The Sell: How Francesca Packer-Barham proved her property smarts with Horizon sale
Francesca Packer-Barham has secured $27.5m for her vast apartment in Darlinghurst’s Horizon tower — earning the young heiress an eye-watering profit.
NSW
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Sassy Francesca Packer-Barham secured $27.5m when her vast apartment in the Horizon tower in Darlinghurst settled midweek.
The 30-year-old daughter of Gretel Packer and Nicholas Barham bought the whole-floor property in 2019 for $15.8m.
Having exchanged contracts last September, Chris Douglas emerged the buyer of the five-bedroom, 40th-floor apartment in the Harry Seidler-designed high rise.
At 565sq m, and with four balconies plus eight car spaces, it ranks as one of the largest single-level apartments in Sydney.
Earlier this month, Darlinghurst saw another whole-floor penthouse sell for $15.2m. The Stanley St home atop Angus House had 513sq m of space. It had last traded in 2016 for $5,555,000, when bought unrenovated by radiologist Dr Jonathan Seeff and his wife Rachelle from the building’s developer, Theo Onisforou. The 1930s building had been converted in the late 1990s by Onisforou in a partnership with tycoon James Packer through their highly successful development company, Dorigad.
Packer-Barham was just 24 when she bought her luxury Horizon apartment, showing considerable independence, and property smarts, since there would likely have been some family pressure to instead buy into the Crown Residences project of her uncle, James Packer.
It was December 2017 when James Packer spent $72,229,573 on his two floors at One Barangaroo which heralded the start of the marketing campaign for the tower.
Eight years on and there’s been no sellout of the 82 apartments in the WilkinsonEyre-designed tower.
And the recent resales in the complex show subdued growth. There was a $10.5m sale, having been bought from Crown for $8.5m, and another that fetched $17.5m having been bought new for $14.48m.
LENGTHY RENO REDESIGNS HOME ON SLOPING BLOCK
The Block stars Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie are selling their home in Newport.
The design duo, stars of The Block’s series at the Oslo Hotel, St Kilda, in 2019 and then The Block All Stars in Hampton two years later, are spending more time at their city base.
They want a home on the Northern Beaches, just one more manageable than the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home they have renovated.
In 2019, the couple spent $1.7m on a 1970s-built home, and turned the original home into what is being marketed as a “flawless fusion of high-end luxury and relaxed coastal sophistication”.
They ran a nearby homewares store for a brief time, which pushed back the timeline on their renovation.
But they told The Sell that, once they started, they were “all in”.
“We wanted this home to have its full potential realised,” they said.
Calling the renovation a “tough slog”, they say it was totally worth it now they look at the end result.
It took them a full year given the size of the home and the extent of the renovation, including walls moved on each of the three levels.
The entrance level, at the top of the sloping 630sq m block, is open plan. There are several terraces flanking the kitchen, dining and living areas, one of which has an integrated outdoor barbecue.
The middle level has three bedrooms, while the lower level has been kept as a self-contained studio, but now offers two bedrooms instead of the one.
Edwards loves his “dream walk-in robe” in the master suite, complete with “endless storage” and a centred marble island bench under a chandelier that “has him in raptures”.
They had fellow Blockheads Gav and Waz curate the art in the home.
LJ Hooker Mona Vale agent Josephine Cowling is relying on market feedback for its pricing, while telling prospective buyers that it is being offered fully curated and move-in ready.
“Buyers will just need to walk in with their clothes and personal items,” says Cowling who believes it will top a nearby $3.93m sale last month. There were 13 sales north of $4m in 2024 in Newport.
The duo have done 20-something projects across Sydney, but none as large as Newport.
“We lose count but we love them all,” they said.
MASTERPIECE PENTHOUSE WITH VAST TERRACE AND VIEWS GOES ON MARKET
Departing Art Gallery of NSW boss Michael Brand and his wife Tina have listed their Ashdown, Elizabeth Bay, apartment, one of the first Sydney flats ever labelled a penthouse.
Its 295sq m space sits atop the P&O style building designed by celebrated architect and exponent of European modernism Aaron Bolot in the late 1930s.
The two-bedroom Elizabeth Bay Rd company title apartment offers an extensive alfresco terrace, with harbour views from above Beare Park, where Brand walks the couple’s staffy-boxer cross Frankie.
He has previously advised that the two local restaurants they go to the most are TBC by Grape Garden and Bang Tang, both in Potts Point.
Ian Campbell and Renee Cross of Ray White are marketing the penthouse as a “trophy residence”. There is a study plus a dining area featuring custom cabinetry and a cocktail bar.
