Norfolk Island home going cheap after legal stoush

AN island home is for sale at a bargain price as administrators try to offload the controversial estate of a millionaire philanthropist.

Norfolk Island

AN ISLAND paradise is up for grabs at a bargain price as administrators attempt to finalise the controversial estate of a millionaire philanthropist.

Swipe founder Eldon Foote made his fortune selling cleaning products to ordinary Australians, later repaying the favour through his large donations to charity.

When he died from lung cancer almost nine years ago, he left behind wills in Canada, the British Virgin Islands and Norfolk Island - where his clifftop residence is now being marketed for between $2.5 million and $3 million.

Just a few years ago the 4ha property was thought to have been worth between $6 million and $10 million.

Norfolk Island Real Estate agent Dave Weekly said administrators were now keen to offload the property after extensive legal action.

Canadian-born Foote was married three times and had six children.

A former Queen's Counsel, he signed the three wills on the same date and included a "poison pill'' clause, stripping everything but $10 of any promised inheritance from beneficiaries who challenged the contents.

While family members were reported to have been left various amounts of cash, investments, property and personal effects, the bulk of the $US130 million ($124.6 million) estate was left to charities in Melbourne and Canada.

A number of relatives sought a way around the poison pill with a legal fight launched to determine Foote's place of residence at the time of his death - and thus which country's laws applied in the distribution of the estate.

But in 2010 a Canadian court ruled Foote lived in Norfolk Island and thus the money would go to the charities.

Mr Weekly said family members, including Foote's third wife Anne, who still lived in the sprawling island mansion she shared with Eldon, were now keen to see closure.

Describing Foote as a private man who kept to himself but had "Norfolk at heart'', Mr Weekly said the property was the most significant holding on the island.

Foote built the home in 1972, shipping in the construction materials including New Zealand and Canadian timber and Italian tiles.

Named Foot Lane, Norfolk dialect for "why not?'', the property includes a guest cabin, separate three-bedroom manager's cottage, a large resort-style inground pool, stables and four fenced paddocks.

The two-storey main home is 1000sqm with nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a massive library and an indoor squash court.

Interior designs include a mountain lodge look in the living room, Polynesian-styled bar and a Japanese-themed bedroom.

Mr Weekly expected to find a buyer from Australia or New Zealand, describing both countries as being within easy reach by air.

Direct flights operate several times a week between Norfolk and Brisbane, Sydney or Auckland, with flight times of between two and three hours.