The Sell: Kerry Packer’s grandson’s lavish $8.4m Bondi pad revealed
Benjamin Packer Barham, the grandson of late media billionaire Kerry Packer, has entered the Sydney property market for the first time and he didn’t hold back with this stunning Bondi penthouse.
NSW
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Benjamin Packer Barham, the son of philanthropic heiress Gretel Packer and Monaco-based financier Nick Barham, has spent $8.4m on a record setting Bondi penthouse.
It’s the first property acquisition of the eldest grandson of the late media billionaire Kerry Packer and his widow, Ros.
The low-key 24-year old who spends much of his time at the Ellerston estate in the Hunter Valley, is four years younger than his sister, Francesca, who has called a Horizon, Darlinghurst, sub-penthouse home since 2019 which cost $16.75m.
Benjamin Packer Barham’s 370sqm two-level penthouse was bought from adventure tourism marketer Andrew Denman and his partner Jenna Singer, who had paid $6.43m in 2019 to buy into the Kew Bondi development. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom, three-garage apartment has Harbour glimpses across Rose Bay to Dover Heights, Ben Buckler and Bondi Beach.
The pavilion-style apartment features 250sqm internal space with glass-encased casual and formal living spaces that open to a 120sqm Palm Springs-inspired terrace landscaped by Stone Lotus.
It was sold by estate agent James Ledgerwood who was recently headhunted from Ray White Double Bay to McGrath Double Bay.
There is a mortgage attached to the title through Perpetual Horizon which is co-directed by the engineering graduate and his mother. It was the same arrangement that Francesca had via Platinum Summit which funded her purchase.
The siblings have a brother, William, still at home with their mother in Bellevue Hill.
Ex-Nine star sells retreat
The sale of the Hunter Valley retreat of former Channel 9 sports broadcaster Cameron Williams and his estranged wife, Natasha Russo, was settled midweek after finding a buyer in December.
The couple’s pavilion-style rural retreat, Wareng, at Howes Valley near Singleton, fetched $1.3m which matched its expectations through Cutcliffe Properties’ Nathan Vincin.
The valley of about 150 properties has now had three sales above $1m.
Wareng was offered with several income streams, including a $528-a-night Airbnb offering.
There were also the vines and olives planted on the 17ha estate around 30 years ago.
The property cost $850,000 in 2018, having been initially sold by its architect Ian Poole for $655,000 in 2015.
It was bought by Newcastle couple, Laurel and Todd Daniels.
Grand sale in Rose Bay
The 2023 prestige sales have yet to kick off, but there’s a delayed settlement reveal in Rose Bay.
The co-founder of Laser Clinics Australia, Alistair Champion, and his wife, Kate, pocketed $35m earlier this month on the Rose Bay foreshore after an undisclosed sale in May.
Their Collins Ave property had cost $18m in 2019. It was the Susan Rothwell updated beachfront home of the late Susan Feller.
It was last year’s 12th top sale, but wasn’t on any of the end-of-year lists, suggesting it was either sold without an agent, or there is one agent in Sydney’s east that was genuinely tight-lipped last year. The buyer was Viet Dung Tran from Melbourne’s Springvale.
The Champions had lodged plans for a boutique triplex apartment development. The $3.43m MHNDUnion design plans would have seen the 1910s' Federation Arts & Crafts mansion demolished.
The Champions have been based in the luxury Woollahra mansion Ilicus which they bought for $13m in 2017. They also have a weekender in Palm Beach on Iluka Rd.
Drawing interest
Animation industry veteran Wayne Dearing has listed his Manly sub-penthouse through McGrath agents Elliott and Morgan Fahey for February 11 auction.
The seventh-floor Wentworth St offering comes with a $4.6m to $5m guide.
It is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom space, with two car parking. The 168sqm space was gutted and refurbished five years ago with bespoke finishes.
The Peninsula complex has a pool, gym and sauna.
Dearing has had a 45-year career in the industry including two decades years at Top Draw Animation, the company he founded in 1999 with Stella Dearing.
During the 1970s, Dearing worked with Hanna-Barbera, whose projects included Popeye, Yogi Bear and Tom & Jerry. Dearing is retiring with plans to buy a house on the northern beaches.
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