Atlassian’s Scott Farquhar Smashes $70 Million House Price Record to Buy Elaine in Point Piper

Scott Farquhar, 37, has come a long way in the property market since 2006 when he bought his first home, a two-bedder in Pyrmont for $1.41 million, where he still lives.

Having started to outgrow the Jacksons Landing apartment, despite buying the adjoining two-bedder in 2013 for $1.35 million, Farquhar and his wife Kim Jackson traded up significantly late on Friday when they agreed to pay more than $70 million for the Point Piper estate Elaine.

Scott Farquhar has bought Australia’s most expensive residence, the Elaine estate in Point Piper. Photo: Jessica Hromas

Funding the gap between his first home purchase and owning Australia’s most expensive house is the meteoric rise in his net worth since co-founding the global tech giant Atlassian with his university mate Mike Cannon-Brookes in 2002, using $10,000 in credit card debt.

Having debuted on the BRW Young Rich List in 2007, the tech duo topped the list last year with a combined wealth of $4.6 billion thanks in part to last year’s float of Atlassian on the US stock exchange.

The 1863-built mansion has been home to one of the world’s longest-running media dynasties since Geoffrey Evan Fairfax bought it in 1891 for £2100, and the sale by John Brehmer Fairfax ends 126 years of continuous family ownership.

The sale of Elaine, in Point Piper, has smashed the $70 million national house price record. Photo: Supplied

“We’re thrilled with the purchase and honoured to take over the Elaine estate in its entirety from the Fairfax family,” Farquhar told Domain exclusively.  “It would have been a great loss to see this rare property sold to developers and carved up.  When we heard of the plans, we just couldn’t let this beautiful piece of Australian history be turned into a development site.

“There is a certain nostalgia in knowing that multiple generations of an iconic Australian family have grown up on these lawns and we very much look forward to raising our family here.”

Farquhar’s purchase ends more than a year of house hunting for the couple, during which time sources say they have looked at some of the east’s most prized trophy residences.

John B. Fairfax has sold the Point Piper estate, Elaine, ending 126 years of family ownership. Photo: Wolter Peeters

The exact sale price remains unknown given no disclosure by Ken Jacobs, of Christie’s International, but he had maintained a $75 million asking price before it sold.  Settlement will reveal the result.  Jacobs refused to confirm the buyer’s identity, but multiple sources had already disclosed Farquhar’s purchase by Saturday morning.

Mr. Fairfax, who sold his remaining 9.7 per cent stake in Fairfax Media for $189 million in 2011, announced his decision to sell the historic property in September 2013 because no one in the family had lived in it for almost 20 years.

“This is an emotional day.  I sold a home that has been in the Fairfax family since 1891.  I am delighted it is being purchased in one line by an Australian family,” Mr. Fairfax told Domain exclusively shortly after the deal exchanged.

The view north over Sydney Harbour from Elaine. Photo: Supplied

Prestige market watchers on Saturday had welcomed the plans to keep the vast 6986-square-metre estate as one private residence, forgoing DA approval to subdivide it into the four separate, DA-approved residences.

The sale tops the previous $70 million Australian house price record set in 2015 when Mr. Jacobs sold the Vaucluse mansion La Mer on behalf of James and Erica Packer to Chinese-Australian businessman Chau Chak Wing.

As Farquhar’s fortunes have risen in line with Atlassian’s stellar success in the global tech industry, he has turned his attentions to Australia’s philanthropic initiatives to co-found the Pledge 1% program with Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff, whereby start-ups pledge to donate 1 per cent of their profits, equity, time and product.

Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar (right) and Mike Cannon-Brookes have traded up their real estate fortunes in recent years. Photo: Nic Walker

Mr. Cannon-Brookes upgraded from his Paddington converted warehouse to a $12 million mansion in Centennial Park in early 2015.

SOURCE: Domain.com.au
POSTED: April 29, 2017
AUTHOR: Lucy Macken

@Luxury Estates – experts on visionary marketing of Australia’s most luxurious real estate for sale