Historical Sydney Home Sells For $50 Million, Smashing Coastal Record

Seaside splendour.

Historical Sydney Home Sells For $50 Million, Smashing Coastal Record

Image: AFR

In an exciting turn of events for real estate fanatics, Lang Syne – an esteemed coastal property nestled between Tamarama Beach and Mackenzies Bay – has been sold after an extensive seven-month period on the market.


Despite an ongoing real-estate crisis, with rentals harder to come by than ever while many Australian homes are impossible to buy and people are selling at a loss, luxury property is still being snapped up in some of the country’s most enviable spots.

This week, it’s been revealed that a Sydney home has shattered records for the entirety of the city’s coastal region. Though the exact sale price is yet to be disclosed, insiders speculate that it fell in the lower end of the estimated $47 million to $52 million range.

Tamarama’s previous real estate record was set at $29.2 million, while nearby Bronte witnessed a recent sale of around $30 million when AirTree co-founder Craig Blair acquired a Tipper Avenue residence from Cygnet Capital’s Darien Jagger.

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However, the sale of Lang Syne – a now-famous property owned by 82-year-old Dimity Griffiths who has resided in the 1920s Californian-style bungalow for a staggering 63 years – has now surpassed these milestones.

Purchased by her late husband and radio comedian Harry Griffiths in 1959 for the princely sum of $9,750 (must be nice), the property was cherished by the Griffiths family who have issued a statement expressing a mixture of emotions:

“It’s been a wonderful part of our lives for so long, and the sale marks the end of an era.”

Dimity Griffiths

The buyer’s identity remains unknown and the sale has been veiled in secrecy with strict confidentiality agreements in place. However, esteemed agent Michael Pallier from Sotheby’s underscores the strong demand driven by expatriates in the luxury property market who are competing for relatively few high-end properties while the exchange rate is relatively favourable.

“To acquire 1100 square meters in Tamarama, Sydney’s smallest suburb, with a north-facing waterfront location – it’s an incredibly reasonable purchase. This property is truly one of a kind, a unique gem,” says Pallier.

Standout features include a bloody good BBQ spot. Image: AFR

What the seemingly endless slew of stories about eye-wateringly expensive properties being snapped up in the blink of an eye while regular Aussies struggle to find a one-bed rental tell us about the state of the nation is for greater minds than me to determine…

For now, my thoughts are thus: Fifty million might not be my idea of “reasonable”, but if the new owners are happy then so am I. I mean, I’m not, but you know what I mean.