John Hewson put treasures from bachelor days under the hammer

John Hewson has had no luck selling his grand rural home, but the former Liberal leader will be hoping for more success when the contents of the mansion — including a 1980 Ferrari and a 1988 Bentley — go under the hammer next month.

Former Liberal Party leader John Hewson in Sydney last month. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

IT is hard to imagine former leader of the federal Liberal Party Dr John Hewson dressed in leathers splayed across the broad belly of a Harley Davidson softail but Hewson’s custom-designed motorcycle has been listed among a house full of cool treasures and momentos from his bachelor days set for auction next month in the Southern Highlands.

The life of Hewson, 72 (pictured), and his third-wife Jessica, mother to his seven-year-old daughter, has never looked as enviable as it does on the pages of the Vickers and Head auction catalogue.

There emerges a picture of Hewson, a Kogarah boy who became financier, businessman and federal politician, as a Dino Ferrari driving glamour boy at home among fine art, magnificent machinery and a great wine collection which he presumably enjoys while admiring trophies in his “hunting and horse room” .

Some 1200 lots from Hewson’s rural home, Invergowrie, will go under the hammer on December 1 and 2.

Hewson bought Invergowrie in 2004 following the breakdown of his second marriage to investment banker Carolyn Hewson.

He initially listed the sprawling property for auction in 2016 with expectations of $7 million plus but two years on, after failing to find a buyer for the house, has listed it for sale at $6.2 million.

Committed to selling, Hewson will auction the property’s contents including the 1980 Ferrari, a 1988 Bentley, garden statues, art, the contents of an impressive cellar, a grand piano, sporting collectibles, political caricatures, a billiard table and “many hand built models of ships and yachts” before downsizing, reportedly to live in nearby Bowral.

Hewson, who has four children from his earlier marriages, was leader of the federal Opposition from 1990 to 1994, replacing Andrew Peacock as Liberal Party leader.