It was the best Christmas present a teenager could hope for – a Sydney mansion worth a whopping $17.5 million.

And it now leaves one of the country’s most stunning historic homes in the hands of a young man still not yet old enough to buy alcohol, get a tattoo without his parents’ permission or even to apply for credit to purchase his own house.

The sprawling Darling Point Gothic estate Bishopscourt, former home of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies, is now in the name of Caleb Wang, understood to be 17 years old, after being transferred last month from his father, Chinese billionaire Wang Qinghui.

Mr Wang, 47, bought the 16-room mansion from the Anglican Church in 2016 for $18 million. The December 2018 transfer of ownership from father to son was revealed in a search of NSW Land Registry Services documents.

But while Mr Wang senior’s lawyer, Gary Kosmin, confirmed Caleb’s age as not yet 18, he refused to disclose any more details. Caleb’s lawyer, Leon Rizos, also declined to comment.

The 6216-square-metre property is listed on the Register of the National Estate and features a dining room big enough to entertain 50 guests, formal reception rooms and a chapel.

The property had been in the hands of the Anglican Church for 105 years. A spokesperson for the church, Registrar of the Diocese of Sydney Doug Marr, expressed surprise at the development. “It is rather odd,” he said.

“We were never quite sure why he bought the house in the first place, but he obviously has a right to do with it what he wants to. Rumour has it that he was just using it to display his artworks, paintings and sculptures. It seemed strange, but the fact he’s now given it to his son is interesting.”

The house, originally known as Percyville, was built in 1841 for the early settler Thomas Woolley and bought in 1846 for 2500 pounds by AMP Society co-founder Thomas Sutcliffe Mort.

It was later purchased by the church in 1910 for 6750 pounds, and extended in the 1930s and again in the 1950s, before being sold to Mr Wang by agent Craig Pontey of Ray White Double Bay.

“It was just too large and expensive for us to maintain,” Mr Marr said. “It’s meant for a time when there’d be 10 to 20 servants carrying water around as it was built in the days before bathrooms. The scale was just too much.”

The archbishop now rents a regular house in Haberfield while a new home, with a church meeting room, is being planned for him near Sydney University.

The mysterious Wang senior, the president of Bonanza Investment, first debuted on the Forbes Rich List of China in 2014 because of his investment in Beijing Telecom.

Neither father nor son could be contacted for comment.

Prestige agent Bill Malouf, of LJ Hooker Double Bay, said it’s not uncommon for some Chinese property owners to transfer properties worth up to $40 million to their children who may have permanent Australian residency through their studies.

“Chinese families can be very close and it’s not unusual for parents to do something of this nature,” he said.

“It’s interesting that an Asian gentleman would purchase a heritage-listed property like this but it could be that they’re looking to convert the inside into apartments for the extended family to each have their own home.”

The chief executive of leading Chinese international real estate website Juwai.com, Carrie Law, said China did not have an inheritance tax and it was impossible to know intimate details of the family’s tax situation and why this transfer might make financial sense.

“But it is very common for wealthy Chinese to transfer assets to their children,” she said. “Some rich Chinese parents are eager for their children to grow up with a sense of responsibility, with proper social graces, and with the ability to successfully manage their money.

“There’s a worry that feudal, or second-generation, rich know only know too well how to burn money but not how to make it. Making your children responsible for real assets is a way of helping them learn to handle business affairs. Some wealthy young Chinese have been put in charge of entire business empires.”

It comes at a time when there’s now official pressure in China for the wealthy to stop flaunting their wealth; it’s now all about being discreet and responsible. “This is what rich young Chinese are expected to be today more than ever,” Ms Law said.

– with Lucy Macken