How a tired $11m fixer-upper was transformed into a $33m trophy home

A lot has changed in Mosman since former pet food company boss David Grant and his wife Lerida bought their family home on Balmoral slopes in 2018. Not least of which is their house.

They bought a tired, three-level house with great harbour views for $11 million from investment veteran Rob Luciano, given the latter’s preference to buy something already done rather than undertake a major rebuild.

The house on Balmoral slopes was designed by architect Adam Hampton complete with eight-car garage, nine bathrooms and a virtual golf range.

The following year, and while Grant was still chief of Real Pet Food Company, a rebuild was kicked off to a design by architect Adam Hampton.

The Mosman house as it appeared in 2018.

The result was unveiled in last September’s issue of Belle magazine showing off plenty of trophy home must-haves: think eight-car garage, snooker room, full wet bar, nine bathrooms, poolside cabana, a virtual golf range and interiors by The Unlisted Collective.

David Grant resigned as chief of Real Pet Food Company last year to sit on the company’s board.Credit:

The house was launched amid suitably glittering fanfare on Thursday by Atlas’s Michael Coombs and Bo Zhang with live music, drinks, canapés, a magician and even a virtual golf competition to excite VIP buyers.

The other big change in Mosman in recent years is the suburb record. What was $25 million back in 2018 for a rundown mansion called Hopetoun (bought by Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham and also now subject to a major rebuild) was reset at $33 million in 2022 by Florian Struengmann, of the billionaire German healthcare family.

As Grant chases a guide of $30 million to $33 million, litigation lawyer Ann Donohue and her environmental planner husband David Snashall are also planning to cash in on their no-expense-spared home project also in Mosman.

A guide of $30 million to $33 million is set on the home of David and Lerida Grant.Credit:

Donohue and Snashall’s newly built home, Palm Frond Retreat, designed by architect Koichi Takada was completed last year, seven years after the couple purchased the property for $4.75 million. It is listed by Atlas’s Coombs for $26 million to $28 million.

Donohue and Snashall are moving across the road where they recently bought the Georgian colonial-style house Kirkoswald for $17.5 million from businessman Robert Purves.

Palm Frond Retreat is the recently completed house that was designed by architect Koichi Takada.

Former Elle magazine editor, interior designer and owner of homewares store Manyara Home Deb Coffey and her photographer husband Ross are serial home renovators, with a slew of projects to their credit in Mosman.

Debbie Coffey’s latest home redesign project is on the Cremorne Point waterfront.Credit: Helen Nexdropa

The Coffeys’ latest home project is on Cremorne Point where two years ago they paid $7.15 million for a waterfront house that was recently redesigned ahead of an up-coming marketing campaign through Coombs for between $13 and $14 million.

Sydney’s trophy home owners have form when it comes to house flipping. Chief among them in Mosman is former ANZ senior executive-turned-crypto investor Steve Bellotti. He bought a house in 2014 for $9.5 million, commissioned a rebuild by architect Shaun Lockyer and sold it in 2022 for $30.5 million.

The all-time champ of such deals is flower businessman Leo Lynch, who paid $9 million in 2014 for his Bellevue Hill house, commissioned a new house by architect Michael Suttor and sold it last year for $61.5 million.

Renovating isn’t for everyone. Just ask Geraldine and Cameron Stanton, founder of lithium exploration and development company Authium.

BYO builder: Geraldine and Cameron Stanton have listed their $9 million home with approval for new designer residence.Credit: Domain

The Stantons purchased their home above Mosman’s Chinamans Beach in 2017 for $5.2 million and despite approval for a new residence designed by Michiru Higginbotham and Corben Architects have opted out of the hassle and expense. It is listed with Jonathon De Brennan with a $9 million guide.

Instead, the Stantons are heading up the road to Hopetoun Avenue where late last year they paid $14.2 million for the designer digs of Li Ying, the 20-something son of businessman Li Zhiqiang.

Marks says sell

The three-bedroom spread was purchased by Hugh Marks for his parents to live in when they are in Sydney.Credit: Domain

Former Nine boss Hugh Marks is in a selling frame of mind, judging by the March 2 auction set for his Neutral Bay pad.

Dreamchaser boss Hugh Marks is based in Paddington.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

This is the three-bedroom spread Marks purchased in 2017 for $2.015 million for his elderly parents to live in when in Sydney, but after they moved out it was listed with a $2.6 million guide through Raine & Horne Neutral Bay’s Stewart Robertson.

Marks and his partner Alexi Baker are based in Paddington, where in 2021 they paid $8 million for a terrace, a year after he resigned as the chief of Nine. He has since launched production company Dreamchaser with former Endemol Shine co-founder Carl Fennessy.

Credible listing

Young Rich List-er Stephen Dash put his designer Paddington terrace up for sale this week following his recent home upgrade to a $48 million estate in Bellevue Hill.

The designer Paddington terrace of Stephen Dash last traded in 2021 for $10.3 million.

Dash’s new home is the estate of the late property developer Tom Breuer and his art dealer wife, Eva, was sold as three separate properties, all of which is set for a major overhaul down the track.

Stephen Dash was ranked 17th on last year’s AFR Young Rich List with an estimated worth of $440 million.Credit: Louie Douvis

Dash, who founded the student loan marketplace Credible, has owned his architect Steve Koolloos-designed terrace in Paddington since 2021, having paid $10.3 million. The Agency’s Ben Collier has listed it with an $11 million guide.

South Coogee’s new high

The clifftop home of the late rugby player and top golfer Alan Cardy sold on Thursday night for a sale price that smashed the previous high of $16.85 million set by crypto king Fred Schebesta’s “Coogee Castle”.

The clifftop home of the late Alan Cardy has set a South Coogee house price record of more than $18.45 million.Credit: Domain

PPD’s Alexander Phillips and Ray White Double Bay’s Ashley Bierman were gagged from revealing the sale price, but the three-level house was most recently carrying a guide of $18.45 million, and an industry source has said it sold for more than the guide. Settlement will reveal the exact result.

Cardy, a former Wallaby and developer who died in 2021, aged 76, had owned the three-level residence with a swimming pool, spa and sauna since 1981, paying $320,000.

In 1985, Cardy also purchased the house next door for $230,000 from former Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University Di Yerbury, and this house was sold late last year for $6.7 million.

Both houses were originally offered in one line for $25 million. The combined value of the two sales is more than $25.2 million.

The estate of Alan Cardy originally listed the two clifftop houses in one line with $25 million hopes. Combined they sold for more than that.Credit: Domain