Kamanev plans $140m Sydney Harbour house, chateau dumped

Ukrainian multi-millionaire Leon Kamenev has dumped his plans for a French chateau fronting Sydney Harbour.

Four homes on Coolong Road at Vaucluse were sold to Leon Kamenev. Picture: John Feder.

Ukrainian multi-millionaire Leon Kamenev has dumped his plans for a French chateau-inspired house on his $80 million block of land fronting Sydney Harbour, hiring a South African design firm to develop a world-class contemporary home instead.

The result — costing an estimated $140m — will be the nation’s most expensive house.

Woollahra Council rejected Mr Kamenev’s plans for his French chateau but the decision was overturned by the Sydney Central Planning Panel if Mr Kamenev agreed to lower the building’s height and delete the chimneys from the proposed house in Vaucluse’s Coolong Road.

Despite winning approval Mr Kamenev lodged fresh plans for a contemporary house through South Africa’s Saota architectural firm late last week.

“It will be interesting to see what the council has to say but ... he has been working on another one the whole time,” said one Vaucluse resident, who declined to be named.

Mr Kamenev declined to comment yesterday, as did his local architects, Tanner Kibble Denton. Woollahra Council said the plans would be on display from next week.

On top of the $80m Mr Kamenev paid for the land in Coolong Road, property sources estimate the Menulog co-founder would pay $5m in stamp duty, up to $500,000 to demolish the existing four houses and four swimming pools sprawled across the lot and about $30m for the construction.

Mr Kamenev will also cop three years of holding expenses plus the cost of the architectural consultants at about 8-10 per cent of the project value. Consultants, a project manager, and 12-14 subconsultants will add to the costs.

“Just to lodge these plans costs $20,000, all up, it will cost him $140m,” said one developer, who declined to be named.

The new contemporary mansion is expected to be lower than the original Burley Katon Halliday French chateau plan.

Cape Town-based Saota Architects design a lot of top flight international mansions and are well regarded in the prestige stakes. Their designs are more contemporary than classical.

Demolition of the four existing houses and swimming pools on Coolong Road is expected to start in February, but it will occur sooner if Mr Kamenev can get early council approval.