Discount retail family lists $18m Vaucluse home, pays cash for Rose Bay digs

Lowes retail empire owner Jeffrey Mueller and his wife Stephanie are offloading their Vaucluse family home of more than three decades with hopes of $18 million.

It is a far cry from the $2.85 million the Muellers paid for the prestigious address in 1993.

The Muellers’ Vaucluse family home they purchased in 1993 for $2.85 million.Credit:

The palatial home is set on 930 square metres and is the only house on the street with a tennis court and indoor swimming pool, according to selling agent Paul Biller of Biller Property.

The Muellers have already made a move to Rose Bay after they paid $38.5 million for a contemporary house with no mortgage last year. Not a bad upgrade for a discount retail brand owner.

Jeffery and his sister Linda Penn, who still own Lowes, have done well for themselves after their humble beginnings. They are the children of the late entrepreneur Hans Mueller, a refugee from Europe with an inspiring rags-to-riches story.

He arrived in Australia in the wake of World War II with no money and few prospects. He opened his first menswear store in 1948 and in 1981 he bought the retail chain Lowes. By the time Mueller died in 2018, Lowes had 200 stores nationwide.

Also in Vaucluse, the buyer of a $52 million home that sold in October has emerged on title records as Zhang Wen, a director of China’s food, beverage and medicine giant Goubuli Group, which has co-operating agreements with Blooms Health Products and the Gloria Jeans franchise.

Luxury weekender revamp

The Swell has had a complete redesign with two properties on either end of the dual access block.Credit:

Trevor Matthews, the former AMP director who recently stepped down as chair of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, and his wife Michele have listed their lush Palm Beach weekender with a guide of $28 million.

The Swell has had a complete redesign since the Matthews purchased the almost 1000-square-metre block on the northern beaches, one of only five properties on the street with dual access, for $5 million in 2014.

The couple have added two luxury homes at either end of the dress-circle block with panoramic views of the beach.

The six-bedroom, six-bathroom property has automated blinds, curtains and lighting as well as underfloor heating throughout. The property has a gas-heated wet-edge pool. It is being sold through Peter Robinson of LJ Hooker Palm Beach.

Meanwhile, The Matthews’ Mosman home Yoorana is still on the market.

Wealth manager’s views

Walsh Bay Partners chairman Arun Abey has emerged as the buyer of a Kirribilli apartment with knockout views of Sydney Harbour in the tightly held Greencliffe complex.

Arun Abey of Walsh Bay Partners has front row seats to Sydney Harbour.Credit: Louie Douvis

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property sold above the $10.5 million guide, sources close to the deal say. Selling agent Richard Shalhoub of McGrath Millers Point declined to comment.

A former director of The Smith Family, Abey was awarded a Queen’s Birthday Honour in 2019 for his significant contribution to the financial planning sector, and to the community.

Born to parents of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, Abey bought the deceased estate of the late Dr Siri Kannangara, a distinguished figure in sports medicine and a cherished member of the Football Australia family. He paid $3.2 million in 1999 for the harbour unit.

Dr Kannangara joined the medical staff of the Australian national youth teams two years after emigrating from Sri Lanka in 1977. He went on to serve as the physician and consultant for the Australian Olympics teams at the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Games.

Mosman developing

The Edwardian manor owned by the Roses has had a significant facelift.Credit:

Property developer Chris Rose, of First Quadrant Properties, and his dietitian wife Laekin are hoping to fetch $25 million for their sensational refurbishment of their circa 1915 Edwardian manor in Mosman.

Chris Rose is the managing director of First Quadrant Properties.Credit:

The pair have spent between $7 million and $8 million on bringing the home into the 21st century with high-end finishes in every corner of the 1431-square-metre property.

They have not only breathed new life into the facade, but they have also extended the five-bedroom, four-bathroom house from the back. They also added a two-storey guest house with a commercial gym behind a new pool, all replacing what once was a tennis court.

It’s an impressive turnaround for the Roses, who purchased the home in 2019 for $7 million. The keen boating family has upgraded to a waterfront property.

Closer to the water in Mosman, developer Abadeen has snapped up a block of four apartments a stone’s throw from Balmoral Beach.

Abadeen executive chairman and founder Justin Brown, a Balmoral resident, inked the deal before Christmas Day within the price guide of $18.5 million to $20 million, according to selling agent Brendan Warner of Raine & Horne Mosman.

Justin Brown of Abadeen has purchased his fourth development site in Mosman.Credit:

Abadeen’s latest purchase will be the site of luxury apartments with house-like proportions. It will mark the fourth development for the company within 12 months.

The block of four was sold by a syndicate of investors who had done little to the units other than maintain them since they purchased the block. The four homes were rented out for between $1000 and $1600 a week since 2015.