Yet another blow for the uber-wealthy owner of $26million Sydney mansion that sparked a years-long legal feud
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An estranged member of a prominent Sydney family has lost a years-long court battle with his neighbour over the garage of his $26million mansion.
The opulent, Spanish-style home on Tivoli Avenue in Rose Bay, known as Villa Biscaya, has featured on Married At First Sight, The Bachelor and The Voice.
But more recently, it has been the subject of multiple legal feuds involving its owner, David Waterhouse, an estranged member of the Waterhouse bookmaker family.
Mr Waterhouse sold the property in 2023 for $26million to Aston Martin-driving investment banker Michael Rothner, of private equity firm Ashe Morgan.
Mr Rothner moved into the property in January, but settlement has not concluded.
It was a tidy profit for the ex-bookmaker, who purchased the home for $10.5million in 2020, pocketing more than double what he paid for it.
For all the tranquility the harbourside mansion may offer, it continues to be tainted by an ongoing legal battle relating to Mr Waterhouse’s plans to transform its street-level garage into a ‘self-contained dwelling’.
Mr Waterhouse sought to modify a development approval obtained by a previous owner in 2007 for works to the garage which were ultimately not carried out.
Mr Waterhouse (pictured) is the estranged brother of the Waterhouse bookmaking family
His Spanish-style home situated on Tivoli Avenue in Rose Bay sold for $26million in 2023
The ex-bookmaker purchased the home for only $10.5million in 2020
The street-level garage Mr Waterhouse sought to renovate is red-circled
Woollahra Council approved the application but things took a turn when the owner of a neighbouring property, Mincong Huang, opposed the proposal.
His lawyer Graham McKee wrote to the council, arguing the new works were substantially different to those sanctioned by the initial development approval.
He claimed the new works would increase the ‘apparent visual bulk and locate more of the development hard of the boundary of our client’s property’.
The lengthy legal battle concluded on Friday, when Justice Sarah Pritchard of the Land and Environment Court ruled the works could not proceed.
Justice Pritchard decided the 2007 development approval could not be relied upon by Mr Waterhouse as it had lapsed in June 2012.
While the decision may have brought closure to the feuding millionaires, it’s only the latest in a string of legal challenges pertaining to the block.
Last year, Mr Waterhouse launched proceedings against Mr Rothner’s ex-wife who he accused of cutting down trees on a neighbouring property.
Both Mr Rothner and his ex-wife have denied the claims.
Mr Rothner (pictured) is a principal at private equity real estate firm AsheMorgan
The opulent mansion has been featured in Married At First Sight and The Bachelor
Mr Rothner is countersuing and seeking damages, accusing Mr Waterhouse of refusing to sign off on development applications he claims have delayed renovations.
The matter is listed for a directions hearing before Justice Pike of the Supreme Court on July 18.
In 2019, Mr Waterhouse feuded with his neighbours at a $3.5million apartment in Darling Point, arguing their ‘yapping’ cavoodle, Fifi, was defecating on the harbourfront lawn.
His neighbour, Fay Cohen, the wife of master magician ‘Black Jack’ Garry Cohen, applied for an apprehended violence order against Mr Waterhouse.
The AVO was dismissed by a magistrate in September 2019.
Two years before that, he lost a separate court battle over the height of trees planted at the colonial-era manor in Elizabeth Bay he shared with his then-wife, Janette.
Mr Waterhouse agreed to trim the cypress trees to within 40cm of the garage roof’s height after his neighbour insisted her view of the harbour had been impacted.
Acting Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court David Galwey sided with the neighbour, ruling the tree needed to be pruned at least once a year.
