One of Kensington’s most recognisable heritage buildings — affectionately known to locals as “Kensington Palace” — has changed hands for $12 million, with the buyers being two of Australia’s most prominent figures in the fine art world.
Gary Singer and Geoffrey Smith, the duo behind leading Australian art auction house Smith & Singer, were the sole registered bidders at a Cooley auction held on Tuesday evening, 12 August, securing the grand property at 12 Todman Avenue. The sale was handled by Double Bay agent Peter Anderson.
The building has long been part of the Kensington streetscape. The site traces its history back to the W.D. & H.O. Wills tobacco factory, which opened in Todman Avenue in 1902, with the factory site also featuring the Raleigh Park Social Club — a sporting complex named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who is credited with introducing tobacco from North America to Europe. The administration building at number 12, designed by architects Joseland and Gilling around 1926, is a striking piece of Kensington’s architectural history, featuring classical columns, arched windows and a distinctive cupola. The factory itself closed in 1989 and was gradually converted into a high-density residential neighbourhood by Mirvac Group and Westfield in a joint venture now known as Raleigh Park.
More recently, the property served as the Sydney base of Menzies Art Brands, where tens of millions of dollars’ worth of fine art and memorabilia has gone under the hammer over the past quarter century. It was purchased by Menzies Management Services in 2000 for $2.95 million. Cameron Menzies, son of Menzies Art Brands founder Rod Menzies, has decided to shift the company’s focus to Melbourne, making the Kensington building surplus to requirements.
The property sits on a 2,557 square metre block across from Raleigh Park and offers more than 1,000 square metres of internal space over three levels, including a large basement, a boardroom, and three original walk-in safes. Also on offer is a private car park accommodating at least 21 vehicles, along with communal access to a tennis court, swimming pool and barbecue facilities at Raleigh Estate.
For Singer and Smith, the purchase represents a significant upgrade from their current Sydney premises at 30 Queen Street, Woollahra, which offers roughly 200 square metres of retail space. Smith & Singer — formerly known as Sotheby’s Australia — is regarded as the market-leading auction house for important Australian and international art and jewellery in Australia. The pair operated under the Sotheby’s banner for about a decade until their licensing arrangement ended in 2020, at which point they relaunched under their own name. Singer, a former Melbourne deputy lord mayor, and Smith married in 2018. Their Melbourne operations are run from Darnlee, a 47-room Toorak mansion they purchased in 2023 for $20 million.
The business has been on a strong run — Smith & Singer’s April 2026 auction of Important Australian and International Art realised a total of more than $23.6 million including buyer’s premium, which was reported as the highest value art auction ever held in Australia.
With their Woollahra premises now listed through Sotheby’s agents Michael Pallier and Harriet France at a $5 million guide, the acquisition of the Todman Avenue building appears set to firmly anchor Smith & Singer’s Sydney presence for years to come. The property had been guided at $15 million when it was first listed, though given its heritage status, unusual scale and mixed-use potential, it was widely considered difficult to value.
According to title records, the highest price previously achieved for a multi-use amalgamated site in Kensington was $20 million, set in 2024 when 153–157 Anzac Parade changed hands.
For Kensington residents familiar with the grand old building on Todman Avenue, the new chapter under Australia’s foremost art auctioneers may feel like a fitting one — a landmark property finding its way into the hands of people who make a living preserving and celebrating things of lasting cultural worth.
Published 13-August-2026
