A ‘yapping’ cavoodle and access to a harbourfront pool are behind a dispute between two millionaire neighbours including a member of the Waterhouse bookmaking dynasty.
Fay Cohen, 62, is seeking an apprehended violence order against David Waterhouse, 61, after a long-running feud at their opulent apartment block in one of Australia’s most exclusive suburbs.
Mrs Cohen alleges Mr Waterhouse verbally abused and threatened her near their shared pool and he says she has accused several female visitors to his apartment of being prostitutes.
There have also been claims about towels on balconies against regulations, angry letters to the body corporate and controversy about the hours the pool can be used.
David Waterhouse is a member of the Waterhouse bookmaking dynasty, although he no longer works in that field. His neighbour in an exclusive apartment block at Sydney’s Darling Point is attempting to take out an AVO against him, alleging he harassed and verbally threatened her
Fay Cohen (left) lives in a harbour-level apartment with her husband Garry Cohen (right), a master magician who performed as ‘Black Jack’. The couple has been engaged in a long-running dispute with neighbour David Waterhouse who says her cavoodle is a yapping menace
‘It barks 24 hours a day – it never stops yapping,’ Mr Waterhouse says of Fay Cohen’s cavoodle Fifi, pictured near the apartment block’s pool. ‘When you go and have a swim the dog holds you up. Sometimes he’s out there, sometimes he’s not. Sometimes he won’t let you go past’
At the centre of the dispute is Mrs Cohen’s cavoodle Fifi, which Mr Waterhouse says barks incessantly, defecates on the harbourfront lawn and disrupts access to the pool.
A cavoodle is a cross between a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a miniature poodle and is one of the most popular small designer breeds of dog in Australia.
‘It’s all to do with one thing and one thing only: this f***in’ dog,’ Mr Waterhouse said.
Mrs Cohen is the founder of a luxury travel agency at Double Bay and Mr Waterhouse is an options trader and former bookmaker and art collector.
He is the estranged brother of bookmaker Rob, uncle to fellow bookie Tom and his fashion writer sister Kate, and brother-in-law to horse training great Gai Waterhouse.
Mr Waterhouse works out of the $50million sandstone mansion Tresco at Elizabeth Bay, which is now in the name of his wife Janette, from whom he is separated.
Mrs Cohen is married to Garry Cohen, an ‘international comedic magician’ who performed as ‘Black Jack’ and used to own Hey Presto Magic Studio in the city.
The Cohens and Mr Waterhouse live unpeacefully in the Santina building in Yarranabbe Road at Darling Point, near where actors Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise once lived.
They were all before Waverley Local Court on Thursday when Mrs Cohen sought an AVO against Mr Waterhouse.
Mrs Cohen has brought the action against Mr Waterhouse privately, meaning police have not been involved.
The Waterhouse racing dynasty includes bookmaker Rob, his horse trainer wife Gai, their fashion writer daughter Kate and son Tom, who is also a leading bookmaker. David Waterhouse has been estranged from his brother for decades. Left to right are Rob, Gai, Kate and Tom
The pool (pictured) in the Santina building can be used between 6am and 10.30pm. David Waterhouse says he usually swims in it about 6.30am before work and 9-9.30pm before bed
Mr Waterhouse told Daily Mail Australia he would be vigorously opposing the AVO application and had previously threatened defamation action against Mrs Cohen.
He denies ever threatening her as she alleges.
‘I just told her what I thought of her,’ he said. ‘I’d had enough of her. This has been going on for five years.’
A source close to the case has described it as ‘a storm in an eastern suburbs tea cup’ but it nonetheless looks headed for a hearing before a magistrate later this year.
Mrs Cohen bought her three-bedroom garden apartment in the 27-unit building for a reported $3.8million in 2009 and Mr Waterhouse paid $2.5million for a similarly sized unit four floors above in 2014.
Both apartments are now estimated to be worth about $3.5million. The building houses a mixture of professionals and retirees, some of whom rent.
At the top of the building in the penthouse is Kerrie Mather, the former CEO and managing director of Sydney Airport who is now chief executive of the powerful Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.
