Bellevue Hill secures $7.7 million house sale
Bellevue Hill has secured its highest sale for eight months.
It was at mid-week auction for $7.7 million.
The six-bedroom, six-bathroom Victoria Road was designed by Gergely & Pinter Architects for the Stockland founder Ervin Graf, who started building fibro houses in the western suburb of Sefton in the early 1950s.
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In the late 1950s Graf took over the smallest company on the stockmarket, Stocks and Holdings, which became the property giant, the Stockland group.
Graf had bought the Bellevue Hill block in 1961 and had the house built in the early 1990s. It was held by his widow, Kitty until 2003.
In his last BRW Rich List inclusion, Graf's fortune was estimated at $105 million, accrued after emigrating from Hungary.
Auctioneer Damian Cooley said there were four registered bidders at the auction held for Agency by Alison Coopes and Savills International agent Robert Lowe.
The three-level residence, built 21 years ago, last traded before its latest renovation for $5,715,000 in March 2011 when sold by Marc and Ann-Marie Albert, and before for $3.95 million in March 2003.
In 2010 Alison Coopes negotiated a $6.4 million sale of the property with Jun Qiu, a Chinese buyer, but the purchase was blocked by the Treasury's foreign-investment division.
The grandeur starts with its marble-floored foyer with a seven-metre-high ceiling, lift and stairwell that features a double-height stained-glass window designed by artist Penella Fesq.
The suburb's median house price fell 12% over 2012, figures compiled by the REINSW reveal.
The median house price as of December 2012 is $2,945,000 compared to $3,345,500 in December 2011.
The $7.7 million sale is the highest sale in Bellevue Hill since last may when the Haifer family sold Coppernoll, the 1920s Kambala Road residence for $9.8 million. It sold off-market to the Lederer family having been extensively renovated in 2003 after it was traded for $2.85 million in 2000.
The Kambala Road property was briefly listed with $10 million hopes in 2004. The 1,347-square-metre property has a wide street frontage and security gates that open to a driveway down to two double garages and a porte cochere. The rear comes with a wide covered terrace overlooking the swimming pool and level lawn.