The fire that destroyed a $24m mansion in Sydney’s lower north shore is being treated as suspicious.
The blaze at the heritage waterfront home on Cliff Road at Northwood on Saturday night took 50 firefighters more than an hour to put out and destroyed the 107-year-old home.
“The fire is being treated as suspicious, with detectives attached to North Shore Police Area Command and the State Crime Command Financial Crimes Squad’s Arson Unit investigating the cause of the blaze,” a spokesperson for New South Wales police said.
Police have been door-knocking the surrounding properties.
The property was bought by neighbour and prominent fund manager Owen Chen and his wife, Xiao Hong Li, in December last year when the $24m price tag set a new record for the luxury area.
It had previously been owned by travel industry giant Mary Rossi for more than 60 years.
Owen Chen did not respond to requests for comment.
Fire and Rescue NSW said a specialist dog team was inspecting the ruins of the property.
“Fire and Rescue NSW has three dogs that have the capacity to identify or eliminate the use of flammable liquid after a fire,” Fire and Rescue superintendent Adam Dewberry said.
“We use them regularly, this is part of the process.”
In a statement, Fire and Rescue NSW said the home was “totally destroyed”.
“Crews were able to stop the blaze from spreading to neighbouring properties,” a spokesperson said.
“One FRNSW crew remained on site overnight to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.”
The home was originally built in 1915 and is one of the oldest properties in Northwood.
