‘Man’s small gift to Watsons Bay’: The passion project that sold for $10 million-plus

But regular Title Deeds readers will know it is his Vaucluse home that has long caught the eye of trophy home watchers, set as it is on half an acre of prime waterfront land at the end of Kutti Beach.

As for Summerhayes, the Pemba Capital boss had to dig deep for the three-bedroom house, despite increasingly soft market conditions.

Among the cottages recently sold in the suburb are that of lawyer Brett Galloway, for $4.8 million, a $6.4 million purchase by property investor Jason Camuglia (to go with his $12 million home next door), and the home of the late radiologist Dr Peter Kitchener for about $6.3 million.

That just leaves the 1880s cottage of fashion designer Jodhi Meares, a former wife of James Packer, up for sale at $4.8 million.

It was listed a week ago, six years after she bought it for $2.75 million.

Vaucluse’s cash buyer

The mystery of who bought the Vaucluse home of Graham and Marisa Campion, of the rich-list Rose family, for $30,388,000 has been solved. Sort of.

Zihong Wan has settled on the waterfront residence – paying cash, no less.

Alas, little is known about the apparent multimillionaire, with neither corporate records nor property registered to Wan’s name in the state. And none of the agents involved are willing to shed any light on what sort of business funded the purchase (which is, ultimately, what Title Deeds is about).

It coincides with another recent cash sale in Vaucluse, on the clifftop overlooking Diamond Bay, where a little-known Tianyi Jin paid $14.75 million, coincidentally using the same lawyer for conveyancing as Wan.

The Campions are less of a mystery. Marisa is the daughter of billionaire Margaret Rose and the late Bob Rose, and Graham is the former owner of the Longueville Hotel, which sold for about $50 million in 2022 after almost a century of family ownership.

Annandale’s loss

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson and his wife Jessica can be in no doubt about how the market is tracking, judging by the sale of their Annandale home for a loss.

The couple bought the three-bedroom terrace – freestanding to one side and with parking – in the good times of 2021 for $2.4 million.

It was listed last month with hopes of $2.5 million and went to auction where the only offer was a vendor bid of $2.4 million.

BresicWhitney’s Luke Grosvenor secured a $2.3 million sold sticker on Friday, freeing the Johnsons to trade up, no doubt with an eye on a discount of their own.

Kilcreggan settles

In Mosman, Sam Folder, whose late dad Ian Folder founded the natural insecticide company Botanical Resources, has emerged as the owner of the historic Federation mansion Kilcreggan, paying $14.25 million with no mortgage required.

Kilcreggan was the long-time home of former Macquarie Bank senior executive David Adams and his wife Elizabeth, who had initially hoped to sell for more than $16 million early this year.

It was newly listed recently with Atlas’ Michael Coombs with a guide of $13.5 million, and promptly sold.