Mosmanites playing property pick a box with caution

Retired car dealer Laurie Sutton has relisted his Mosman harbourfront residence, which has been his home for the 34 years since it was bought from the Pick a Box presenters Bob and Dolly Dyer.

It last sold in 1977 for $376,960, when the Dyers headed to Queensland and sold to the Sutton family. Sutton hopes to secure $20 million for it.

The Bay Street tropical holding is like Hawaii meets Hamilton Island on Middle Harbour and despite renovations over the past three decades, there are still traces of the Dyers' day, including the imposing sandstone fireplace in its living room that overlooks Quakers Hat Bay.

But the teeth and jawbone of the couple's world-record 1062-kilogram great white shark catch that hung above the fireplace has long gone. As have the Dyers' cruisers, Tennessee I, II and III, along with Bob’s imported American car with the BOB 000 numberplates.

The property is Mosman's largest waterfront estate, on 5,154 square metres. Dyer, who was a hillbilly Tennessee vaudeville singer on his arrival in Australia in 1937, had paid £15,068 for the property in 1950, after upgrading from a house on the Balmoral side of Mosman.

Dyer had just signed a $33,000-a-year contract for his radio shows, which the newspapers reported was 11 times the salary of the then NSW premier, James McGirr. Dyer went on to host the television show BP Pick a Box between 1957 and his retirement in 1971.

Dyer, with his raucous "Howdy, customers" greeting, presided over contestants who faced a sudden-death decision of choosing between "the money or the box" with the secret prize.

He died in 1984. His widow – who, as Dolly Mack, had been a Sydney Tivoli showgirl in her teens – lived for another 20 years.

The listing in 2009 had expectations of beating Mosman's $22.5 million house price record.

The property developer Albert Bertini and his former wife, Heather, hold the record for a Mosman purchase, paying $22.5 million for Karawa on the Balmoral cliffs in 2007. They bought the estate from the property investor Phil Arnold. Albert Bertini created and runs Trivest, a property development company with holdings worth $400 million.

Karawa's sale beat the previous record for a Mosman house by more than $7 million.

Phil Arnold had bought the house in Hopetoun Avenue for $380,000 from Lady (Delzie) Hooker, the widow of the real estate tycoon Sir Leslie Hooker, in 1980.

After he paid £3,050 for the property in 1940 Leslie Hooker built a three-level 1950s house with boatshed.

The average Mosman house price has stood at $2.15 million for the past year, according to RP Data.

The Sutton property comes with approved plans for a replacement three-storey residence.

The vendors raised their family there and now entertain their grandchildren.

“It’s an estate for a young family to enjoy and make full use of all the gardens and facilities,” says Laurie Sutton.

“My children played cricket on the lawn and had many parties on the flood-lit tennis court and pool.

“It was the place where all the family’s  friends would hang out, which is the way I liked it.

“It is a very private place” says Laurie.

“Once inside the gates, you are away from the rest of the world whilst the grounds are enormous they are fully fenced and secured and very dog friendly”.

The listing agent agent Sandie Dunne says its rare to find a property of this size and calibre.

“Most others have been chopped up into smaller sub-divisions.

“It really is a family resort with every conceivable facility you could think of – tennis, cricket, sailing or just lazing around the pool; it’s just magical.”