Boomerang, Elizabeth Bay

Boomerang is an heritage-listed historic home in the suburb of Elizabeth Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1926, it lies on Billyard Avenue and has been ranked as one of the most expensive houses in Sydney.HistoryEnglish architect Neville Hampson designed Boomerang in 1926 for wealthy Sydney music publisher Frank Albert. Spanish-American in style, the building is named after Frank's father Jacques Albert's business trademark, and Boomerang song books and mouth organs were well known in Sydney at the time. The waterfront land had originally been part of the Elizabeth Bay House Estate; this had been carved up and rows of luxurious villas and mansions had sprung up in the area. Frank Albert himself had married and built a two-storey brick house in 1902, which he demolished to make way for Boomerang.Boomerang has been described as the oldest and finest example of Spanish architecture in Australia. A three-storey mansion with rendered walls, it has 25 rooms, 6 bathrooms and 4 kitchens. A private cinema was constructed in the basement by Albert in 1928. Likened to a miniature version of the State Theatre, it could seat 200 people.Albert resided at Boomerang until his death in 1962, after which the house remained closed with a caretaker until 1978. Oil recycler Peter Burnett bought the property in 1978 for $1.25 million, which was reputedly Sydney's first million-dollar house sale. Film entrepreneur and businessman Peter Fox bought it in 1981, but died when his Ferrari hit a tree at Kempsey, and it was sold to bookmaker Mark Read for $3 million 1982.