A $45 million reputed offer by Simon Tripp for historic Mulgoa estate Fernhill
Businessman Simon Tripp has been identified as offering $45 million for Fernhill, a Georgian mansion in Mulgoa, the former home of property tycoon Warren Anderson.
The unsourced, unconfirmed report was written by The Australian Financial Review reporter Gretchen Friemann, who has written eight articles on the property saga since the listing by Colliers International in April 2011 with $50 million plus hopes.
The article noted that Tripp, a former investment banker, was a close business associate of Lend Lease boss Steve McCann.
The two men worked together at Ord Minnett stockbrokers and established a property vehicle that once held a stake in IMAX’s Australian operations.
Last November Colliers International confirmed Anderson had exited the historic Fernhill estate, making way for its sale with vacant possession.
Last week Anderson told Property Observer he had no idea what the receivers were doing with Fernhill.
"Ask my wife," he advised.
It's been suggested in earlier AFR reports that the property, placed on the market by receiver KordaMentha, had drawn widespread interest from developers, high-net-worth individuals and horse racing identities within Australia, Europe and Asia.
Colliers International NSW development director of residential Guillaume Volz, who was handling its sale, is not quoted in today's article.
The holding comprises 15 lots totalling 653 hectares, of which 404 hectares form part of Fernhill.
“Fernhill is arguably one of Australia's grandest estates,” Volz said last year.
Tripp has a long association with trophy homes mostly notably, the Chilton Parade, Warrawee house, Bremon.
Tripp and his wife, Brenda, paid $3 million in 1999 for the mansion known then as Pantugeul and spent about two years completing it. They sold for $10.1 million in 2005.
