Murdoch son's $29m Sydney home

The six-bedroom mansion in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburbs.

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Russell Crowe may be The Gladiator, but he was no match for Aussie millionaire Lachlan Murdoch in the fight for a Sydney mansion.

Crowe, Murdoch, Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman – married to Kiwi-born country superstar Keith Urban – and seven other bidders were competing for the French government's former consulate in Bellevue Hill, in the city's exclusive eastern suburbs.

But Murdoch, the eldest son of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, scooped up the property for $29 million on Thursday night.

The six-bedroom house with panoramic views from Sydney Harbour to the Pacific Ocean, was expected to sell for at least $19m, but bidding reportedly opened at about $23m.

Those attending the closed auction were asked to pay a refundable deposit of around $60,000 to bid.

The 4000sqm property, named Le Manoir, includes a tennis court, swimming pool, five bathrooms, two studies, a guest powder room, three-car garage, a large reception hall and a commercial-size kitchen.

Murdoch and his wife, model and TV presenter Sarah, are expecting their third child. They have two sons, Kalan, four, and Aidan, three.

Their new home, which has Georgian architecture with 3.6m high ceilings, was last up for sale in 1956.

The house is surrounded by 3m high fences and a steel electric gate and is secluded at the end of a long, private driveway.

It is one of only a few to sell for more than $15m in the Sydney luxury property market this year, with spending curbed by the global financial crisis. But while Crowe may have missed out on Le Manoir, he has hardly been slumming it.

In 2003, he bought Danielle Spencer a $15m wedding gift – Sydney's then flashest apartment.

Crowe splashed out on the Finger Wharf penthouse, in plush Woolloomooloo, to surprise his new bride.

Taking up the entire second-top floor of the northern end of the wharf, it has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and three kitchens.

The top-notch pad is surrounded by water on three sides.