$6 million rebuild of Mosman’s Morella rejected by court

A wealthy businessman had plans for one of Mosman’s biggest eyesores — before a legal issue got in the way.

It was the extravagant $6.5 million renovation plan that was too much for even well-heeled Mosman.

It seems the council believes the uber-wealthy residents would rather look at a crumbling, rat-infested eyesore than a gigantic new four-storey mansion.

The extraordinary story played out in the NSW Land and Environment Court this month where the property’s 31-year-old Chinese born owner, Edward Wei lost a legal fight to have his renovation approved.

Mr Wei bought the heritage-listed shell of a mansion known as Morella — after the street it sits on — for $6.6 million in 2016.

Morella is in a complete state of disrepair. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Overlooking the waters of Clifton Gardens, just up the street from Taronga Zoo, Morella had been dormant for decades and a home to rats, vermin and the occasional unauthorised party.

The court heard Mr Wei wanted to perform a staggeringly expensive renovation at an estimated cost of $6.5 million.

This featured a “substantial demolition” of the property before building a new four-storey dwelling that featured a swimming pool, a double garage plus “substantial tree removal and landscaping.”

Mosman Council refused the development application on August 31 and issued a long list of reasons why.

Morella and its next door neighbour. Picture Rohan Kelly

The 11 key points included that the proposed redevelopment was excessive in size, did “not satisfy the heritage objective” and would have resulted in an ”unacceptable loss of views” to one of Mr Wei’s neighbours.

The owner of that property, Swee Aw, wrote an objection letter to the council, which said: “We are extremely concerned that this excessive proposed dwelling height which exceeds the (legal) building height by 3.6m will result in the loss of our view corridor to Chowder Bay.”

Mr Wei challenged the rejection in the NSW Land and Environment Court where, on December 10, Commissioner Susan O‘Neill sided with the council.

Morella has become an eyesore.Picture: Rohan Kelly

Commissioner O’Neil rejected the proposal on numerous grounds, including that it caused “excessive overshadowing” to neighbouring properties, loss of views to others and did not comply with the council’s heritage plan.

She also rejected Mr Wei’s argument that his design incorporated enough of the current sandstone structure to warrant approval.

“I accept the applicant’s submission that the proposal is a skilful design,” Commissioner O’Neil told the court in rejecting the appeal.

“The applicant’s argument that the existing dwelling is sufficiently retained and interpreted to justify the exceedence of development standards and the narrow southern side setback is not made out by the evidence,” she told the court.

The house once featured in Australian Home Beautiful. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The case is the latest chapter in the property’s noteworthy history.

The sandstone house, which sits on a popular waterfront walkway that runs from Balmoral Beach to Taronga Zoo, was designed by a protege of Walter Burley Griffin and built in 1939.

The owner was Leo Parer, who founded and ran the Stanford X-Ray Company with his cousin Stan Parer.

Mr Parer and his wife Helena hosted the high end of Sydney society at the deluxe property.

It featured in a six-page editorial in the April 1943 edition of Australian Home Beautiful magazine.

But that era came to a close when the couple died in quick succession and it fell into disrepair.