Divorcing Chinese superstars prompt Beijing crackdown, $22m Sydney house sale

Sydney’s property watchers got a front-row seat to the fairytale marriage of Chinese superstar Tong Liya and film director Chen Sicheng in 2018 when the couple slipped into town and left soon after quietly purchasing a vast waterfront estate on the lower north shore for $15.05 million.

It was only after the couple left town that settlement revealed their purchase of Castle Cove’s landmark Neerim House, which shocked locals given the celebrity status of the buyers, and smashed the suburb record by more than $2 million.

Tong Liya and Chen Sicheng are offloading their impressive waterfront property.Credit: Getty

Even more spectacular than their 23-room mansion in Sydney has been the spectacular implosion of the couple’s marriage, which has prompted claims Beijing authorities have censored news of their divorce, a crackdown on rumours about Tong’s new beau, and the off-market sale of their Castle Cove property for more than $22 million.

Neerim House would have been the ultimate sign of success for the couple when they purchased it, even if the seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom home was a little big for the two of them and their then toddler son, Duoduo.

The opulent mansion is set on a vast waterfront reserve parcel of almost 9400 square metres and was built in 1990 by commercial property magnate Robert Christie, complete with a grand circle driveway and marble entry foyer, formal and informal living rooms, billiard room, indoor swimming pool and spa, sauna, steam room, gymnasium, home cinema and separate guest quarters. The landscaped gardens included a tennis court, cabana and rooftop gardens.

Word of its sale this week for more than $22 million was pinned on McGrath’s Craig Ireson, who declined to reveal the sale price and mystery buyer but did confirm he sold it with Auschain’s Sean Huang.

The grand Castle Cove mansion Neerim House has sold on the quiet for $22 million.

The sale marks the end of a tumultuous chapter for the owners of one of the north shore’s most expensive homes, even if they were rarely, if ever, in the country to stay in it.

The high-profile couple fell in love on the set of China’s 2012 hit TV series Beijing Love Story, and became superstars two years later when the series was turned into a film and became one of the country’s highest-grossing romantic comedies. They married later that year.

But rumours of Chen’s infidelity, canvassed extensively by China’s tabloids, has over-shadowed their relationship in recent years, and came to a head in May last year when Tong finally announced her divorce to her 40 million Weibo followers.

Her divorce hashtag went viral and, according to Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, was read 330 million times before the post disappeared.

The 2377 square metre property is among the largest privately held estates on the lower north shore.

Neerim House as it was when it last traded in 2018. It had been left abandoned in recent years.

Widespread speculation that authorities had censored the post only fuelled media reports about the couple’s split, coming just a few months after Beijing introduced a “divorce cooling-off period” whereby couples were required to rethink their split for 30 days before it could be finalised.

Tong’s romantic status again made headlines late last year when she was linked with a high-ranking Beijing official, deputy minister of the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department, Shen Haixiong, prompting Weibo to shut down the reports, and again fuelling online speculation that ultimately forced authorities to detain three people for spreading rumours.

The dramatic events surrounding Tong and Chen’s divorce have done nothing to hurt their respective careers, but the state of their Sydney home has not fared so well.

Neighbours say Neerim House has long been left abandoned in recent years, with no maintenance or upkeep by the Beijing-based owners, the once-manicured gardens left overgrown and the lawns now waist-high.

The entrance to Neerim House is looking worse for wear. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Despite the mansion’s dilapidated state, its value has soared in the years since.

A slew of trophy sales in the first three months of this year has resulted in a raft of records across the north shore. Manly’s housing market scored a high of $23 million early in the year for a house in Fairy Bower, the Northbridge record was reset at $25.5 million in February, and Mosman’s previous high of $25 million was reset at $33 million in March.