Cardrona, the Sutton Forest home built for estate agent pioneer Robert Richardson

Cardrona, the 1880s Sutton Forest residence built for the real estate pioneer Robert Richardson, was repriced with $6 million-plus hopes for its midweek auction, but the 27-hectare retreat did not sell.

The vastly extended 1880s residence that sits amid Sorensenesque gardens was passed in at $6 million by the New Zealand business family headed by Sir Patrick and Lady Goodman.

"It is only due to the retirement of Sir Patrick and Lady Goodman that Cardrona is being marketed at this time," Chris Meares from Meares & Associates said.

"While the timing for the sale of Cardrona from the vendor's point of view may not have been opportune in a market sense, there is no doubt that the sale presents potential buyers with an outstanding property at a heavily discounted asking price," he said.

They were asking $7.5 million-plus early last year.

It is listed through Meares & Associates, with Michael Maloney from Richardson & Wrench Bowral.

It got its Olympic-standard equestrian facilities when owned during the 1990s by Vivian Arnold, the wife of the corporate adviser Richard Arnold.

Its previous owners include the Berkeley furs family, who paid $65,000 when it was bought in 1972 from the Hoskins steel pioneer family.