Rose Bay dad helps son buy house next door for $82.5 million – realestate.com.au

A wealthy Rose Bay father has helped his son and best friend buy the waterfront home next door for a whopping $82.5 million.

Businessman Jim Angelis, who in 2021 bought the trophy home Villa Florida on the waterfront at 12 Tivoli Ave, once owned by comedian Barry Humphries, for $45 million, assisted his son John Angelis and Yianni Gourlas in the purchase of No. 14 last October.

At the time, sales agents Ken Jacobs of Forbes’ Hui Xu and buyer’s agent Simon Cohen were silent about the buyers and have remained so.

But the mystery sale – the highest of the year until another Rose Bay home sold for $85 million just before Christmas – was the talk of the town and this week separate sources revealed the ‘local buyers’ were very close to home.

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The eight-bedroom property on a 1,138 sq m block at 14 Tivoli Ave has been for sale for years.

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It is located right on the waterfront.

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Moneyed Jim sold Coverforce, Australia’s largest private insurance broker, for $411 million in 2021 and bought his $45 million Spanish Mission-style mansion the same year.

Jim, currently managing director and chairman of investment manager Elyon Capital, subsequently demolished it and replaced it with a new six-storey house costing $18.6 million.

Now he has financed the purchase of 31-year-old John and 32-year-old Yianni’s neighbor.

The pair had been best friends at Scots College and are now business partners – co-chief executive officer at Clearlake Insurance Brokers.

They also bought a five-bedroom property designed by architect Michael Folk with internal lift and swimming pool for $10.85 million in 2021, which remains in both their names.

But this latest purchase is a major coup.

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The two classmates plan to move in.

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The waterfront 1,138-square-metre block at 14 Tivoli Ave has been for sale for years, with multiple sources telling the Wentworth Courier in February 2023 that the seller, Sicilian-born property developer Orazio Cambuglia, wanted well above $100 million.

Some said the owners of the property – consisting of three separate homes totaling eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a four-car garage to accommodate parents and children – wanted as much as $130 million (which would have equaled the Sydney house price record for Elaine and UIG Lodge).

But the most recent guide via Jacobs and Hui Xu of Forbes is said to have cost $85 million in April.

It is believed that the friends are moving in. There is certainly enough space. And it’s not far to enjoy the occasional home-cooked meal, courtesy of John’s mother, Julie.

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