Sydney’s ‘Roman Palace’ sells for $15m

12 Benelong Cres, Bellevue Hill. NSW Real Estate.

An iconic Sydney palace with romantic Roman vibes has just sold in the vicinity of $15m.

Local landmark, Chateau de Benelong, is a stately seven-bedroom 1970s manor in Bellevue Hill with distinct Roman archways and Greek columns, despite being surrounded by more subtle stately homes along exclusive Benelong Crescent.

Listed in March, the mansion was marketed with a guide of $15m through listing agent Paul Biller and Ben Torban of Biller Property.

The deal was just one in an $80m dollar week for team Biller.

Although Biller remained tight-lipped on the exact sale price, and the new owners, he did confirm there had been solid interest in the Aussie chateau which last sold in 2015 for $5.9 million.

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Inside the home.

Created by award-winning designer Lesley Santy, and also known in some circles as The White House or European Palace. the three-storey neoclassical style property has always stood out from the crowd. Although Santy wasn’t an architect, he did win a gold medal in the 1957 international furniture exhibition in Milan.

Sitting in its original state for decades, Chateau de Benelong had a full renovation in 2011 when former owners, Nare Elio and Makedonka Del-Ben of the Big Dig Build Group, gave the home a facelift.

After paying $3.67m for the property in 2009, they also added a pool, a pavilion, a home theatre and wine cellar. The chateau later sold in 2012 for $4.995 million.

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One of the seven bedrooms.

Plenty of wow factor.

It’s wow factor drawcard includes sweeping views over the harbour, several living spaces, grand hallways, high ceilings and a series of iconic arched windows which open out to private terraces.

There is also DA approval for a rooftop terrace, a separate self-contained wing for guest or staff, an outdoor kitchen, heated mosaic-tiled pool and landscaped gardens.

Aside from Chateau de Benelong, Biller Property has reportedly racked up approximately $80m in sales as May transitioned to April.

“Now the Easter and Anzac Day holidays plus the election is behind us, regardless of who won, as well as a couple of interest rate drops, it’s led to a lot more buyer confidence. We’re finding stronger numbers at inspections and more competition on every property; which is what we haven’t had for the last 12 to 18 months,” Biller said.

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The pool is a recent improvement.

A five-bedroom house opposite Neilsen Park at 10 Greycliffe Ave, Vaucluse had a guide of $17m but sold at auction for more than $20m.

“That was a great family home and the position is as good as it gets in the east without harbour views,” Biller said.

Along with fellow agent Adar Barhaim, Biller sold 770 New South Head Rd, Rose Bay for “close to” its $20m guide.

The eight-bedroom home with postcard harbour views was the childhood home of now Paris-based Alexander Briger, the chief conductor, artistic director and founder of the Australian World Orchestra. In the family more than 100 years, it was the former home of Briger’s his mother Elizabeth, a ballet dancer in the 1950s, and father Andrew, a former Lord Mayor of Sydney and Waverley.

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10 Greycliffe Ave, Vaucluse sold for more than $20m.

In conjunction with Di Wilson from Ray White Double Bay, Biller also auctioned a five-bedroom house at 95 Hardy St, Dover Heights which sold under the hammer for $8.825m, changing hands for the first time in 40 years.

“That went for about $1m over what we’d expected at auction. Our guide had been $7.7m during the campaign,” he added.

Meriton executive Ariel Hendler, grandson of Harry Triguboff, entrusted Biller to offload his second Watsons Bay cottage in two months. His four-bedroom property at 5 Pacific St, which has secure access to Camp Cove Reserve, sold for between $7m and $7.5m after the three-bedroom house next door at number 3 fetched $15.7m in April.

Additionally, Biller and Torban with Steven Zoellner from Laing and Simmons Double Bay sold an art deco block of five units on Lamrock Ave, 300m from Bondi Beach achieving approximately $7m.

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