Australias most glamorous home Boomerang has $80m asking price

May 2024 · 2 minute read

One of Australia’s most glamorous homes, Boomerang, has hit the market with an $80m asking price.

Brad Pillinger of Pillinger was spotted showing people through the 1920s Elizabeth Bay Spanish Mission treasure last week.

When contacted, Pillinger had no comment.

But further digging with other sources indicates the $80m asking price for the Billyard Ave property.

Lindsay Fox, the Toorak-based billionaire trucking magnate, had bought it for $20m in the name of Fox’s daughter, Katrina, in 2005 from the late cleaning contractor and art collector, John Schaeffer.

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That’s $20m more than what was wanted when it was quietly listed in a similar whisper campaign in 2016.

The market’s moved on considerably since then.

And the Covid lockdown has only increased buyers’ appetite for big grand homes on large blocks.

Boomerang sits on 4233sq m of waterfront land.

But Double Bay’s Elaine — sold to Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquahar for $71m in 2017 — is on a bigger 6986-square-metre waterfront block.

And the house next door, Fairwater — sold to his Atlassian co-founder, Mike Cannon Brookes for a record $100m in 2018 — is on 8000 sqm.

All three homes featured high up on our list of Sydney’s and NSW Top 50 homes.

But there’s no doubting the unique appeal of Boomerang.

It features 25 rooms including a private cinema modelled on the State Theatre.

In 2005, Fox had got it for a bargain price at $20m.

Just three years earlier, Schaeffer had bought it from Duncan and Sally Mount for $20.7 million.

Even the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had once been interested in buying the prestige pile.

But Boomerang really made its mark in 1978 when it was the first Australian residence to break through the $1 million mark.

Oil recycler Peter Burnett paid $1.25 million.

Fox is the 10th owner since Boomerang was built on a much larger estate in 1926 for £60,000 by “music publisher” Frank Albert.

The top price in the east this year is in the $45m range.

Stockbroker Brent Potts sold Villa Florida in Rose Bay to insurance broker Jim Angelis and the Burrell family sold Rosemont in Woollahra to Andrew Griffin of the property financier Balmain Group.

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Originally published as ‘Australia’s most glamorous home’ Boomerang has $80m asking price

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