Sydney Harbour's skinniest home sells
Sydney's skinniest harbourfront home has been sold.
It's a four level home on a postage stamp-sized building block on Sydney Harbour at Darling Point.
Once a right-of-way slipway for nearby flat owners, the Darling Point house (pictured above) dates to the early 1980s when built by the veteran property developer Bill Shipton.
Set on a small sandy beach between historic Carthona and Neidpath, the Carthona Avenue was listed by the Melbourne-based landscaper Jack Merlo.
The waterfront property which came with $7.5 million plus hopes mid-last year was relisted this year through Pillinger Real Estate, inconjuction with Sothebys International. It reputedly sold for around $6.5 million.
It is just 207 square metres. It has been available during Merlo's ownership at $3500 a week rental.
It is best known as the former home of Lady Susan Renouf, who sold it in 1997 for $2.9 million to Melbourne socialite Dianne Allen through the Double Bay agents Marcia Resch and Jane Ashton.
Merlo paid $6.15 million in 2009.
Before the Melbourne trio took hold of the bijou sur mer, the four-level property with a pool, had some colouful Sydney characters as past owners.
In the late 1980s it lay dormant when owned by absentee investor, and nearby The Swifts' resident, Carl Spies - other than its use by skylarking rich squatters for weekend raves.
The waterfront - just over six metres wide - was then lavishly restored by stylist Barry Byrne under the patronage of landlady Dorothy Spry, who paid $2.4 million in 1989.
Title Tattle recalls Lady Renouf's mark was making the sandy beach house function as a home.
Her French-inspired home was her fifth NSW residence, the most famous being Point Piper's now long demolished, Toison d'or aka Paradis Sur Mer or Radford by oldtimers.
What is Sydney's probable second narrowest home remains listed for sale.
The house on the slither of land from the subdivided Paradis sur Mer estate is back for sale.
The 260-square-metre parcel of land - the second smallest vacant block among Sydney Harbour's 2,400 waterfront sites - is about eight metres wide and about 34 metres deep.
It was last sold by the speculative property developers Gerald and Monica Symonds for $1.44 million in 1994 and bought by the neighbours who owned the hi-tech Bang & Olufsen house, anxious that no further building take place on the site.
They built the narrow house that is currently up for sale through Sotheby's International agent James McCowan (pictured below). It's listed with $15 million hopes. It was initially listed in 2010 with $13 million plus hopes by the Taechaubol family.
