The buyer behind Rose Bay's $16.8m doer-upper

Restaurant entrepreneur John Szangolies has splashed some of the almost $200 million he pocketed late last year when he sold his Urban Purveyor Group to private equity group Quadrant.

Or at least his wife Heather has. Records have finally revealed the Vaucluse-based Szangolies family as the $16.85 million buyers of the Bartley family’s long-held mansion in Rose Bay, Tivoli Villa.

Not bad for what is widely expected to be a knock-down-rebuild of the well-positioned 1200 square metre former home of the late punter “Melbourne Mick” Bartley.

Jaime Upton and Michael Pallier, of Sotheby’s International, declined to comment on details, but were the selling agents enlisted to sell the property on behalf of Bartley’s daughter Lady Michele.

Lady Michele now lives in England where she is married to Lord Alexander Gregory Leith, the eighth Lord Burgh. The property last traded in 1967 for $80,5000.

Meanwhile, Title Deeds doesn’t recommend agents rush to the Szangolies family’s Vaucluse home to sign it up.

They bought their current residence in 2010 for $8.75 million from Alceon partner Morris Symonds, and commonsense suggests the couple will be staying put in it for now while they suss out plans for their new digs on Tivoli Avenue.

Any fears of over-capitalising on the hillside position should be allayed by recent high-end sales among the Szangolies’ new neighbours.

Fund manager Alwyn Heong bought the waterfront residence directly in front in 2006 for $18.2 million and after an extensive renovation sold it a year ago for $27.08 million to barrister Georgina Black and her husband Graham Edwards, chief of UK property group Telereal Trillium.

The waterfront house next door was sold by The Easybeats lead guitarist Harry Vanda a year ago for $15.5 million to property developer Stuart Rose, who is also planning an extensive renovation.

Tivoli Villa, Rose Bay.