Steven Bartlett lists Cape Town mansion for R189 million
The Diary of a CEO host is asking more than double what he reportedly paid for his Bishopscourt estate just two years ago.
- Steven Bartlett’s Bishopscourt mansion is on the market for R189 million after reportedly being bought for about R93.3 million in 2024.
- The seven-bedroom, 9.5-bathroom residence occupies 7,447m² and includes a cinema, gym, wine cellar, spa facilities and padel court.
- At the asking price, Bartlett is targeting a R95.7 million uplift, roughly 103% above his reported purchase price. (Property24)
From Diary of a CEO to a R189m Cape Town property play
One of the world’s best-known business podcasters has put an extraordinary price tag on his brief foray into Cape Town’s luxury residential market.
Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur and host of The Diary of a CEO, has listed his sprawling Bishopscourt mansion for R189 million, little more than two years after reportedly buying the property for approximately R93.3 million.
The contemporary home at 12 Klaasens Road, Bishopscourt, is currently being marketed by Pam Golding Properties and appears on Property24’s R189 million listing. The numbers alone make this an eye-catching Cape Town property story.
If Bartlett achieved the full asking price, the difference between the reported R93.3 million acquisition price and R189 million asking price would be approximately R95.7 million, an increase of about 103% before acquisition costs, selling costs, taxes and other expenses are considered.
Importantly, R189 million is the asking price, not a realised sale price or valuation. Until a transaction is concluded, Bartlett hasn’t doubled his money.
Why is Bartlett selling?
Bartlett reportedly bought the Bishopscourt property in 2024 with the intention of dividing his time between South Africa and the UK.
Reports surrounding the new listing say the 34-year-old entrepreneur has spent only around one month at the Cape Town residence during his approximately two years of ownership.
His principal reported addition to the estate has been a padel court. No definitive reason for the decision to sell has been publicly established in the sources reviewed. (The South African)
Bartlett was born in Botswana and grew up in Britain. He became an entrepreneur at a young age before building his profile through business and media and appearing as an investor on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den.
His biggest media success has been The Diary of a CEO, which grew from a business podcast into a major international interview platform.
That makes the Bishopscourt listing more than another trophy-home sale. It puts one of Cape Town’s most exclusive residential properties — and the extraordinary escalation in its asking price — in front of an international audience.
The R189 million deal by the numbers
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | 12 Klaasens Road, Bishopscourt |
| Current asking price | R189 million |
| Reported 2024 purchase price | R93.3 million |
| Difference | R95.7 million |
| Increase over purchase price | ≈103% |
| Property type | Luxury freestanding residence |
| Erf size | 7,447m² |
| Levels | 3 |
| Bedrooms | 7 |
| Bathrooms | 9.5 |
| Garages | 6 |
| Additional parking bays | 6 |
| Rates & taxes | R18,315/month |
| Selling agent | Pam Golding Properties |
The current listings confirm the R189 million price, seven bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, six garages, six additional parking bays and 7,447m² erf. (Property24)
Inside one of Bishopscourt’s trophy homes
The scale of the property helps explain why it occupies the extreme upper end of Cape Town’s luxury market.
Set against the slopes of Table Mountain, the residence extends across three levels, with extensive glazing and concealed sliding doors designed to connect its open-plan interiors with the surrounding landscape and mountain views.
The current marketing describes contemporary minimalist interiors incorporating screeded floors, brass detailing, bespoke furnishings and neutral finishes. (Property24) Its leisure facilities take the house into resort territory.
Among the features reported or marketed are a private cinema, high-specification gym, wine cellar, poker/card room, sauna and steam facilities, heated swimming pool and padel court. The property also has alternative power and water infrastructure, including solar power and a borehole. (Pam Golding Properties)
R93.3m to R189m: What the numbers really mean
This is where the story becomes particularly interesting for property investors. At face value:
- Reported purchase price: R93.3m
- Current asking price: R189m
- Potential gross uplift: R95.7m
- Increase: approximately 103%
That is an extraordinary nominal increase over roughly two years.
But investors should distinguish between asking-price appreciation and realised capital growth. The real test will be the eventual selling price.
A R189 million listing demonstrates what the seller and agent believe the property can potentially command. It does not establish that its market value has doubled since 2024.
Even if Bartlett ultimately sells substantially below R189 million, however, the gap between his acquisition price and current asking price makes this an exceptional case study in the upper reaches of Cape Town’s residential market.
Far above the rest of the Bishopscourt market
The listing also illustrates just how far into trophy-property territory this home sits. Current Property24 search results show the R189 million Bartlett property at the top of the Bishopscourt houses being advertised, with another major luxury residence listed at R75 million. (Property24)
Recent reporting puts Bishopscourt’s average selling price at approximately R30 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with around R11 million five years earlier. Bartlett’s R189 million asking price would therefore be more than six times that reported suburb average. (Cape Argus)
It is an extreme example, but it speaks to a much bigger Cape Town property story. Prime residential stock in areas such as Bishopscourt, Constantia, Clifton, Camps Bay and the Atlantic Seaboard increasingly operates in a market where international wealth can compete alongside South Africa’s highest-net-worth buyers.
Foreign capital remains part of the Cape Town story
The Bartlett listing has inevitably reignited debate about foreign buyers and affordability in Cape Town.
Recent reporting citing Lightstone data says that over the decade to 2025, two out of every five South African homes valued above R20 million were acquired by foreign purchasers. (The South African)
That does not mean foreign buyers are responsible for Cape Town’s entire property boom. Supply constraints, semigration, lifestyle demand, wealth concentration and scarcity in prime suburbs all play a role.
But at the very top of the market, the ability of international buyers to deploy capital in rand-priced assets unquestionably adds another dimension to demand.
And a globally recognised entrepreneur potentially turning a roughly R93 million acquisition into a property marketed at R189 million within two years is going to sharpen that debate.
The real test comes when the SOLD sign goes up
Bartlett’s Bishopscourt mansion is unquestionably exceptional. So is its asking price. But from an investment perspective, the most important number isn’t R189 million yet.
It is the price at which the property eventually changes hands. If Bartlett secures close to the asking price, the transaction will become a remarkable example of wealth creation at the very top end of Cape Town residential property and another data point supporting the city’s emergence as a globally competitive luxury residential market.
If buyers refuse to meet that valuation, it will demonstrate something equally important: even in Cape Town’s hottest luxury nodes, there remains a difference between extraordinary asking prices and genuine market value.
Either way, this is one Cape Town property transaction worth watching.
