As James Packer sells 'grace and favour' house for $8.3m, Bellevue Hill home of Jodee Rich's family passes in

Billionaire James Packer was one of the few winners at auction on Thursday night when one of his family’s “grace and favour” houses  in Woollahra sold under the hammer for $8,375,000.

It took 16 bids from three of the four registered buyers to push the result beyond the $7 million opening offer and after it was called on the market at $7.65 million it sold $725,000 later – ending  53 years of Packer family ownership in the process.

Buyers’ agent Janne Sutcliffe, of Change of Address, declined to reveal the identity of her successful buyers, but sources say it was Melbourne property boss Rob Bowen and Sydney-based socialite Skye Holden.

The six-bedroom property on a north-facing block of 1000 square metres was one of two neighbouring houses bought by the Packers in 1965 for £36,000 and in recent decades was offered to friends and family in need.

The Rosemont Avenue residence next door was sold for $8.5 million in 2010 to print magnate Michael Hannan, who sold it last October for $13 million.

Casino mogul James Packer listed the last of the family’s Woollahra properties last month with Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks and Ray White Cronulla’s Matthew Johnston.

Packer was not in the country to see the property sold, but watching over proceedings in the crowded auction room was fellow Cranbrook School alumni Jodee Rich, co-founder of the social networking website PeopleBrowsr.

Rich was in attendance to see his mother Gayl Rich’s landmark Bellevue Hill home, Dawn, go under the hammer.

However, despite an opening bid of $9.5 million and a vendor bid of $10 million, the Rich family property was passed in at $10.05 million.

Of the 16 properties slated for auction on Thursday night, the Packer family’s was one of only two sold under the hammer, with three passed in and 11 sold prior.