Following the death of Sir Warwick in 1987, the house was lived in by his widow, Lady Mary Fairfax.Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners Pty Ltd, 1999 Also in 1987 their son, Warwick Fairfax privatised the publicly-listed media company, only for it to collapse (in a major stockmarket downturn) three years later.Macken, 2017, 4. Lady Mary Fairfax (née Marie Wein, 1922–2017) established the Australian Opera Auditions in 1964, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. This was the first of a string of charitable organisations connected with the arts which she joined or initiated. She had lived at Fairwater since 1968, where she conducted a salon where guests were able to admire the art works of Rodin, Epstein, Dobell and Degas. Among those she entertained were dancer Rudolf Nureyev, politician Pierre Trudeau, actor Phyllis Diller, entertainer Liberace, actor Glenda Jackson, Emilio Pucci and Imelda Marcos, first lady of the Philippines. The Sydney Swans were launched at Fairwater. In 1973 it was the scene of a ball for 1000 to celebrate the opening of Sydney Opera House. Another famous party at the house was the Concourse of Canine Elegance. Lady Fairfax was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1976, a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1988, and a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2005, for "service to the community of wide ranging social and economic benefit through support and philanthropy for ongoing medical research initiatives, improved health care opportunities, nurturing artistic talent in young performers, and preservation of diverse cultural heritage". Lady Fairfax was still active socially in the late 1990s.Lawson, 2017 Lady Fairfax had stated publicly that she planned to bequeath Fairwater to the people of NSW when she died. Her death came on 18 September 2017, aged 95. For nearly 60 years, Lady Fairfax had an impact on the social, artistic, philanthropic, political and cultural life of not just Sydney, but the entire country. Since she became media scion Warwick Fairfax's third wife in 1959, Lady Fairfax had assumed the position of First Lady of a large and influential media empire, which published prestigious newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review, as well as a vast network of magazines, radio and television stations.Hornery, 2017, 1
