Karl Stefanovic faces handing $8m home to wife in divorce settlement

THE breakdown of his 21-year marriage to Cassandra Thorburn looks to be proving extremely costly for newly single TV presenter Karl Stefanovic.

Karl Stefanovic's reputed $8 million Cremorne purchase on Wonga Rd.

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THE breakdown of his 21-year marriage looks to be proving extremely costly for newly single TV presenter Karl Stefanovic, with this stunning waterfront home likely to go to his wife and kids.

The Today host and his estranged wife Cassandra Thorburn were set to move into the luxury mansion on the north shore with their three children before the marriage fell apart.

The $8 million home in Cremorne, which is still being built, was bought by the former couple before the shock separation.

Cassandra Thornburn. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Karl Stefanovic.

The first report of the marriage being on the rocks surfaced in The Sunday Telegraph just over a month ago.

Sources close to Stefanovic said they didn’t know if the purchase would go ahead, but it appears likely the spectacular home would go to Ms Thorburn as part of the divorce settlement.

Stefanovic is currently living in an apartment and their old matrimonial home in Lindfield has been put on the market with a price tag of up to $4 million.

McGrath selling agent Piers van Hamburg said yesterday the Cremorne buyer’s identity had been kept a mystery from him.

The Cremorne property will be completed later in the year.

The purchaser details won’t be registered until completion of the three level-home later this year by builder Tony Blanche.

The modern white mansion has four bedrooms spanning more than 650sq m and features open-plan living areas with a swimming pool, steam room and wine cellar.

Photographs of the Lindfield property, snapped up by the couple six years ago, give few insights into the now fractured family, although a kitchen chalkboard celebrates happiness with expressions such as, “The taste of fresh mangos” or “the sounds of falling of rain.”

The expansive rooms Karl Stefanovic might never enjoy as a resident.

Formerly a dowdy 1915 cottage with teak architraves, the property was given a makeover.

Stefanovic recently made a glib remark on live TV about how “expensive” his divorce was likely to be. Perhaps he was thinking of this house with its spectacular views.

If she does get to move in, it will provide some considerable consolation for Ms Thorburn, who commented recently about how much of an influence she had on Stefanovic’s career.