Michael Pallier of Raine and Horne Double Bay called us on November 3rd with an urgent request. They were selling 93 Victoria Road Bellevue Hill (also known as “Le Manoir”) at auction on November 5th at 6:00 PM and they had a high profile celebrity wanting to watch and bid on the auction in real-time. The high profile celebrity was on business in the US.

“Le Manoir” a six bedroom estate, with ocean and harbour views, has been owned by the French government since 1956. The property also has a tennis court, swimming pool, five bathrooms, two studies, a guest power room and a three car garage.

The French government paid A₤26,000 for the property in 1956 and the house has only ever had two owners.

On the Wednesday before the auction, we headed down to the Raine and Horne offices at Double Bay (where the auction was being conducted) to inspect the auction room and check our connection speeds. We do this to ensure the Live Online Bidding service seamlessly incorporates into the auction room. Michael was so impressed by the service and its benefits he asked if we could be involved with his four auctions that night. We said yes and we added 88 viewers watching live via the webcast. Not to bad considering we did not even promote the event.

The “Le Manoir” auction started at A$18 million with Walter Lewin (a well known stockbroker) placing the first bid. After a further 13 bids at 6 bids / minute the property was sold to Lachlan Murdoch for 23 million under the hammer. The online bidder as reported by the Australian Financial Review was Russell Crowe.