Buyers of Archibald penthouse atop The Residence at Hyde Park revealed

The Archibald penthouse atop The Residence at Hyde Park has been sold.

The US-based comics writer Renée French and her husband, Rob Pike, have emerged as the purchasers of the two-storey College Street penthouse with its own swimming pool and spa.

The 654 square metre apartment comes with uninterrupted views over the city from a street lining Hyde Park which remains a hot spot as Sydneysiders and international buyers look to parkside city fringe living.

It has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a series of terraces and loggias.

It last sold for $10.5 million, with the price paid through Anthony Birdsall at Laing Real Estate yet to be registered on title.

He was seeking $13 million. 

The couple divide their time between California and their current Elizabeth Bay bolthole, which cost $1,375,000 in 2005.

French is a comics writer and illustrator and, under the pen name Rainy Dohaney, also a children's book author.

Her husband Robert is a programmer and author and is one of the creators of the Plan 9 operating system from Bell Labs and the Go programming language at Google.

She says her creative work differs from when she's in Sydney than when in California.

"It's just automatic.

"The water is right there.

"The light in Sydney is very different from the light in California.

"The air feels different, the smell of the place, the people... I've kind of always thought, 'Well, it doesn't matter where I am. Everything I do is from inside of me and therefore it's going to be the same'."

"But that's just not true."

This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph.