Zimmermann property empire grows with $20.5 million Tamarama purchase

The international success of local fashion brand Zimmermann continues to show up on Sydney’s high-end property market as a block of four apartments in Tamarama settles to company interests of Zimmermann chief executive Chris Olliver, husband of co-founder Nicky Zimmermann.

Records show $20.5 million was paid for the block after the owners banded together to sell it in one line.

A block of four apartments opposite Mackenzies Bay sold for $20.5 million.Credit: Domain

Highland Property Double Bay’s William Manning had a $20 million guide when the block hit the market, nicely coinciding with the rare appearance of a sandy beach across the road at Mackenzies Bay. The beach had washed away by the time of settlement.

Zimmermann chief executive Chris Olliver and his wife, the label’s co-founder Nicky Zimmermann.Credit: Janie Barrett

The Zimmermann brand made co-founding sisters Nicky and Simone very rich last year after a US private equity firm paid a reported $1.75 billion for a majority stake in the label.

Simone has since purchased a $30 million house in Bondi, and Nicky paid $59.5 million for a waterfront house in Vaucluse in late 2022.

Zimmermann’s latest purchase comes as fellow Aussie fashion designer Camilla Franks has also bought locally, paying $12.5 million for the Bondi house of Barrenjoey Capital partner Ben Scott and his wife Pensiri.

The clifftop house at South Coogee is one of two in a row sold this week for more than $18.5 million.Credit: Domain

Two clifftop houses in South Coogee have been sold for more than $18.5 million by Paul and Marion Richmond, the HPM Industries heir and owner of the Simeon Stud.

Records show the Richmond family paid $1.32 million for the first house in 1996 and bought next door a few weeks later for $1.3 million.

TikTok star Tom Cardy has bought a Bronte home for $8.1 million.Credit: Anna Kucera

The sale price was not on offer by Josh Ellison, who sold it with Natalie Zulian, but he did confirm the two houses sold for more than the $18.5 million record recently set by a clifftop house long owned by the late rugby player and top golfer Alan Cardy.

Meanwhile, Cardy’s son, comedian and musician Tom Cardy, of the 1.1 million-strong TikTok account, has bought a Victorian-era house in Bronte for $8.15 million through PPD’s Alexander Phillips.

Chef’s sunnyside up

High-profile chef Martin Benn and his partner Vicki Wild secured a pre-auction sale of their Gladesville home, with property portals indicating a result of $4 million.

Martin Benn and Vicki Wild have sold their Gladesville home for about $4 million.Credit: Kristoffer Paulsen

The bungalow on Sunnyside Road had been listed with a $3.8 million guide by BresicWhitney’s Nicholas McEvoy, although the agent declined to confirm the price.

The house last traded for $2.5 million in 2015 when the couple ran the celebrated three-hatted restaurant Sepia, which closed five years ago.

Rose Bay’s bull run

Lawyer Chris Watson and Diane Barr-Watson have sold their Rose Bay waterfront home for about $35 million.

It was an off-market sale by McGrath’s Luke Hogan and buyer’s agent Mark Goldman, and title records reveal it was purchased by a company linked to Singapore-based forex broker Yu Li Song, who heads up TMGM Group.

Also in Rose Bay, two neighbouring houses on Ian Street have been snapped up by the Fortis property development leadership team of Charles Mellick, Patrick Keenan and Daniel Gallen.

Two houses in Rose Bay have sold in one line to the directors behind luxury property developer Fortis.Credit: Domain

Raine & Horne’s Alex Lyons and Ric Serrao had a guide of $30 million to $33 million, but a local source said the price was about $40 million. Settlement will confirm the result.

Read all about it

Andrew Forsyth, of the Dymocks founding family and a director of the book retailing franchise, has listed his Walter Burley Griffin-designed house in Mosman.

The 1927-built house overlooking Taylors Bay has been renovated in the more than 20 years since Forsyth and his wife Oldrey purchased it, and it returns to the market with a $5.5 million guide ahead of a March 23 auction through Atlas’s Nick Gittoes and Anthony Godson.

The Walter Burley Griffin-designed house in Mosman goes to auction on March 23.Credit: Domain

At the time the Forsyths purchased the house in 2001 the family was embroiled in a protracted and public battle with the late media mogul Sam Chisholm, who was their then neighbour in Palm Beach.

The Forsyth family were once among the longest-owning Palm Beach residents, having held their family cottage, Willeroon, since it was built in 1923. But in the 1990s, the retreat became a lightning rod for local heritage concerns when plans were mooted to rebuild it.

Historic council records reveal Chisholm was not a fan of such plans because it would have impinged on his views to the north, so in 1995 he applied to have the cottage forcibly acquired using ratepayer funds to be consolidated with neighbouring Wiltshire Park.

Dymocks director Andrew Forsyth has listed the Mosman house he has owned with his wife Oldrey since 2001.Credit: LinkedIn

When that failed, Chisholm applied to have the house’s setback from the street extended from six metres to 48 metres, and then made two attempts to have the house heritage listed.

It was all for nothing, but the stoush was enough to make the Forsyths reconsider owning in Palm Beach. No sooner did council approve the demolition of Willeroon than the family put it up for sale.

It sold at auction in 2002 for $6.3 million to the late developer Bob Rose and his widow Margaret, by which time the Forsyths had already purchased their Mosman house overlooking Taylors Bay for $3 million.