Has there been a legal case that better sums up ‘first-world problems’?
An opulent pink mansion in Sydney’s east has become the battleground in a bitter legal war over a handful of missing trees and a priceless view of the Harbour Bridge.
Known as Villa Biscaya, the Spanish-style palace in Rose Bay has been featured in glossy magazine spreads and used as a backdrop for reality TV shows, including Married At First Sight and The Bachelor.
But behind its gaudy façade lies a bitter dispute involving a multi-million-dollar property deal, a chainsaw, cash payments, secret tree-cutting and a series of damning WhatsApp messages about making sure there was ‘no evidence’ left behind.
It began in 2023 when options trader and art collector David Waterhouse, an estranged member of Australia’s famous Waterhouse bookmaking and horse racing dynasty, sold Villa Biscaya, on tightly-held blue-ribbon Tivoli Avenue, to investment banker Michael Rothner for $25.75million.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom property sits on about 1,119 square metres and boasts three car spaces, a pool, poolside cabana and sweeping panoramic views across Rose Bay towards the Harbour Bridge.
Under the agreement, Mr Rothner was granted access to live at the property ahead of settlement, with exclusive occupation from January 2024 while he carried out renovations.
But after moving in, the relationship between the two wealthy men spectacularly deteriorated.
Investment banker Michael Rothner and his ex-wife Lisa (pictured together) were embroiled in a bitter dispute involving a multi-million-dollar property deal
David Waterhouse (pictured) is the estranged brother of bookmaker Rob Waterhouse, uncle to Tom and Kate Waterhouse, and brother-in-law to horse trainer Gai Waterhouse
And at the heart of the dispute was something quintessentially Sydney: the view.
Trees on the neighbouring property sat directly in the line of sight from Villa Biscaya towards the Harbour Bridge.
Within months, a number of those trees and plants were mysteriously removed.
Mr Waterhouse launched proceedings accusing Mr Rothner’s former wife, Lisa Rothner, of being involved in their removal.
Mr Rothner denied having anything to do with the tree-cutting and countersued, claiming Mr Waterhouse had breached the contract by refusing to sign documents needed for his proposed renovations, causing delays and financial losses.
Following an extraordinary hearing, the NSW Supreme Court has found that Mr Rothner did authorise his ex-wife to oversee the tree-clearing operation.
The judge’s findings were based in part on WhatsApp messages exchanged between the former couple, who had been separated for years when the Villa Biscaya dispute erupted.
Justice Pike found the messages painted a picture at odds with Mr Rothner’s denials.
The dispute involved the removal of palms from a neighbouring property, including one more than 30 feet tall
The WhatsApp messages as described in the Supreme Court judgement, mocked up here
The pair regularly communicated about the garden works and Mr Rothner requested photographs and videos showing the changing view towards the Harbour Bridge.
In one exchange in January 2024, Lisa told him a worker was still clearing the site.
Mr Rothner replied: ‘Important – do not want anything left. Good to do Sun am when everyone away.’
Lisa responded: ‘Absolutely & we can’t have any evidence on site… Mike it’s just amazing.’
On another occasion, Lisa wrote that she wanted to clear the area so there was ‘no evidence’.
Mr Rothner replied: ‘Pls make sure they take ALL rubbish.’
Justice Pike found the messages were particularly difficult to reconcile with Mr Rothner’s claim that he knew nothing about the removal of the neighbouring trees.
‘The obvious inference is that the work was being done surreptitiously,’ the judge found.
And then came the chainsaw.
The court heard evidence from gardener Gary Gibbons, who said Lisa had told him that she wanted trees removed because they were blocking the harbour view.
When he questioned whether they had permission, Mr Gibbons said that Lisa told him: ‘We will blame it on David Waterhouse.’
He also gave evidence that there was discussion about creating a ‘bodgy company’ to make it appear the work had been carried out on Mr Waterhouse’s behalf.
Mr Gibbons said that he refused to be involved.
He nevertheless told the court that he was later paid $300 in cash, with another $300 handed over after he misplaced the first payment.
Mr Gibbons also said that Lisa and Al Shahwan, a contractor working for the Rothners, subsequently arranged for him to assist with removing trees on the neighbouring property.
Mr Gibbons described seeing Mr Shahwan with a chainsaw and said he was directed to cut down palms, including one more than 30 feet tall.
He said that Lisa watched from the Rothner property as the work was carried out.
Mr Gibbons ultimately said he cut down between four and six palms.
When the job was finished, he recalled Lisa bringing Mr Rothner outside to see the result.
According to Mr Gibbons, Lisa pointed towards the Harbour Bridge and said: ‘Look at what the boys have done.’
Justice Pike accepted Mr Gibbons’ evidence about the crucial April 2 interaction and rejected Mr Rothner’s denial that he had authorised the tree-cutting.
The judge found Mr Rothner was ‘intimately involved’ in the works being carried out at Villa Biscaya and had taken a keen interest in opening up the harbour view.
Michael Rothner (left) and his ex-wife Lisa (right) attended the wedding of Jewish society couple Jerome Srot and Cecilia Summer (together, centre) at Central Synagogue in April 2025
The evidence, Justice Pike found, established a ‘joint endeavour’ between Mr Rothner and his ex-wife.
