was also once the director of online computer store Mwave, online retailer Catch Group and retail giant JB HI-FI, and his wife is part of a string of prestige sales in the eastern suburbs in recent months.

The Levins sold their neighbouring property for $17 million just a few months prior, which increased $967,000 a year since they purchased the home for $2.47 million in 2009.

Stockbroker and investment banker Peter Wade and his wife Sally have emerged as the buyers of the 575-square-metre block that has more car spaces than bedrooms and bathrooms. Peter has had a long career in the sector, serving as a former director for Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan in Australia, and was once a director of Garvan Research Foundation.

The lavish three-storey house, a short stroll from Parsley Bay, was sold through Ray White Double Bay’s Adam Reichman, who declined to comment.

The Wades were also downsizing in Vaucluse, it turns out, as they later sold their grand Bellevue Hill property on about double the block size for $22.75 million through Elliott Placks of Ray White Double Bay, who also remain tight-lipped.

The pair have also done well out of the move, with the five-bedroom home increasing $838,000 a year since they bought it for $3.47 million in 2001.

Sandy and Richard Wiesel, whose film, television and photography career spans more than two decades, were the buyers of the 1110-square-metre block in Bellevue Hill.

The former marketing director at Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, who helped establish movie channels on Foxtel, and his wife made the move from Woollahra, where they sold their historic sandstone house for $18 million through Ken Jacobs of Forbes Global Properties.

The couple bought Roslyndale for $15.1 million in 2022 from the late Patricia and Frank McAlary, the distinguished Sydney barrister who was immortalised as Sydney’s dancing man after he was captured leaping in celebration at the end of World War II.

Title records have revealed the mystery buyer of the circa 1854-build to be none other than investment manager Ryan Lee, son of gold mining executive and Perth property tycoon Simon Lee AO.

Simon Lee was the chairman of Emerald Resources NL for almost a decade when he stepped down in 2023. The Malaysian-born industry veteran was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to the development of Australian-Asia trade relations and to the Chinese community. He also held a number of positions in his prolific career, including board member of the Australian Trade Commission and president of the Western Australian Chinese Chamber of Commerce Inc.

His Hong Kong-born son is the director of a long list of companies that spans investments, philanthropy and the arts. Perhaps the most well-known outfit is his directorship, along with his sister Cheryl Lee, of their father’s Simon Lee Foundation, which supports presenting contemporary Asian art and ideas.

He is also the director of Constellation Creatives, which describes itself as Australia’s top academy for film, theatre and television, and is dedicated to promoting the greater understanding of shared humanity through film and television to connect and gain understanding and compassion for others.

Lee bought the iconic manor, which has six bedrooms, four bathrooms and four car spaces, with DA-approved plans by Hancock Architects.

He sold his Dover Heights property for $11.5 million off-market at the start of 2024 to locals Flavia and Geraldo Caspary, a shareholder in AgTech company MagrowTec and AI digital healthcare platform Virusight Diagnostic.