The property features a baroque-style formal dining room.
Mr Mian maintains his buyers were “ideal candidates” for the sprawling family compound.
“The offer was on the table,” he said, adding that the vendor was adamant he would not accept anything below $43 million.
Mr Mian said when they were turned down, the would-be buyers opted for individual residential properties and a nearby shopping centre instead.
“He had a perfect buyer, and let’s hope they find another buyer like that,” Mr Mian said.
Now vendor Mr Li – the former developer of the Gold Coast’s Jewel – has changed tack, enlisting the help of a Brisbane agent, Yong agency’s Harvey Huang, to sell the property through an EOI campaign closing in July.
The property comes with a ballroom which doubles as a showroom-style five-car garage.
While previous price guides have ranged from $36 million to $50 million, Mr Huang says this time “there’s no real guide”, adding that “the vendors want to sell, but don’t have to sell”.
However, Mr Huang did offer some clues on price.
“They bought it for $8 million around 15 years ago, and construction cost around $8 million,” he said. “There have been significant increases in land value since then, particularly in the last few years.”
Mr Huang said he recently received an inquiry from Brazil, and that the potential buyer pool extended beyond state and national borders.
“This kind of house is extremely rare,” Mr Huang said. “It’s like a palace, a castle-like property and extremely private.”
$20m Bronte oceanfront to test top end
The CEO of Ray White Capital, George Ajaka, has listed his Bronte home just 14 months after picking up the luxury beachfront for $17.7 million from F45 co-founder Rob Deutsch. The Bronte Marine Drive property is held under a company name that lists George Ajaka as the sole director.
Mr Ajaka, who is the brother of controversial cosmetic surgeon Dr Joseph Ajaka, bought the property in April last year and is now selling it through Ray White Double Bay’s Elliot Placks with a $20 million auction guide.
The three-storey Bronte property comes with a lower bar, home cinema and wine cellar.
“To have a front row to Bronte Beach with a finished product is such a rarity,” Mr Placks said.
Well-informed local sources believe the $20 million guide is conservative, given how strongly the eastern beaches trophy market has performed despite rising interest rates.
Bronte recently clocked a record sale when AirTree Ventures co-founder Craig Blair bought Cygnet Capital’s Darien Jagger’s Bronte home for about $30 million.
The Bronte Marine Drive property features an Italian terrazzo island kitchen.
That was followed by the sale of Tamarama’s iconic headland home, Lang Syne, to ad man David Droga, in a record-breaking deal estimated to be around the $47 million mark.
Lift-off: Starship Enterprise sells for $16m
Sydney’s landmark hilltop abode known as Starship Enterprise – named after the fictional spacecraft from Star Trek – has sold for about $16 million after arriving on the market in April last year with an $18 million guide.
The five-bedroom property on Sydney’s northern beaches was sold by Yunlong Zhang, setting an Elanora Heights suburb record in the process.
This Elanora Heights property has sold for about $16 million.
Mr Zhang purchased the striking curvilinear structure from former owner, property developer and avid Star Trek fan Peter Chedid for $8.39 million in 2014.
Mr Chedid bought the two-hectare Caladenia Close site for $1.255 million and went about creating the striking contemporary home in 2010.
The two-hectare property was inspired by Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise.
The elevated home boasts some of the best acreage views in Sydney, extending across bushland, the ocean and a nearby lagoon seen through floor-to-ceiling glass.
The property sold through Christie’s Darren Curtis alongside Sydney Country Living’s Shayne Hutton.
“It’s the highest price ever achieved for an acreage on the northern beaches, and the vendor is very happy with the result,” Mr Hutton said.
Packaging executive sells Brighton beauty
Packaging executive Adrian Field, who runs consumables procurement and warehousing giant Star Services, has sold his family home in Melbourne’s Brighton within the $21 million to $23 million guide.
Designed by Melbourne design trifecta Stephen Akehurst, the late Stuart Rattle and gardening supremo Paul Bangay, the three-level, five-bedroom Dudley Street home known as St Ives features a pair of studies, library, cinema, cellar, lift, eight-car garage and pool with a cabana.
St Ives, on Brighton’s Golden Mile, sits on a 1900-square-metre block with pool and cabana.
The home is on a 1900-square-metre block on the so-called Golden Mile strip of the Bayside suburb, not far from where cricketing great Ricky Ponting has listed his sprawling family home after relocating to Toorak.
The sale was handled by Forbes’ Mike Gibson who said the property sold to a Brighton local.
“It’s very much a local market. Brighton people love to stay in Brighton because they love the lifestyle and proximity to the water,” Mr Gibson said.
Lachlan Harris offloads Bronte abode
Back in Sydney, One Big Switch founder Lachlan Harris has sold his designer Bronte home for about $8.5 million – around $1.15 million more than he purchased the Cross Street abode for less than two years ago.
Lachlan Harris has sold his designer Bronte property.
According to CoreLogic records, Mr Harris picked up the designer home for $7.35 million in July 2021.
Mr Harris – who is one of the five sons of Harris Farm founders David and Kathy Harris – was chief press secretary to former PM Kevin Rudd.
The property sold through PPD’s Alexander Phillips, who declined to comment on the sale.