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The family of the late Sir Bob Jones, a New Zealand-born property magnate, politician and author, have put his Darling Point apartment on the market with a price guide of $9 million.
Offered for the first time in more than 30 years, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit has stunning Sydney Harbour views. Jones, who died aged 85 in 2025, bought the pad for $1.06 million in 1993, records show.
Interiors feature marble finishes and bespoke joinery. A galley-style kitchen with timber detail offers show-stopping views over the harbour, while various rooms of the abode capture the Harbour Bridge, city skyline and across to Botany Bay.
Shared zones in the building include an indoor pool, outdoor pool, sauna and barbecue area.
In 1961 Jones established Robert Jones Holdings, a company with commercial and industrial property in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney. The privately owned company was valued at about $NZ2 billion (approximately $1.6 billion), according to The New Zealand Herald in May.
The businessman also made The National Business Review’s 2024 Rich List with an estimated wealth of about $NZ1.2 billion (approximately $987.9 million).
Jones had a colourful career with various roles and achievements to his name. He founded and led the New Zealand Party from 1983 to 1985, was made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1989, and wrote novels and non-fiction.
Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks and Luke Hogan are accepting expressions of interest for the Darling Point pad.
Retail heir adds to empire
Billionaire Alex Birkenstock, heir of cult German sandal brand Birkenstock, and his wife Vanessa have bought a $20 million apartment in Sydney’s Double Bay in cash.
Transfer documents this week reveal Alex Birkenstock as the buyer of a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, dual-level unit, previously owned by the late Eileen Bond, the first wife of the late business tycoon Alan Bond. There is no mention of a mortgage on the title, indicating a cash purchase.
The footwear entrepreneur has been adding to his Australian property portfolio. This is the fourth residential purchase, all mortgage-free, since December, totalling $163 million. Birkenstock has a reported net wealth of $US2.1 billion (approximately $2.98 billion), according to Forbes.
A sale sticker went up on the listing for the Double Bay pad with the price disclosed, indicating a sale prior to auction on March 16. However, it was left to settlement documents this week to reveal Birkenstock as the buyer.
The Birkenstocks purchased the property from the children of the late Eileen, who passed away aged 87 in 2025. Eileen had owned the property since 1986.
Situated in an art deco building, the unit has a sunroom with harbour views, a media room or fifth bedroom, and lift access. Redleaf Pool and Seven Shillings Beach are steps away.
In February, Birkenstock emerged on transfer documents as the buyer of Sydney’s top residential property sale of 2025, an $83.5 million waterfront estate in Rose Bay. The five-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion was purchased in December from Lawrence Myers, chief executive of James Packer’s family office Consolidated Press Holdings, and his wife Sylvia.
Also in February, this masthead exclusively revealed Birkenstock as the buyer of an $8 million Victorian mansion in Melbourne’s Brighton, and in May, transfer documents revealed him as the buyer of a $51.5 million whole-floor apartment in Sydney’s Crown Residences.
The Double Bay property was sold by Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks and Thomas Popple.
Unique method used to sell trophy home
An agent used a unique strategy to sell a Vaucluse trophy home, and it paid off, with the home selling under the hammer for $23.22 million on June 13 to a local family.
Properties guided at $10 million and above don’t often go to auction and generally sell via private treaty.
Lead agent Paul Biller of Biller Property, who sold the six-bedroom, three-bathroom residence alongside Ben Torban and Billy Moore, told this masthead that “Sydney’s prestige market is challenging”.
“Without an end date, properties can sit on the market indefinitely, there’s no sense of urgency,” Biller said.
“This property is blue-chip real estate, located on one of Vaucluse’s best streets with gun-barrel Harbour Bridge views. We had a motivated vendor who wanted to meet the market.”
The vendors, Dzu Nguyen and Elaine Hoang, who both work as GPs, bought the house for $16.6 million in 2020, records show, and it hit the market with a guide of $22 million.
Auctioneer Clarence White told this masthead the opening bid was $20 million and followed in increments of $500,000, $100,000, down to $10,000. Three of four registered bidders were active.
The property has a stone kitchen, high ceilings, whitewashed walls and statement lighting.
There are multiple living zones and views across the city skyline, Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
