See the plans for the Wolseley Road mansion
Zeng Wei, the son of the former vice-president Zeng Qinghong, took his battle with Woollahra Municipal Council to the Land and Environment Court in October, after the council rejected his plans to demolish.
On Christmas Eve, Commissioner Sue Morris overturned the council’s decision, ruling the demolition of one of Sydney’s most expensive houses and the construction of a contemporary home in its place was consistent with council planning controls.
Zeng Wei, also known as Arthur, and his wife, Jiang Mei, bought Craig-y-Mor in Wolseley Road, Point Piper, two years ago and plan to replace it with a five-level, eight-bedroom home.
The court decision means they can build the home, with a few minor changes, including the removal of a cylindrical section containing a bathroom from the top floor.
It was the pair’s fourth attempt to get the plans approved, after earlier versions were rejected because the replacement house was declared too big.
They originally planned to have two swimming pools and a larger house, but scaled this back to one pool.
The architect for the couple, Stephen Gergely, successfully argued that the design sits comfortably among the mega-mansions of Wolseley Road, one of the 10 most expensive residential streets in the world.
The couple, aged 42 and 38, have two young sons. They live in China but are believed to be preparing to move to Sydney.
Mr Zeng’s father is known in China as the most important organiser behind a loose faction of ”princelings” – children from leading revolutionary families – and is said to have brokered the surprise deal that anointed Xi Jinping to be the likely next president of China.
Ms Jiang is a Beijing Dance Academy graduate. She is also a director of a $HK32 billion ($4.2 billion) Hong Kong-listed development company that builds shopping malls under main highways in bustling wholesale business centres in large and medium cities across China, often by converting civil defence shelters into shopping centres.
The house that will be demolished was built in 1908, and was redesigned by the architect Leslie Wilkinson in the 1960s, but it is not heritage listed.
Craig-y-Mor is known for its high ceilings, bay windows, arches and a colonnaded central courtyard. It has been home to the consul-general of Japan, the stockbroker Rene Rivkin and the stevedoring company owner Chris Corrigan.
The construction of the new house will involve digging into the sandstone bedrock to allow two levels to be built underground, including a massive garage.