How to turn $28.5m into $80m: The world of flipping trophy homes

Fashion designer-turned-lifestyle blogger Stephanie Conley-Buhre has developed an impressive body of work, house-flipping her way up the trophy home market chain, but her latest deal is set to put her in the top of her class after she sold her Bellevue Hill home for about $80 million.

Settlement will confirm the exact price, but it is about $50 million more than she paid for it in 2021, when it was sold by medico Louis Klein and his wife, Claire, for $28.5 million.

Alcooringa last sold for $28.5 million in 2021. Three years later it has resold for about $80 million.Credit: Domain

When it last sold, it had sat on the market for six years with a slew of agents trying to sell it. Three years later, in a more bullish trophy-home market, it was sold with no marketing and after a no-expense-spared redesign and renovation by Conley-Buhre.

Buyer’s agent Simon Cohen, of CohenHandler, declined to comment on the deal, but is widely tipped to have bought it. A caveat on title confirmed the sale and revealed the buyer as overseas-based expat Hannah Chapman. It was sold by Ashley Bierman, a director of Ray White Double Bay.

Agents say Cohen is already showing Conley-Buhre new trophy homes in Bellevue Hill on behalf of a mystery “friend”. Budget: $40 million to $60 million.

Alcooringa has now been transformed.

Stephanie Conley-Buhre as featured in Belle Magazine’s June-July issue.Credit: Belle Magazine

Alcooringa was built about 1929 in the Spanish Mission-style by graziers Mary and Hugh Taylor. It was later the Tunisian consul until 1965, when property developer Maurice Moubarak bought it for £55,500. He sold it in 1993 for $2.9 million to the Kleins.

In an interview with Home Beautiful magazine this year, Conley-Buhre and her husband, venture capitalist Oskar Buhre, described how the house had been neglected for nearly 40 years when they bought it.

At the time, the floorplan covered more than 2000 square metres and included a ballroom, private chapel, a self-contained caretakers cottage and some of the best views from Bellevue Hill.

The renovation and restoration was inspired from a trip to Spain to source ideas and finishes. The chapel has been replaced by a day spa. The ballroom is now a rumpus room. Other additions include a gymnasium, three kitchens and internal swimming pool.

The high-end renovation was inspired by a trip to Spain.

An independent source who saw the property completed described it as the most extraordinary trophy home, with the highest level of finishes and a floor plan that has been opened up to the views.

The daughter of the late aviation pioneer and philanthropist John Conley, Conley-Buhre previously owned another house on Victoria Road she bought in 2018 for $17.1 million. A renovation and new garden later, it sold three years on for $30 million to Annabelle Shamir, the 30-year-old wife of dealmaker Adam Blumenthal.

A new owner will enjoy the internal swimming pool. Credit: Maree Homer

Settlement will reveal if Alcooringa tops the estimated $80 million sale last year of Elizabeth Bay’s Spanish Mission residence Boomerang by the family of billionaire Lindsay Fox, which ranks as Sydney’s fifth most expensive house sale.

Bellevue Hill’s trophy estates have seen exponential growth in the past year. The Federation mansion Leura sold for $76 million a year ago, making businessman Wilson Lee a $46 million capital gain in the eight years he owned it. It was not improved during his ownership.

Leura was purchased by flower businessman Leo Lynch, who did well on his previous Bellevue Hill home: he bought it for $9 million in 2014 and sold it for $61.5 million last year. He had rebuilt the house entirely.