If these walls could talk: 2021’s most colourful properties

Heritage properties with a story to tell have long fascinated realcommercial.com.au readers, with properties linked to the past proving to be incredibly popular again in 2021.

Perhaps the pandemic has prompted some to look back on bygone eras with rose-coloured glasses or maybe readers just enjoy knowing more about older buildings. Here’s a look back on the best old buildings put on the market in 2021.

Melbourne’s oldest home finds a new owner

Built in 1850 this small shop with a unit upstairs is thought to be one of Melbourne’s oldest buildings.

Known as Russell’s Old Corner Shop, the King Street property had been home to Lola Russell and her late husband George Dixon for many years.  The couple ran a cafe in the shop downstairs.

Russell’s Old Corner Shop, Melbourne’s oldest home, sold at auction.

Ms Russell was born at the property and had lived there for most of her life until after her husband died in 2017, she then moved into an aged care facility.

The shop was originally listed for an expressions of interest sale with a $2.9 million price tag before being sold at auction for $1.875 million last month.

The heritage-listed property was purchased by investor Yan Qiu who plans on restoring it to its former glory.

The ‘Marriage Bureau’

Decades before swiping left or right was even invented, so many young men and women found love at the dances held at the Albert Palais building in Leichhardt, Sydney that locals dubbed it the ‘Marriage Bureau’.

Many locals have fond memories of dances and weddings at the Albert Palais building in Leichhardt. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

Built in 1934, the former dance hall was one of the top venues for socialising in the city and has in more recent times hosted many weddings and events.

The property sold for $11 million on a delayed settlement to the Glorious Gospel Church.

The church is currently occupying the property’s office space. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Owner Michael Onoufriadis admitted it had been tough to let go of the property.

“We have so many memories of all the weddings, christenings and events we did for people,” he said.

“I am happy that it didn’t go to developers and that the building will continue to serve the community.”

Longs Lane properties find new owner

Private equity firm NashCap purchased the 99-year leases on the Longs Lane Terraces in Sydney’s The Rocks district from the NSW government.

The Longs Lane terraces serve as a link to Sydney’s architectural past. Picture: supplied

The $36.25m sale came after a competitive tender process and the 18 buildings are thought to be among the earliest examples of European architecture in Australia.

According to the NSW government: “The Longs Lane terraces, 14 of which are State heritage-listed, are a unique ensemble of residential buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They include rare examples of the early 20th century government-built workers’ housing project initiated by the Housing Board Act of 1912.”

The sale will help preserve the properties in the long-term, according to the NSW government.

“The sale of the Longs Lane terraces via a 99-year lease allows private sector investment and innovation to play a key role in conserving and bringing these prized properties to life, while also keeping them in government hands in the long term,” NSW minister for water, property and housing Melinda Pavey said.

Tiger bounty

Bentley manor in Tasmania’s Chudleigh Valley was built in 1879 and with its 395ha of farming land, it also generates an income.

Bentley manor has been extended and renovated by the current owners. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy

The stately home was designed in part to replicate the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England and its stunning interiors are impressive. It looks like the kind of home the characters in Downton Abbey would have visited, had they travelled this far afield.

But it was the Van Diemen’s Land Company barn on the grand estate that really got readers talking.

Founded by English businessmen in 1825, the VDL is Australia’s largest and oldest dairy company. Yet the company began running sheep and exporting wool.

VDL was at the heart of the most famous case of a bounty leading to the extinction of an Australian animal. The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was abundant in the state prior to European settlement, but came to be seen as a pest by farmers.

The 395ha property also has a barn that was once used by the Van Diemen’s Land Company. Picture: realesate.com.au

In 1830, the company introduced a bounty of one pound per thylacine and ten shillings for a sub-adult – in addition to a bounty on Tasmanian devils and wild dogs.  The Tasmanian government introduced a further price on the thylacine’s head in 1888.

By 1909, when the bounty ceased, the thylacine was on the brink of extinction and by the 1930s it was wiped out.

Bentley has since been withdrawn from sale.

Former asylum attracts plenty of interest

This 1860s building was originally known as the Lachlan Park Asylum for Tasmanian Women as it was where women deemed ‘criminally insane’ were once sent to live.

It sits within the Willow Court Asylum convict complex which was closed in 2000.

The time is right for No.8 The Avenue’s next chapter to be written. Picture: Supplied

The property has 38 rooms and is in need of a renovation, but as it currently stands the building is also a reminder of a time when those with a mental illness were shut away from the world.

Historic property expert Dominic Romeo of Circa Heritage & Lifestyle said many of those expressing an interest in the property, wished to preserve its rich history in some way.

“Historically, it is very important,” he said.

“When they inquire, it is something that they want to know more about and often they have ideas about how they might preserve it. Just like Port Arthur, there is a story to tell.”

No.8 The Avenue, New Norfolk. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold

The property, which had been expected to fetch $1 million, sold for an undisclosed sum in September.

Rates dispute leads to forced sale

Lamb House which overlooks Kangaroo Point in Brisbane finally found a buyer this year, after Brisbane City Council put the property on the market.

The mansion was put on the market to resolve a rates dispute with the previous owner. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

The heritage-listed home had became the subject of a protracted legal dispute between Joy Lamb and the council over an outstanding $300,000 rates bill.

Ms Lamb moved out of the property in 2015 and the home had fallen into disrepair. Local planning provisions blocked developers from subdividing the parcel of land or demolishing the home.

Squatters are believed to be responsible for the graffiti. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale

But that didn’t deter Steve Wilson and his wife Jane from buying the 119-year-old home.  The couple plan on restoring it to its former glory.