She described Lisa as the ‘architect’ of the tree removal, with Mr Shahwan carrying out the work.
Most damningly, Justice Pike described the destruction of the neighbouring trees as ‘an act of vandalism unconnected with the carrying out of authorised works on the property’.
Yet despite that extraordinary finding, Mr Waterhouse did not get the victory he had hoped for.
The judge found the tree chopping did not amount to a breach of the particular clause Mr Waterhouse relied on to terminate Mr Rothner’s occupation of the mansion.
The clause prohibited works causing ‘damage, nuisance or inconvenience’ to an adjoining property – but Justice Pike found it only applied to damage caused by works carried out on Villa Biscaya itself.
Because the offending trees had been chopped on the neighbouring property, the clause did not give Mr Waterhouse the contractual right to turf Mr Rothner out of the mansion.
In short, the court found Mr Rothner had authorised the tree removal – but that was not enough for Mr Waterhouse to boot him out before settlement.
And while the legal battle may have produced a winner on the narrow contractual point, neither man emerged looking particularly squeaky clean.
Justice Pike made adverse credibility findings against both men, declaring: ‘Neither of the chief protagonists – Mr Waterhouse and Mr Rothner – have fared well in this litigation.
‘Neither has come out a real winner.’
Mr Rothner’s evidence was treated with ‘considerable caution’, with the judge saying she had ‘some difficulty in accepting key aspects’ of his account – particularly his denials that he knew about or approved the tree removal.
The contemporaneous WhatsApp messages, photographs and videos were difficult to reconcile with those denials.
The judge also found it would have been ‘natural’ for Mr Rothner to call Lisa to give evidence about whether he had authorised the tree chopping – and about the crucial April 2 encounter.
The four-bedroom property sits on about 1,119sqm and boasts three car spaces, a pool, cabana and sweeping panoramic views across Rose Bay towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge
David Waterhouse is an estranged member of the famous Australian horse racing dynasty. (Pictured from left: his bookmaker brother Robbie, sister-in-law Gai, fashion influencer niece Kate and bookmaker nephew Tom at a David Jones event in Sydney in February 2008)
Despite their divorce, the court found the former couple had remained close, with no suggestion they had fallen out. However, Lisa never took the stand.
Mr Waterhouse, meanwhile, was hardly let off the hook, with the judge also finding him to have been less than candid.
At one point, he told Mr Rothner that he could not provide earlier access to the mansion because it was rented until January 3.
He later admitted that this ‘was a fib’.
The court also found that Mr Waterhouse had breached the contract by refusing to sign an application for a construction certificate for works Mr Rothner wanted to carry out.
But Mr Rothner’s counterclaim for more than $1.3million in damages ultimately failed.
He claimed Mr Waterhouse’s conduct had delayed the renovations and caused increased holding and construction costs.
Justice Pike found that although Mr Waterhouse had breached the contract, the breach had not caused Mr Rothner any loss because he would not have immediately carried out the main-house works anyway.
Had the court found otherwise, the loss would have been assessed at $1,313,256.
Mr Rothner eventually completed the $25.75million purchase on December 17, 2025, with more than $20.6million supplied by NAB.
The court has yet to make final orders on costs, with the parties ordered to attempt to agree on the remaining issues by August 20.
Mr Rothner is a long-standing figure in Sydney’s eastern suburbs social circles.
He has been principal of private equity real estate firm AsheMorgan since 1990 and is a prominent figure in the Jewish community, serving as vice-president of Bondi’s Central Synagogue.
He was credited with welcoming Sacha Baron Cohen and his then-wife Isla Fisher into the synagogue after the couple relocated to Sydney during Covid.
The flashy property investor has long moved comfortably between the worlds of big business and high society, with his circle including former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and disgraced businessman Rodney Adler.
His love life has attracted its own share of interest.
Mr Rothner and Lisa, with whom he shares three daughters, separated in 2014 before divorcing several years later.
The Rothners had previously spent millions transforming their lavish Darling Point family home, which sold for about $23.5 million in 2014.
Property reports at the time recorded that the house had cost $4.825million in 2003, before they embarked on substantial renovations.
Following the end of their marriage, Mr Rothner was romantically linked to eastern suburbs socialite Ziah Lane.
Yet despite their divorce, Justice Pike found that the exes remained close – a fact that became significant when Mr Rothner chose not to call Lisa as a witness.
Lisa, meanwhile, is described on the Villa Biscaya website as a ‘host, stylist extraordinaire and creative director’ and as the ‘visionary’ who transformed the property into one of the city’s sought-after private estates.
No stranger to a property stoush, the dust-up with Mr Rothner is hardly Mr Waterhouse’s first taste of a Sydney property war.
In 2019, he became embroiled in a dispute at his then $3.5million Darling Point apartment after complaining about his neighbour Fay Cohen’s allegedly ‘yapping’ cavoodle Fifi.
The dispute escalated into claims concerning access to the shared pool, with Mrs Cohen ultimately applying for an apprehended violence order against Mr Waterhouse.
The AVO was dismissed by a magistrate in September 2019.
Mr Waterhouse is the son of Bill Waterhouse who founded a gambling dynasty that was carried on by David’s brother Rob Waterhouse – who is married to legendary horse trainer Gai Waterhouse – and their son Tom.
