Food blogger Stephanie Conley-Buhre has sold her Bellevue Hill “diamond in the rough” mansion for about $80m, $50m more than she bought it for three years ago.
Ray White Double Bay’s Ashley Bierman has confirmed he sold the “extraordinary” Victoria Rd Spanish Mission-style residence, Alcooringa, in a hush-hush off-market deal in June.
Separate sources claim more than $20m was spent on the lavish reno, which includes an internal swimming pool and three kitchens in the 2000sqm home on a 1560sqm block, but even if that’s the case, she’s still made a handsome $30m profit.
News of the deal broke after the buyer’s solicitor placed a caveat on the title for the property yesterday, revealing that an overseas-based expat, Hannah Chapman, had bought the property that had been so superbly renovated by Conley-Buhre and her venture capitalist husband Oskar Buhre.
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Bierman said the home bared little resemblance to the one purchased in 2021 from a doctor, Louis Klein and his wife, Claire. They’d bought it for $2.9m in 1993.
They’d tried unsuccessfully to sell it for the six years prior to the 2021 sale via range of agents.
“It was a diamond in the rough to start with and both Steph and Oskar put all their efforts into transforming what was a beautiful heritage home and getting the most out of it,” Bierman said.
“The scale and finish is extraordinary, every part of the house has been touched, it’s a collage of their travels around the world and they’ve created a beautiful ambience.”
He said he didn’t know what was spent on the renovation, though it must have been a motza.
The renovated home recently appeared in Home Beautiful and apart from the three kitchens and pool also has a gym.
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A former chapel is now a day spa and the original ballroom is a rumpus room.
Stephanie is the daughter of the late aviation pioneer and philanthropist John Conley.
Little is known about the purchaser, though it’s understood she was introduced by the buyer’s agent Simon Cohen, who has been contacted for comment.
The vendors are now known to be on the hunt for their next project, with Cohen’s help and a budget of $40m-$60m.
They also did well on their previous home which was also in Victoria Rd, bought for $17.1m in 2018 and sold three years later after a reno and new garden for $30m.
The reno on their latest house also makes the best of the harbour view, considered one of the best in Bellevue Hill.
Putting the sale into context, it sets a new record for Bellevue Hill, beating the Federation mansion Leura, which sold for $76m a year ago.