It attracted 300-plus page views on its first day on realestate.com.au.
Its “who’s who” of past owners includes former Channel 9 newsreader Gina Boon, who commissioned decorator Russell Edwards and sold in 2002 for $1.8m.
In 2008, sporting legend Jane Flemming and insolvency practitioner Ian Purchas sold for just over $3.5m, having expanded the internal space to 195sq m.
Other past owners include Gregory Freckmann, principal at Friends Home Care Nursing; Hey Felix founder Mark Day; and the communications entrepreneur Wayne Burt.
The last apartment to sell in Ashdown was a one-bedroom flat that fetched $800,000. A two-bedroom sold for $1.3m last year.
The couple have called it home since selling in Bellevue Hill in 2019.
Brand announced he was stepping down from his directorship at Art Gallery of NSW late last year, and is set walk away from the position in July this year.
The art scholar has held the position since 2012 when he replaced art historian Edmund Capon.
BACH-PAD HIJINKS NO THRILL FOR BAY HOOD
There are no local fans of The Golden Bachelor show, to be filmed at Tresco in Elizabeth Bay.
The paparazzi are on The Loop staking out the stately sandstone marine villa where traffic and parking is never easy.
They are there to photograph the 60-year-old widower bachelor, with a background in data centre management, Barry Myrden, along with the show’s host, Samantha Armytage.
The 1868 Thomas Rowe-designed seven-bedroom, four-bathroom home last sold in 2004, with the $11m sale to Janette Waterhouse, the then wife of David Waterhouse, of the bookmaking family.
The television show is about finding love again for people in their 60s and apparently, unlike the drama of the Bachelor and Bachelorette series, is more about genuine connection and companionship.
So perhaps the neighbours won’t get wind of any amorous night-time coupling, although the bright night filming lights are disturbing the sleep of the locals.
Their approach to Sydney City Council yielded nought.
“It is not the responsibility of local government to monitor filming on private land,” a spokesperson said.
Apparently it requires a filming management plan lodged with Screen NSW where The Sell’s request for the plan went unanswered.
The plan supposedly sets out the start and end dates, crew size, parking arrangements, any expected noise disruption and the use of lighting or special effects.
ROGIC PLANS AN AUCTION DOUBLE PIVOT
Former Socceroo legend Tommy Rogic is selling his properties in Paddington and Darlinghurst.
The Stephen St, Paddington, home has been an investment since bought for $2.76m in 2020 during the global pandemic lockdown.
At the time he was playing for Scottish giants Celtic, so he promptly leased the renovated 1890s terrace for $1495 a week, reflecting a 2.8 per cent yield.
Now PPD agent Catherine Dixon, who sold the home to Rogic, has a $3.4m guide for its April 2 auction.
His Darlinghurst apartment goes to March 29 auction with $1.94m hopes.
The Griffith-born midfielder retired from soccer in 2023 at age 30, to spend more time with his family.
“I have always been rather private with things in my personal life but I feel, given the significance, I think it is important for people to understand why and how I have made my decision,” Rogic wrote on Instagram.
“Throughout the past seven years my wife and I have been on an immensely challenging journey with fertility issues. After years of trying and many failed rounds of IVF, my wife and I were fortunate enough to welcome the birth of our daughter in 2021.”
He also announced the family were expecting twins in 2024.
Rogic represented Australia 53 times.
DIVING INTO NEW BYRON VENTURE
Model and swimwear designer Olive Cooke and her builder husband Henry Tervenski have found their next Byron Bay project.
The property flippers have spent $2.45 million in partnership with developer William Schrumpf from the Astina Group.
The Coral Court house was on offer for the first time in four decades through Bryce Cameron of Cape Byron Property.
REAL NICE NECK OF THE WOODS
The waterfront home next to the Noosa Sound retreat of Krissy Marsh – one of the Real Housewives of Sydney cast – has been listed for a March 22 auction through Gillian and Shane McCauley at Richardson & Wrench.
The five-bedroom, six-bathroom Witta Circle home has been a $4345 a night rental through Noosa Luxury Holidays.
Marsh hosted her co-stars this year at her retreat, which cost $9.8 million in 2019.
HISTORIC HOME SELLS FOR $4.25M
Castlecrag’s historic Cheong House has been bought for $4.25m by Cadeau Studios’ Arielle Cook and Tom Cleary.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom 1920s house, which was on the market for just three weeks, was designed by the esteemed architect Walter Burley Griffin.
It sits on 875sqm with textured stone walls.
The property last sold for $2.016m in 2009.
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