Abstract Holomorphically homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann (CR) real hypersurfaces $M^3 \subset \mathbb{C}^2$ were classified by Élie Cartan in 1932. In the next dimension, we complete the classification of simply-transitive Levi non-degenerate hypersurfaces $M^5 \subset \mathbb{C}^3$ using a novel Lie algebraic approach independent of any earlier classifications of abstract Lie algebras. Central to our approach is a new coordinate-free formula for the fundamental (complexified) quartic tensor. Our final result has a unique (Levi-indefinite) non-tubular model, for which we demonstrate geometric relations to planar equi-affine geometry.