Princeton, Double Bay penthouse of the late interior design doyen Leslie Walford relisted after re-styling

The Princeton, Double Bay penthouse of the late interior design doyen Leslie Walford has been relisted for sale after its contents were sold off and its been restyled on an estimated $10,000 package.

The decluttering of the Princeton, Double Bay penthouse may help its sale giving buyers some relief from the distinctive Walford style.

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It was initially listed for sale with $4.95 million-plus hopes through Christies International agent Ken Jacobs, but now the apartment comes with a $4 million-plus hopes through Christies inconjunction with Paul Biller and Brad Caldwell-Eyles at 1st City-Hasemer+Caldwell.Eyles.

It has been listed by Walford's partner, Colin Davies.

The penthouse with 279-square-metre garden terracing sits atop the 1939 Art Deco Double Bay complex with northerly views across the harbour to Manly.

The apartment now has furniture installed by Kris and Greg Leveson who were among the pioneers of the Sydney property styling industry some 25 years ago after the then antique dealer couple discovered the business opportunity when they were selling their own family home.

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The Princeton interiors previously showcased the tastes of Walford, who retired just six years ago after an international career spanning five decades. The bones of the apartment remain - polished timber floorboards, high vaulted ceilings, ornate cornices, curved bay windows and french doors - and Walford devotees would see  a few remnants amid the decor.

The funeral of the doyen of Sydney interior decorators Leslie Walford was held at St Marks, Darling Point in February 2012 after he died peacefully at the Sacred Heart Hospice, Darlinghurst.

The Society of Interior Designers suggests Walford was one of the best-known figures in Australia in interior design having worked at the top levels of design for several decades, not only in Australia but also in Europe, Asia and the UK.

His business, Walford and Horgan Interiors – regarded by many as a byword for excellence in design – had many wealthy clients that included the media tycoons Reg Grundy and the Fairfax, Murdoch and Packer families.

He was described this week as “the man who 70 years ago began the slide away from drab interiors filled with Victorian brown furniture,” by John Furphy at the Australian Art Sales Digest.

"A good antique can be more of a friend than an object that doesn't have a past," Walford repeatedly suggested.

Surrounded by an eclectic collection of furniture and artwork, he celebrated his 85th birthday in January 2012 at his Double Bay penthouse, but abandoned his regular sojourn to his Sri Lanka villa due to his deterioriating health.

His entertaining tips were published in a 1983 interview piece.

His funeral notice acknowledged he was the dear friend of Richard (Dick) Keep and of Colin Davies.

When he was two years old Walford’s father died and his mother took him from Sydney to England for his schooling, and from there he went to Paris to study design.

It was in Paris that he developed a passion for period furniture, returning to Australia aged 27. In 1957 he established an antiques and decorating business in Double Bay's Knox Street.

Walford, who was proud his parents had convict ancestors, grew up with a love of Sydney.

He was a foundation member of the Society of Interior Designers and its national president from 1965 to 1966 and again from 1978 to 1979.

He was very much tapped into the Sydney social set – and for many years wrote a weekly Sunday paper column, Our Town.

The bits and pieces that he’s sold to clients over the years turns up occasionally at auction, such as a 1957 acquisition of an American feather picture of the eagle and flag.

In recognition of his contribution to the profession Walford was made a life fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, and in 2008 he was inducted into the DIA Design Hall of Fame.

Some of his collection was auctioned on his retirement in 2007 by auctioneer Mossgreen.

The contents of the Walford apartment were sold at another auction through Mossgreen last November. The sales tally suggest around $540,000 was grossed, including the buyer's premium, from about 400 household items.

The items represented five decades of accumulation by the noteworthy decorator to old Sydney money – and some later arrivistes.

They were listed by Walford's partner, Colin Davies.

The penthouse with 279-square-metre garden terracing sits atop the 1939 Art Deco building with northerly views across the harbour to Manly.

The interiors showcased the tastes of Walford, who retired just five years ago after an international career spanning five decades.

It was built with polished timber floorboards, high vaulted ceilings, ornate cornices, curved bay windows and french doors.

The initial Double Bay purchase cost $125,000 in 1975 from Sabrina Van der Linden.

The apartment, which comes with 500 square metres of space, was consolidated with another purchase in 1978 from the photographer Ann Riddell.

Born to parents who celebrated with two bottles of 1918 Bollinger, after his 1927 birth, Walford was sent off at the age of 11 to England. (The champers bottles, below, went unsold with a $100-150 estimate.)

After time in the British Army, he studied interior design in Paris. He had self-deprecating pretensions, often joking he was conceived at the Ritz. Then hastening to add it was the Ritz Leura, Blue Mountains guesthouse rather than the Paris hotel one he loved so much.

His penthouse apartment ceiling was painted with a bamboo and foliage pattern and suspended from this was a large Fortuny silk lantern from Venice.

"This traditional Chinoiserie effect is rather lovely in European decorating," Walford once told then SMH Sydney Magazine home decor columnist Margie Blok.

She was among the auction crowd that watched the Fortuny fabric tiered ceiling light (below) fetch $3,172.

Among the dearest items was a pair of Louis XV carved walnut fauteuil, signed Blanchard, French 18th-century armchairs that fetched $26,840.

A pair of Italian Blackamoor figures of two Nubian men, 19th-century, sold for $23,180.

A 19th-century French white porcelain and gilt bronze mounted elephant and pagoda form clock century fetched $7,320.

One of the cheapies appeared to be the Ross Watson painting, James II and youth, 1986 oil on canvas which fetched $3,416. His works are in significant private collections including Sir Elton John, James Wolfensohn and the British peer Lord Cholmondeley. Watson was a 1990 Moet & Chandon finalist.

The Historic Houses Trust (HHT) has become the home of some papers from the archive of the late Leslie Walford.

The Sydney Morning Herald's then Title Deeds columnist Margie Blok delivered a tribute at Walford's funeral.

"To a sparkling and beautiful star.

"He was the saviour of the most ordinary dinner party, for he could weave wonderful tales and rivet an audience," she said.