Musgrave House in Mosman listed with $10 million-plus hopes
Mosman's historic Musgrave House has been listed for sale with $10 million-plus hopes through Darren Curtis at Christies International.
The sandstone mansion dates back to the 1880s. It currently sits on a 1,840-square-metre holding of beautifully landscaped grounds designed by Paul Bangay.
Set above Mosman Bay, the house has been fully restored by the current owners.
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Four of its six bedroom have ensuites.
The estate was once leased to the international singing star Diana Ross during her late 1980s tour.
In 1990 it was subject to a high-profile court case when the prominent orthopedic surgeon John Bannister took Supreme Court proceedings against his defaulting $9.75 million purchaser, the bankrupt businessman Kahlil Piscopo.
At the time it had been combined with a 1,000-square-metre McLeod Street waterfront holding.
Bannister had bought Musgrave House in 1976 for $40,000 and then paid $2 million in the late 1980s for the adjoining property providing waterfront access.
Neighbouring property is currently for sale.
Inside pictures on page 2
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The Mosman prestige residential market got some recent momentum when the Macquarie Bank boss Nicholas Moore and wife Helen secured a $13 million contemporary home on Middle Harbour, having lived elsewhere in a Federation Mosman house that cost just over $1 million in 1991.
Their new home had been on the market for three years. Shane Smyth, CEO of Cover More Insurance, was the seller, having renovated after paying $9.2 million in 2007, and then listing it with $14 million-plus hopes.
Property Observer revealed earlier this year it was a Chinese buyer who topped recent Mosman sales.
It was the $20 million sale of the home of the retired car dealer Laurie Sutton, at 5,154-square-metre on Bay Street it also ranked as the suburb's largest harbourfront estate. It was bought by Ying Li.
Mosman’s first big test in 2012 came with the sale of the 1885 Mandolong House, the renovated hillside residence listed with $17 million reported hopes – which sold for $18 million and represented a suburb-record price for a non-waterfront residential property.
The Mandolong Road property situated in a 2,909-square-metre location high on the slopes of Balmoral with a north-south tennis court and swimming pool was sold by the Woollahra-bound businessman Barry Roberts-Thomson and his wife, Victoria. It was bought by the Kahlbetzer pastoralist family.
Last year’s top Mosman sale was the $19 million sale of a Hopetoun Avenue waterfront property to neighbour Ros Oatley of the Oatley wine family. Its price reflected a serious price weakness, since it had traded at $22.5 million in pre-global financial crisis 2007.
Ros Oatley recently lodged plans with the council to utilise the extra space with a small single-storey addition to her own home, including a new dining room, along with a pool and landscaping, plus a sprawling lawn.
It came with a $2 million development application price tag.
Oatley had bought her existing home, Rivendell, a mansion complete with tennis court and pavilion, for $15.5 million in 2001 through Richardson & Wrench.