Fay and Garry Cohen live in a harbour-level apartment (pictured) in Yarranabbe Road at Darling Point. Mrs Cohen alleges David Waterhouse confronted her outside her apartment last month
Fay Cohen bought her garden apartment (pictured) in the 27-unit Santina building for a reported $3.8million in 2009. Mr Waterhouse paid $2.5million for a unit four floors above
Ms Mather, who is chair of the building’s body corporate, bought her apartment for $10.35million in 2007 and has recently spent millions more dollars on renovations which involved delivering building materials by helicopter.
At the bottom of the building, near the Cohen’s apartment, is a spectacular communal swimming pool which juts out into Sydney Harbour.
Mr Waterhouse believes the court matter can be traced back to his problems with Mrs Cohen’s dog and the proximity of the Cohens’ home to the pool.
The pool can be used between 6am and 10.30pm; Mr Waterhouse says he usually swims in it about 6.30am before work and by 9.30pm before going to bed.
He believes the Cohens want the pool’s hours restricted and for residents to use a second, less appealing, access point that is not so close to their home.
Fay and Garry Cohen are pictured outside Waverley Local Court on Thursday morning after Mrs Cohen applied for an apprehended violence order against neighbour David Waterhouse
There has been tension for years between Mr Waterhouse and Mrs Cohen over her cavoodle and their shared swimming pool.
‘It barks 24 hours a day – it never stops yapping,’ Mr Waterhouse said of Mrs Cohen’s tiny pet.
‘When you go and have a swim the dog holds you up. Sometimes he’s out there, sometimes he’s not. Sometimes he won’t let you go past.’
‘They want to change the pool hours so the dog doesn’t get annoyed.’
Daily Mail Australia has seen letters Mr Waterhouse has written to Santina’s managing real estate agent complaining about now seven-year-old Fifi from as early as April 2015.
‘This morning as I walked on the front lawn near the pool, I walked in a dog’s excrement – at the same time the dog from [the Cohens’ unit] jumped up and soiled my trousers,’ Mr Waterhouse wrote in one.
Those silk trousers were worth $400, he said.
SCG Trust chief executive Kerrie Mather owns the penthouse in the Santina building (pictured) which she bought for $10.35million in 2007. She has since spent millions of dollars renovating
‘When I purchased my unit six months ago I was under direct impression that there was a zero tolerance to any sort of pets in the building – especially dogs,’ he countinued.
‘If I was misinformed when I purchased the unit and dogs are indeed allowed in the building, then I would like to get a pet dog myself.’
The ban on dogs had indeed been lifted and there were now about 10 in the building Mr Waterhouse said.
Mrs Cohen’s magician husband is on the four-person body corporate.
In another letter sent to the managing real estate agent in July last year Mr Waterhouse alleged Mrs Cohen had placed notes under his door complaining he used the pool outside the designated hours and watered plants on his balcony.
The AVO application stems from a confrontation which began outside Mrs Cohen’s apartment late in the evening of April 3.
Mrs Cohen will allege that Mr Waterhouse came onto her property, harassing and threatening her with expletive-filled language.
Mr Waterhouse alleges In a letter to the managing real estate agent that Mrs Cohen approached him while he was standing with a female friend near the property’s sea wharf.
‘She came out of her apartment and asked my visitor [name removed] if she was there on the grounds on a professional basis – implying that she was a sex worker/call girl,’ he wrote.
‘When I told her to shut her filthy mouth she then said, ‘Does she have sex toys in her bag?’
‘I then replied, ‘You are an awful person inside and out’.’
Mr Waterhouse says Mrs Cohen also confronted two young women who had stayed in his apartment on April 1, suggesting they too were prostitutes when in fact they were department store fashion buyers.
‘They’ve always had a beef about me,’ he said of the Cohens.
‘I don’t want to look like I’m fanning the fire but it’s frivolous and it’s vexatious – it’s Nutsville.’
Prominent Sydney criminal lawyer Daniel Hakim, who is representing Mrs Cohen, said his client would be pursuing the matter to conclusion but declined to make any further comment.
David Waterhouse works out of the $50million sandstone mansion Tresco (pictured) at Elizabeth Bay, which is now in the name of his wife Janette, from whom he is separated
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