The Queen of the Havaianas lists her Double Bay luxe home

The stunning home at 8 Wiston Gardens, Double Bay carries a $30 million price guide and puts one of the harbourside suburb's most personal new builds on the market.

Amelia Aspden has listed 8 Wiston Gardens, Double Bay, with gun sales duo Thomas Popple and Elliott Placks of Ray White Double Bay who recently completed the sale of the late Eileen Bond’s Double Bay home. The house is for sale via an expressions of interest campaign.

The Brazilian entrepreneur, who imports and distributes Havaianas in Australia and has done so for 27 years, said her brief to architects PopovBass was simple. 

"I told them I wanted a totally white art gallery," Amelia said. "I have so many paintings from all over the world, and I wanted lots of walls to put them on."

Her collection has been gathered from street markets and galleries in Brazil, France and the United States. She said she has never bought art to impress anyone.

"I look at something, I like it, I buy it, and it's done," she said. "I'm like my father. I like to move things. If you come to my house today and come back in six or eight months, everything will have changed."

The home sits at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, a short walk from Double Bay Wharf, Steyne Park and the village. It replaced a 1920s house on a hill believed to have once been a plantation, before the land was subdivided into residential blocks.

"The house was literally falling apart, and it had these tiny little windows looking out at this massive view," she said. "I'd always rather renovate than build. I adore renovation. But in the end we decided to knock it all down and start again. I thought I was going to find a treasure underneath.”

The five-year project was built by Komplete Construction and finished in August 2022. Council rules meant the new home had to go up rather than out to match the floor area of the long, low house it replaced, so it now spans five levels served by a residential lift.

Each bedroom and ensuite has its own palette, wallpaper and bespoke joinery. Amelia took the idea from a friend's London apartment where every surface was printed, and said it's not something Brazilians normally do. Crisp white finishes are warmed by mirrors, brass and rich textures throughout.

"I went to London to a friend's apartment, and in every single room there was wallpaper. Everything was printed: the sofa, the floor, the walls. You walk inside and it's all colour. I had never thought about wallpaper. We don't normally use it in Brazil, not at all. But I love it all so much.” she said.

The four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom home opens through a bespoke pivot door. It includes a dual-island marble kitchen with Wolf appliances, Sub-Zero refrigeration and a butler's pantry. 

There is also an upper-level main suite with its own alfresco area, dressing room and dual rain shower, plus a dedicated wellness space. Perrin & Rowe bathrooms include a sculptural Victoria + Albert bath and the showstopper mirrored powder room. Outdoors, a sunken fire pit, traditional sauna and pool with a harbour-view sun deck have hosted countless parties.

Amelia said the decision to sell had been hard, but her 12-year-old twins wanted to live closer to the beach. The family has now moved to Bondi, where she has bought and is renovating a building with a July 2027 completion hoped for.

"I absolutely adore the Double Bay house: the views, the size, everything," she said. "I'll always miss it. But the kids want to be near the beach, and you do it for them."

Amelia began importing bikinis from Brazil before a friend showed her the new single-colour Havaianas. She approached the company and was given 200 pairs to trial in Australia.

"In Brazil they are an institution. It's like Vegemite!”