Alan Bond’s former Perth home for sale

The youngest child of Alan Bond and his first wife, has been tasked with selling her childhood home.

Jody Fewster has the job of selling her childhood home. Picture: Colin Murty

The river-wrapping 1970s mansion once the home of businessman Alan Bond is one of Perth’s most revered and envied addresses.

Now back on the market, Jody Fewster, the youngest child of Bond and his first wife, Eileen, has been tasked with selling her childhood home.

While she is used to selling prestige property as owner and ­director of Ray White Cottesloe Mosman Park, never has it been this personal nor had such a large price tag. The current owner is hoping to fetch $35m when it goes on the market on Saturday.

The grand home, built in 1976, was designed for the couple and their four children by leading ­architect Geoffrey Summerhayes, who weaved the period’s special opulence through the property.

But the Watkins Road property on a quiet Dalkeith cul-de-sac was never just a trophy for the Bonds, who kept family at the heart of the home through two decades of ownership.

It was there Ms Fewster’s husband of 26 years, Damian, proposed and where she and sister Susanne were married.

“Being the youngest in the family, I spent a lot of time with Dad. So I used to go there every weekend while the build was going on,” Ms Fewster said.

“When I was little, I’d get into Mum and Dad’s (room) as a kid and literally wait for the dolphins to come up the river.”

Ms Fewster, far-left, partying with her father, far right, and his second wife, Di Bliss, in 2003.

That said, the home still ­became a destination for lavish parties of hot pants and hot tubs.

Over the years, the Bonds played host to Elton John, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan; business heavyweights Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer; and former prime ministers Paul Keating and Bob Hawke. Royalty even made the guest list, with ­appearances from Princess Anne and Prince Andrew.

Through 43 years of frivolity, the in-water bar on the edge of what is still considered Australia’s largest pool continues to prove a hit.

Ms Fewster said the home felt like an escape from the real world. “Once you’re inside that front gate, you could be anywhere in the world,” she said.

After the Bonds sold the home in 1995, successive owners added their own touch to extend and modernise the property.

Current owner Sue Gibson has decided to sell and split her time between the hustle of Perth and the slower pace of NSW’s Southern Highlands. Also a green thumb, she added to the immense gardens a range of fruit trees, offering mangoes, avocados, oranges and limes.

She bought the home with her then-husband, West Australian mining magnate Steve Wyatt, in 2011 for $39m. Following the couple’s split, Ms Gibson became the sole owner of the home.

Water views and ­immaculately kept gardens are complemented by a generous wrap-around balcony, a 21-seat theatre, 10,000-bottle cellar and tasting room, a 400-person ballroom, 12-car ­garage and a boatshed.

Ms Fewster said the sale might benefit from the growing interest in Australian real estate from ­expats living overseas. “I’ve often thought it’s going to be a local living here or someone who grew up here and is living overseas,” she said. “I suspect, with dollar priorities at the moment, people might be thinking it’s a good time to put some funds closer to home.’’