Millionaires’ luxury home left with ‘severe defects’

A Sydney builder has been ordered to pay more than $1 million to a couple in the Northern Beaches after their multimillion-dollar luxury home was left unfinished and riddled with “severe defects” after three years of construction.

Doctor Dror Schmuelly and his wife, real estate agent Louise, bought the five-bedroom home in Bayview in 2007 for $1.55 million and hired Elrob Construction Group in 2017 to transform the house into a “luxury high-end” property.

The court heard director Elia Elrob Boujaoude told the couple: “I have built many high-quality luxury houses. This is my passion. I have some houses that I can show you.”

The court heard that one of the homes he showed the couple was a luxury property in Palm Beach; however, it was later realised that he had built a $177k fit-out for a cafe in a retail space at the site.