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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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