Vaucluse mansion of Hong Kong arts patron Yang Yang sold for more than $35 million

Hong Kong arts patron Yang Yang has sold her Vaucluse mansion just five months after it was listed for $38 million, making it the highest house sale outside of Point Piper this year.

It comes a decade after she purchased it for $21.5 million, which was the highest house sale in 2011.

Christie’s International’s Ken Jacobs, who had listed it with Darren Curtis, declined to reveal the sale price, but sources say it sold for more than $35 million late on Wednesday night after negotiations with multiple parties.

The house, designed by architect Howard Tanner, was commissioned by the late businessman John McNiven and his widow Joanna after they bought the almost 2000 square metres of level land as a demolition project in 1996 for $3.9 million.

The eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom house includes Paul Bangay-designed gardens, a heated swimming pool and basement garaging for 10 cars.

At the time Yang purchased it in 2011 it made a big impression on Sydney’s trophy-home market not only because it was the highest sale of the year, but was the first in a slew of top sale to international buyers that helped put Sydney on the map for Asia’s trophy-home shoppers.

Within a year of Yang’s purchase the Point Piper mansion Altona sold for a then record of $52 million to  wealthy businessman Wang Zhijun, and three years later to rich-lister Jiaer Huang. Also sold in 2013 was the Point Piper residence known as the Bang & Olufsen house sold for $33.5 million to Jerry Qiu Yafu, the owner of Chinese textile company called Shandong Ruyi Science and Technology

In 2015 James Packer and his former wife Erica sold their Vaucluse mansion for $70 million to businessman Chau Chak Wing, and in 2017 stock trader from China “Andy” Wenlei Song emerged as the more than $60 million buyer of the Point Piper home of luxury car importer Neville Crichton.

This year’s trophy home market has been distinguished by the bull run of prestige sales in the CBD’s luxury apartment market, where this year’s highest residential sale was the $60 million penthouse atop ANZ Tower to Dial-a-Dump founder Ian Malouf, followed by  three apartment settlements in Crown’s Barangaroo tower for $40 million or more.