Teenage school student sells $12m Springfields estate in Warrawee

The Springfields estate on the upper north shore has been sold by “Rachel” Shuxin Zhou, 17, for less than the $12 million she paid for it three years ago.

The sale on Wednesday morning ends an almost 18-month campaign since it was initially listed with $14 million hopes, revised more recently to $12 million by Chadwick Real Estate’s Lynette Malcolm and William Zhang.

There was no disclosure on the sale price by the Chadwick team, but local sources say it sold in the $11 million range, freeing Zhou and her mother, Wei Lin, to downsize closer to the beach on the northern beaches.

Zhou was only 14 when she purchased the English Cotswolds-style residence, exchanging on June 30 the day before state government laws came into effect doubling the stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers from 4 per cent to 8 per cent, effectively saving her an additional $480,000 surcharge.

Foreigners are allowed to buy one established dwelling in which to live while in Australia on a student visa, however they must sell the property before they buy another established residence.

The architect Michael Suttor-designed residence was built 29 years ago for Mazda car dealer John Newell and his wife Maria, who sold it in 2003 for $6.6 million to Rachael Gribble, wife of Quantum Group founder Peter Gribble.

The Gribbles sold it to Zhou, the daughter of Chinese businessman Jianming Zhou, in 2017 when they “downsized” to the Turramurra mansion Chasecote.

The seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion with formal and informal living areas, billiards room, media room, cellar and palatial main bedroom is set on 4700 square metres with a tennis court, swimming pool and six-car garage.

The Warrawee record was reset early this year when the nearby mansion Bremon was sold for $15 million to Han Xue, wife of Shifeng Li, a director and owner of Junlun Petrolueum (Australia), a subsidiary of a Beijing oil and gas exploratory company.

It was previously owned by Lap Chuen Liu, who purchased it 18 months earlier for $11 million from Xia Kong, the former wife of bankrupt former billionaire, the oil and gas entrepreneur Jerry Ren.