A lavish Sydney estate modeled after the kind of midcentury architecture in the Outback oasis of Palm Springs, Australia, that was asking A$20 million ($14.7 million), sold on Friday for an undisclosed price, according to property records.
The sellers are former Goldman Sachs director Karl Mayer and his wife, Tania, who built the amenity-rich home in 2014, city planning documents show.
Located in the city’s posh trophy-home hub of Vaucluse, it’s one of the few blockbuster sales in the area, as Sydney’s runaway housing market has calmed considerably since last year. The Mayers first listed the home more than a year ago for A$25 million (US$18.4 million) and have since changed brokerages and cut the price by several million amid the subdued market.
Luxury prices in Sydney grew by a modest 5.7% in the year through June, a significant decline from the 11% to 12% annual growth in 2016 and 2017, according to data from real estate firm Knight Frank.
The Mayers’ house is reportedly one of only five transactions this year in Sydney’s eastern neighborhoods, where a peninsula east of downtown juts into the bay, affording its affluent residents views over the water to downtown and the Sydney Opera house. The most expensive of those sales was the Rose Bay home of billionaire Brett Blundy, which sold in May for A$45 million (US$33.1 million), Mansion Global reported.
This latest sale was for a four-bedroom mansion at the end of a cul-de-sac. The home looks out over the water and downtown, and was even subject to some architectural alterations during construction because it was usurping views from its neighbors, according to planning documents.
Listing agents Bill Malouf and Sophie Beaumont of brokerage LJ Hooker declined to disclose the final sales price or more information about the sale, including the buyer’s identity, citing a non-disclosure agreement.
From Penta:Great Escapes: Languedoc’s Wine & History
Behind the sleek, glass-lined exterior, the 532-square-meter (5,726- square-foot) home boasts an expansive open-floor plan integrated with outdoor terraces. Inside, there’s a temperature-controlled wine room, home cinema, gym and home automation system. Outside, a large terrace leads to the landscaped yard and infinity pool, according to images of the home.
A former trader for Goldman Sachs in Sydney, Mr. Mayer went on to found hedge fund Global Trading Strategies, which reportedly managed US$1.2 billion at its peak in 2008. But the hedge fund’s strategy stumbled a few years later and the fund closed in 2011. He could not immediately be reached for comment.