Two grand Warrawee estates compete to smash the Upper North Shore’s $11.8 million high

There’s a contest under way for Warrawee’s suburb record hopes, with two of the local trophy homes up for grabs.

The newest entrant to the market is the Springfields estate owned by Rachael Gribble, wife of Quantum Group founder Peter Gribble.

Inspired by the English Cotswold’s style of the 1840s, it was built 29 years ago and designed by architect Michael Suttor for Mazda car-dealer John Newell and his wife Maria, who sold it to the Gribbles in 2003 for $6.6 million.

Set on 4679 square metres behind electric gates and a gatehouse, the seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom residence comes with a sunken billiard room, home theatre, cellar, gym, formal and informal living rooms, dining conservator, library, separate study, championship tennis court, putting green with a sand bunker and a 10-metre swimming pool. 

Lynette Malcolm and Jane Colyer, of Chadwicks Real Estate, are shopping it around with expectations it will top the Upper North Shore high of $11.8 million set by the Killara estate Ballernoo last year.

Going up against Springfields is Warrawee’s other prize and suburb record holder Bremon, which set a previous high of $11.5 million in 2010 when it was bought by one of the Northern Territory’s richest men, oil and gas entrepreneur Jerry Ren.

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Now owned by Ren’s former wife Xia Kong, the 6400 square metre estate has a nine-bedroom residence residence was designed by architect Espie Dods. It was built in the 1980s for oil magnate Pat Burke, but sold incomplete in 1999 for $3 million to entrepreneur Simon and Brenda Tripp, who completed it.

The four-leve residence covers a vast 2000 square metres of internal living space, including a billiard room, study, home theatre, gym, as well as landscaped gardens with a swimming pool and tennis court.

It comes with comes with hopes of $15 million in the more recent campaign launched by Bob Guth and Sam Green of Bradfield Cleary.