Infamous Aussie spy home’s mindblowing reveal

The infamous Aussie spy home caught up in a James Bond-style Russian KGB web has come in from the cold.

The infamous Aussie spy home caught up in a James Bond-style Russian KGB web has come in from the cold.

A secluded house in Avalon Beach that hid the nation’s most infamous spies is for sale with a guide of $9m – and yes it has a secret trapdoor.

The Petrov Affair in the mid-1950s was Australia’s most sensational spy case.

A Russian embassy colonel, Vladimir Petrov, asked for political asylum in Australia offering in return to reveal a Soviet spy ring in the country.

In April 1954 Mr Petrov’s wife, Evdokia, was dramatically bundled onto a plane by KGB agents until the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies ordered her to be released in Darwin when the plane landed to be refuelled.

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137 George St, Avalon, served as the couple’s Sydney hideaway,

Evdokia (Eva) Petrov and her husband, Vladimir Petrov when they lived in Avalon.

It wasn’t such a bad place to be hiding out, with these amazing views of the harbour.

The couple feared being killed and before being given new identities in Melbourne they were moved between four safe houses in Sydney.

One of those safe houses was 137 George St, Avalon, close to the water for a quick getaway and with its own trap door in the library leading to a bunker via metal steps in the wall. The low room doesn’t appear on the floor plan.

Wailing Russian defector Evdokia (Eva) Petrov, flanked by Soviet courier Valery Karpinsky and an embassy driver, at Sydney Airport on April 19, 1954, as she approaches the plane that was to have taken her to Moscow.

Property records reveal that the 1920s era home, on 2400sqm of land facing north over Pittwater, was compulsory acquired by the government in 1954 then sold two years later.

The Petrovs remained in Australia with Mr Petrov dying in 1991 and his wife passing away in 2002.

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A chushioned seat disguises the hidden trapdoor.

But after all these years, the entrance to the bunker is still there.

Metal steps lead down to the bunker.

Stephen Fitzmaurice’s parents bought the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home in 1994 for $850,000 and he said they remembered a longtime resident of the suburb telling them a policeman was stationed at a boatshed opposite the house all the time the Petrovs lived in George St. The Careel Bay boatshed is 100m away.

“We figured that if the KGB turned up they would be hidden under the floor,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.

The sandstock house was listed for sale in 2016 with a $5.5m guide but didn’t sell. Now it is a deceased estate sale.

Amy Young, of Laing + Simmons Young Property, said the home in a tightly-held locale with three living rooms and multiple decks would suit someone wanting privacy.

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Evdokia and Vladimir Petrov at home in Melbourne, 1964.

The agents say the home would suit a Hollywood actor seeking privacy.

The home is being sold in an expressions of interest campaign closing January 30.

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“Often when you have a view you must compromise on privacy but that’s not the case here. This home would suit a Hollywood actor wanting ultimate privacy,” she said.

The library has an original stone fireplace, the large kitchen has an adjoining vaulted conservatory, and the main bedroom has its own bathroom, water views and opens to the main deck.

There is also guest accommodation opening to a stone-paved patio. The garden has a cottage garden design with stone BBQ terrace and stone pathways. There is a large carport and additional car/boat parking.

The grand home is being sold by expressions of interest closing January 30.

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Originally published as Infamous Aussie spy home’s mindblowing reveal