Bartholomew bookie family punts on Vaucluse offering
Tracey Bartholomew, the wife of big punter, Sean Bartholomew, has spent $8.8 million on a Vaucluse house.
It was sold by Baydon Fischer, the Asia Pacific head of trading for Dutch derivatives company Optiver, and his wife, Megan, through McGrath agent Ben Collier in conjunction with Bart Doff of Laing+Simmons Double Bay.
It was designed by architect Michael Suttor with interiors by Cameron Kimber after its early 2011 completion.
The three-level residence is on a 1056-square-metre block with a heated pool and gardens by Paul Bangay.
It had been expected to sell for more than $9 million, when marketed earlier this year as "one of Sydney's most elegant and exceptionally finished family homes."
It came with huge travertine island kitchen, with Gaggenau combiset cooktop, three ovens, two Miele dishwashers, Liebherr twin fridge/freezers, butlers pantry and walk in pantry with dumb waiter to garage.
The Fischer family built the five-bedroom house after buying the property for $4.7 million in 2008 from developer Bryan Rose from Rose Group.
It had been a large four bedroom Californian bungalow with huge rear garden that had previously been a tennis court when it was sold in 2008.
Its second storey allows a 360 panorama of the Pacific Ocean, Sydney Harbour and city skyline.
Bartholomew's business, Racing Odds which was well known in the industry for its ability to take on larger bets, was acquired by Sportsbet in 2009.
Sean Bartholomew kicked off his career in the Sydney betting rings working for bookmaker Warren Woodcock, later becoming a commission agent. He calls himself a statistics punter.
He sold his Dover Heights house last month for $4.81 million, having paid $4.8 million in 2006. It was initially listed for March 2012 auction.
