PHOTO: Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie. AUSSIE CELEBS
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie already have arguably the country’s largest collection of private homes and yet the stockpile of luxury property grows. Sources say they have purchased one of the most prominent properties in the Southern Highlands, Wattle Ridge, for about $13 million.
This is the consolidated parcel of 258 hectares on which former publishing magnate Matt Handbury built an American Georgian-style homestead designed by architect William Zuccon, with interiors by Thomas Hamel and gardens by Paul Bangay and Myles Baldwin. It has a separate guesthouse, manager’s residence, tennis court, pool and, most importantly, equestrian facilities and dedicated riding trails through native forest.
Handbury, the nephew of Rupert Murdoch, used to retreat to the property some 20 years ago when he and his then-wife Fiona Campbell were renovating their Point Piper mansion Altona before selling it in 2002 for what was then a house price record of just $28.5 million.
Handbury sold Wattle Ridge less than four years ago for $8.25 million to hotelier Steve Bowden, the former Newtown Jets player of the 1980s and ’90s, and Bowden listed it last year when he moved to Melbourne.
Cannon-Brookes, whose net worth is more than $20 billion on this year’s AFR Rich List 200, now owns six significant properties in the Southern Highlands totalling $49.5 million, including his record-setting $15 million Widgee Waa farm in Kangaloon.
When you’re worth more than $20 billion, property is a fairly safe place to plough your spare change, but despite now owning $278 million worth of luxury property in this state alone, Cannon-Brookes’ main interest remains fighting climate change, with $1 billion worth of green energy investments to his name.
Given no comment from Cannon-Brookes, settlement will confirm Wattle Ridge’s exact sale price.
READ MORE VIA DOMAIN
