Atlassian’s Scott Farquhar buys Fairfax mansion Elaine: reports
Aussie tech billionaire Scott Farquhar is reportedly paying a record more than $70m for the harbourside Fairfax estate.
Atlassian co-CEO Scott Farquhar is reportedly the buyer of Australia’s most expensive home, Fairfax family harbourside estate Elaine in Sydney’s Double Bay.
It’s been speculated that billionaire software businessman Farquhar, 37, and his wife, Kim Jackson, are paying a national house price record of more than $70 million, but the exact sale price has not been revealed.
Farquhar told Fairfax Media: “We’re thrilled with the purchase and honoured to take over the Elaine estate in its entirety from the Fairfax family.”
The 6900sq m mansion includes seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a tennis court, manicured grounds rolling down to the harbour and sweeping Sydney Harbour views.
It was built in 1863 and has been owned by the Fairfax family for 126 years..
The site is three times the size of nearby Altona, which fetched $61 million when it sold to Chinese interests last year.
The sale is expected to better the $70 million house price record set when businessman Chau Chak Wing bought the Packer mansion La Mer, in harbourside Vaucluse, in 2015.
News Corp reported that Farquhar was one of two local interests vying against overseas parties for the derelict residence, ending three years of marketing.
It was reportedly sold on Friday by Ken Jacobs of Christie’s International.
It could be your own Downton Abbey
Built in the 1870s, this massive pile on 2.83ha in NSW’s Hunter Valley is one of Australia’s finest heritage estates. Asking price: $10 million.
‘Relief needed to lure buyers back’
Interest rates would need to be cut five or six times to motivate buyers back into the property market, with younger Australians likely to purchase sooner.