Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes grabs Fairfax estate for $100m

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie have bought the Fairfax-owned Fairwater at Point Piper for $100m.

The $100 million-plus purchase of Fairwater, the largest residential transaction in Australian history, is ­unlikely to spell the end of capital outlays for the buyers, the billionaire Cannon-Brookes tech family.

More than $20m could easily be spent upgrading the 1881-built Fairwater at Point Piper, which is billed as the largest privately held property on Sydney Harbour, according to sources familiar with the estate.

The property, which sold this week well before the staged formal international marketing campaign had even commenced, sports a principal residence with five large bedrooms, as well as another three or four secondary bedrooms for staff use.

The sprawling 1.12ha grounds of Fairwater also house additional buildings — a separate four-bedroom building as well as a one-bedroom building.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie bought the New South Head Road property after inspecting various other Sydney mansions, including property developer Terry Agnew’s eight-bedroom Rona in Bellevue Hill’s Ginahgulla Road. Rona, a sandstone mansion on 5700sq m, has been languishing on the market with a price tag of $60m for a number of months now.

“We are delighted with the purchase of Fairwater for our young family and look forward to continuing the legacy of this beautiful home,” Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes said in a statement.

“We love the idea of raising our four young children in this historic property, filling the house and gardens with love and laughter through the years.”

The software company’s other co-founder, Scott Farquhar, also inspected Rona but bought Elaine, also from members of the Fairfax family, for $71m in a record-breaking deal last year. Elaine, another waterfront ­estate, neighbours Rona and was sold by the estate of the late Lady Mary Fairfax.

The Atlassian co-founders each have stakes worth close to $5.8 billion with the company listed on the Nasdaq and are two of the country’s brightest technology stars.

When he bought Elaine in a cash deal, Mr Farquhar spoke of his plans to keep the historic home in one piece rather than taking advantage of the development approval on the site to subdivide the block into four lots.

Fairfax is just one of many high-priced sales in Sydney, including Singaporean tycoon CK Ow’s Phoenix Acres in Vaucluse at $65.25m, which was bought by cosmetic surgeon and hotelier Jerry Schwartz and wife Debbie earlier this year. Dr Schwartz told The Weekend Australian he was attracted to Phoenix Acres because it has the largest privately owned harbourfront pool on Sydney Harbour.

Another blockbuster deal was the sale of James and Erica Packer’s La Mer in Vaucluse, also in the Eastern Suburbs, which changed hands for $70m in 2015. It was bought by Australian-Chinese businessman Chau Chak Wing.

Another sale included the trophy mansion Altona, in Point Piper, which sold in late 2016 for $61.8m.

Apart from Rona in Bellevue Hill, other Sydney homes languishing on the market include John Boyd’s CBD penthouse apartment atop the ANZ tower, which has an asking price of $66m through Ken Jacobs, of Christies International.

More recently, another high-profile home to hit the market is financier Gordon Fells’ Point Piper home with an asking price of $55m. The waterfront mansion fetched $28.75m in 2007.

Mr Jacobs holds the record for having sold four of the five top-selling Sydney homes except for Phoenix Acres, which was sold by a rival agent.

Mr Jacobs declined to comment on the Fairwater sale.