It was a celebrity showdown at the auction of a Southern Highlands holiday house this week when fitness guru Michelle Bridges went head-to-head against chef Luke Mangan.
???Ultimately, Bridges came away the winner after a $2.7 million final bid on the five-bedroom homestead in Kangaloon at one of the last auctions for 2017.
Local Southern Highlands sources say Bridges' purchase ends more than six months of house hunting for a weekender on acreage.
There were four registered bidders in the Ray White auction room, but it was left to Bridges' representative and Mangan to fight it out for the property, forcing the sale price well above the $2.4 million to $2.5 million guide.
Tony Fountain, of Ray White Mittagong, declined to comment on any of the would-be buyers, but said he had received an earlier offer of $2.25 million.
The five-bedroom residence has district views and is surrounded by landscaped gardens designed by architect Michael Bligh. The grounds include a tennis court with tennis pavilion, a solar-heated swimming pool, guest barn, art studio, purpose-built vegetable gardens and a dam.
Records show it was owned by investment banker Gary Bailey, who sits on the board of Disability Services Australia. He bought the property in 2004 for $1.14 million.
???The four-hectare property is expected to be a weekend escape for Bridges, her partner Steve "Commando" Willis and their son Axel. The celebrity trainers are ordinarily Elizabeth Bay locals, where Bridges bought her three-bedroom apartment in the Pomeroy building in 2013 for $2.9 million.
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Christmas offerings for $15 million
Just in time to tempt Sydney's ultra-wealthy for Christmas is the Bondi Beach penthouse of property developer Allen Linz to anyone with more than $15 million spare.
The two-storey "lighthouse" is next door to the recently purchased $14.75 million penthouse of heiress Ginia Rinehart in the Bondi Pacific, although it boasts a larger 300-square-metre external living space and views to both the city and the beach.
Fellow high-net-worth neighbours in the pedigreed building include art collector John Schaeffer, fund manager Will Vicars, Deke Miskin, Foxtel chief Peter Tonagh and Rabbitoh Sam Burgess.
The Pacific Bondi was a redevelopment of the former Swiss Grand Hotel by Linz's Rebel Property Group and Capit.el Group's Eduard Litver.
Steven Chen, of The Agency, and Adam Reichman, of Ray White Double Bay, are offering it on the quiet before an official campaign launch next year.
