The Fairfax family’s iconic Elaine estate has sold for a record making $75 million, the highest price ever paid for a single Australian home.
The 6,986 square metre estate was bought by IT entrepreneur Scott Farquhar, who will get to enjoy the home’s many features including seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, a tennis court, ballroom, stables, stunning balconies with world class views, beautiful rolling gardens and direct access to Seven Shillings Beach.
Despite paying such a large sum for the Sydney Harbour landmark home, Farquhar won’t be able to move in just yet. Having not been lived in for twenty years, Elaine will require extensive renovations – approximately $4 million worth – to bring it back to a liveable state first.
The Point Piper waterfront estate would have played host to some remarkable guests over the years, having being owned by one of Australia’s most prominent media families – the Fairfaxes – for four generations and 126 years.
Erected in 1863 in grand Victorian mansion style and located five kilometres from Sydney’s CBD, the beautiful home was bought by Geoffrey Evan Fairfax in 1891 for £2,100.
The property was put on the market for $100 million three years ago by John Brehmer Fairfax, who reportedly knocked back several offers over the $75 million selling price from interested buyers.
Such prospective buyers wanted to split up the site, while Fairfax wanted an owner who would preserve it as a single block and residence, despite the property having DA approval for four separate subdivided lots.
Farquhar appears to share this sentiment, as shown by the tweet he shared following the news of his purchase:
“My expertise is software, not property trends! But couldn’t let it be chopped up by developers.”
Elaine Estate is a step up from Farquhar’s current digs; a two bedroom Pyrmont apartment he bought for $1.4 million in 2006. He said he and his wife Kim look forward to starting a family in their new historic home.
Farquhar founded global tech company Atlassain in 2002 with his university friend Mike Cannon-Brooks. The two are worth a combined estimated $4.6 billion, which put them at the top of the BRW Young Rich List in 2016.
The previous record for the highest selling price of a single Australian property was set by Chinese businessman Chau Chak Wing who paid $70 million for James Packer’s Vaucluse mansion ‘La Mer’ in 2015.
The selling agent for Elaine was Ken Jacobs of Christie’s International.
