Brambles chairman Stephen Johns buys in Darling Point

Brambles chairman Stephen Johns has secured the Darling Point apartment of Silicon Valley software billionaire David Doyle which has sold off-market for around $16 million.

Doyle, a software pioneer, paid $7.1 million for the lavish New Beach Road spread in 2000, a record breaking apartment sale in Sydney's eastern suburbs at the time.

Doyle, who co-founded Quest Software, a Nasdaq-listed company which he sold for around $1 billion, was the backer of Neil Perry's restaurant, Rockpool Bar & Grill.

The unit in the Burley Katon Halliday designed project was minimalist in design.

The four bedroom penthouse comprises 456 sqm of internal space, 103 sqm of terraces and 12 sqm of rooftop garden.

It comes with a private gym, study, maid's suite, home theatre and large terrace which, beyond the d'Albora marina, take in the Harbour Bridge.

Doyle and chef and entrepreneur Neil Perry sold the Rockpool restaurant empire to private equity-backed Urban Purveyor Group last year.

Doyle had helped finance the company when it first launched over a decade ago.

The Darling Point penthouse buy comes after Johns and wife Michele Bender listed their Bellevue Hill trophy home, Belhaven.

The Victoria Road residence comes with between $25 million and $27 million hopes.

The long time Westfield executive paid $4.5 million for the home in 1989. He engaged heritage architect Howard Tanner to undertake a restoration and renovation.

Belhaven dates back to 1919 when it was rebuilt by Sunday Times newspaper owner and showbiz entrepreneur Hugh “Huge Deal” McIntosh.

It has been called home by Resch’s brewing scion Arnold Resch and controversial businessman Leslie Owen Bailey, who ran it as the Belhaven Babies Home.

Set on 2,100 sqm, the three storey home with eight living areas on the entry level alone has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a sun room, library, two studies and a rooftop terrace.

This article first appeared in the Sunday Telegraph.