A florist magnate has bought one of Australia’s ‘largest estates’ after flipping over his previous home for $52.4 million more than he bought it.
Leo Lynch, former CEO of flower wholesaler Lynch Group, bought the heritage-listed Leura estate in Bellevue Hill, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, for $70 million on Tuesday night.
That same night, he sold his mysterious home, a few blocks away, for $61.5 million after rebuilding the property he bought in 2014 for just $9.05 million.
The heritage-listed Leura estate (pictured) in eastern Sydney’s Bellevue Hill has been sold for an eye-watering $70 million to florist heir Leo Lynch
Previously owned by wealthy Chinese businessman Wilson Lee and his wife Baoyu Wu, the Leura estate dates back to 1891.
Built for the prominent Knox family, the property passed through several hands before landing in Lynch’s.
The ‘monument to the Queen Anne Federation architecture style’ features eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a resort pool and the original ballroom.
The price for Lynch’s home shocked agents when the 1,300-square-foot property scored a sale in the suburbs.
The price beat the $58 million record set in 2018 for the adjacent 5,700 sqm Rona estate.
Few details are known about Lynch’s previous home, as no images or marketing materials were created for its sale.
First-hand reports suggest the home impressed even the many mega-wealthy mansions that occupied the suburb, reports Domain.
Lynch’s latest purchase has brought him into a home nearly three times the size of his old one, with the 4,260 sq. ft. Leura estate.
Leura had previously been bought by Wilson and Wu for $30.8 million in late 2015, before listing it for $70 million two years ago after moving back to Shanghai.
The Leura property was occupied by the Knox family from 1891 until 1956 when Miss Helen Knox died and the house was sold.
The house then served as a boarding school for the luxurious Cranbrook private high school, before being sold in 1979 and again in 1985.
The property was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage List on 2 April 1999, one of five heritage listed properties in the area.
The property then passed into the hands of businessman Ken Allen and his wife Christina in 1986 for $7.3 million, who held it for three decades before selling it to Wilson and Wu for a record suburban property at the time.
Broker Brad Pillinger is believed to have negotiated between the two parties to facilitate Tuesday’s deal.
He declined to comment when Daily Mail Australia contacted him.
The $70 million fee is the largest paid in a recent rush to buy trophy homes in eastern Sydney, with more than 20 properties sold for more than $20 million (Photo: Leura estate)
The previous estate agents who sold Leura, Ray White’s Michael Finger and Di Wilson, described the property as ‘a Grade II listed building unparalleled in grace, style and historic significance’.
‘[It] is a monument to the Federation Queen Anne architectural style of that era,” the listing reads.
Leura’s new suburban high sale caps off a series of huge sales for trophy homes in Sydney’s luxurious eastern suburbs.
Domain reports that more than 20 sales have been completed for prices in excess of $20 million.
The highest of those, prior to the Leura sale, was a reported $69 million sale of businessman Simon Ehrlich’s Point Piper “Spaning mission” style home.
Lynch’s family founded the Lynch Group in 1915, an Australian company that grows and distributes flowers both nationally and internationally.
He is the third generation of Lynches to work within the company and was “instrumental” in the company’s expansion.
He served as CEO of the family business between 2015 and 2018 before transitioning to the position of executive director.
Lynch would then resign from the company’s board of directors in February 2021.