$30 million Professor Leslie Wilkinson Point Piper trophy home sold under scarf of secrecy
Businessman Charles Scarf and his wife Maria have secured the $30 million plus sale of their prized Professor Leslie Wilkinson designed Point Piper home.
The 1959 Wentworth Street property was the second-last of Wilkinson’s house designs.
The 19-21 Wentworth Street, Point Piper house (pictured above) was said to be loosely modelled on the Erechtheion, an Athens temple.
It last traded when bought from the then low-profile expatriate businessman Richard Wiesener for $8.25 million – which was 1992's highest sale. It included the neighbouring property that had been bought for $6.5 million for its tennis court in 1989, and it took the estate to 2,717 square metres.
The original house reportedly cost $350,000 in the 1970s.
No sale details have been released by the Ray White Double Bay agency so it is not known if it bettered the $32.4 million record hillside Point Piper record which stands with the now demolished, Professor Leslie Wilkinson renovated mansion, Craig-y-Mor, which was purchased by Chinese princeling Zeng Wei and his wife Jiang Mei, in 2008.
The house itself has 677 square metres of internal space.
It has been quietly on and off the market over several years, including during the boom years.
Offers exceeding $30 million and even reputedly closer to $40 million had been previously made for the large estate.
Title Tattle has not been ever aware of the supposed $50 million rejected offer.
It was relisted in February 2012.
It has been modernised by architect Michael Suttor.
Its home office in the former garage offers harbour views through to the Manly peninsula. The retired shirt maker-cum-property developer Charles Scarf was recently considering selling off the tennis court block separately, but appears to have decided to sell in one line.
News Ltd reports have subsequently suggested the buyers were Hunters Hill couple, Nick Langley, co-founder of Sydney fund manager Rare Infrastructure, and his partner, the arts patron, Lorraine Tarabay.
