But Butterworth demolished the homes and started building a 318sq m house in 2007 now valued at $3.6 million.
Neighbours complained at the time about the hillside being dug away, calling it a scar on the landscape.
The house, designed by architects Andrew Patterson, is partly made from rock and has three bedrooms, a study, a garage, two bathrooms, a pool in a central north-facing courtyard, and a spa pool.
Living areas flow to a sheltered, enclosed pool area and rotating fins open out to the sea when Butterworth and his family are in residence, but shut "like a rock face" when no one is home.
His rates are $11,729.01 a year.
The elusive Butterworth is thought to have property all over the world.
