Toni Collette's Paddington property matter back in court December 11

Jonathan ChancellorNovember 13, 2012

Lawyers for Academy Award-nominated actor Toni Collette and her musician husband, David Galafassi, are next due back in court next month as the couple are being sued over their failure to settle on an alleged $6.35 million Paddington terrace purchase.

The next directions hearing into the matter has been scheduled for December 11 in the NSW Supreme Court equity division.

Last October the couple reputedly signed a contract to buy a double-fronted Paddington terrace from Susie Kelly, the co-founder and owner of Industrie clothing with her husband, Nick. The court registrar ruled this week that the plaintiff, the Kelly's serve any evidence in reply by December 10.

The Stewart Street house was snapped at an undisclosed price – but understood to be about $6.35 million quite early in its October 2011 marketing campaign by McGrath agent Ben Collier.

The Paddington terrace over has since been been resold for $5.5 million, so the entertainment industry couple now know the $850,000 quantum of the claim against them, having been sued over their alleged failure to settle on their once intended $6.35 million purchase.

Designed by architect Anthony Gill and completed in 2009, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom house on a 360-square-metre block sold to the couple for a record for the southern side of Oxford Street, Paddington.

Consisting of two classic Victorian terraces combined into a palatial single residence, the contemporary tri-level family retreat had been reinvented after the merger of two terraces costing $2.15 million in 2003 and $1.865 million in 2005.

The entertainment industry couple's plans went awry after they struggled to find a buyer of their Bronte house.

Their 1885 Bronte weatherboard cottage that cost $4.4 million in mid-2009 had been tipped to sell for around $3.5 million through its McGrath Estate Agents listing agent Bethwyn Richards, but struggled to find a buyer.

Collette and Galafassi changed their minds on the Paddington purchase when they instead bought back at Bronte from the buyer of their own house.

The Kellys bought on Kutti Beach at Vaucluse last March for $15.5 million

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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