Castle to shed: Five of the most unique homes for sale in Australia
Ever wanted a house that, as TV icons Kath and Kim would say, is “noice, different, unusual?” You may just have the chance to make that dream a reality, with five unique listings hitting the market recently.
Agents say these one-of-a-kind properties are in demand during Australia’s pandemic housing market booms. The homes offer a unique escape for those looking for extra space or even an actual castle.
That castle, on Sydney’s ritzy lower north shore, is known as Innisfallen Castle, and it is up for sale with a whopping $35 million asking price.
The Gothic-style castle at 14 Cherry Place, Castle Cove, features a tennis court and has approval to extend the property with a more modern build.
Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Michael Pallier said the home, on more than 8000 square metres of land, had been owned by the vendor for 30 years.
That vendor has been revealed as lawyer and Olympic water polo champion Peter Montgomery.
The eight-bedroom home was built by federal MP Henry Willis in 1904 and is the reason Castle Cove was named Castle Cove.
“It’s had really good interest – especially from overseas buyers,” Mr Pallier told Domain. “It’s only ever been used as offices, and it does have a caretaker who looks after it.”
Interest has grown since the unique home was featured on the Amazon Prime TV show Luxe Listings, Mr Pallier said.
If a castle isn’t what you’ve been looking for, perhaps a former church converted to a four-bedroom townhouse in Melbourne’s exclusive South Yarra is more your scene.
The property at 2/435 Punt Road is one of six in the building, offering an inner-city lifestyle with a “divine” design.
The townhouse was a Wesleyan, Methodist and Uniting church and is listed on the National Trust Database.
Biggin & Scott Stonnington director Michael Tynan said the vendor, who had owned the townhouse as an investment, had decided to sell as the market ran hot.
Given its location in one of Melbourne’s most expensive inner suburbs, the townhouse has been advertised with a price range between $1.35 million and $1.485 million.
In regional Victoria, home buyers can own a piece of local history as 49 Forest Street, Bendigo, has hit the market.
The five-bedroom home was built in the late 1800s and has been home to a kindergarten and a community radio station, Property Plus Real Estate Agents Danny Crowle said.
It is owned by the local Uniting Church, which had been using the home as its offices.
The home has some unique architecture with a porthole-style window at the front and a couple of extensions that were built sometime over the past 50 years.
“It’s a solid brick place, and it has nice high ceilings and that sort of thing,” Mr Crowle said. “There is some damage to the plaster in places, but you would expect that in a house that old.”
Those looking to escape to a more rural lifestyle can look for unique properties in Queensland and Tasmania.
In Gin Gin, four hours north of Brisbane, a unique metal-clad home has come up for sale.
To the untrained eye, it may look like a shed, but inside, there is a neat, two-bedroom home buyers have been very interested in, particularly because it’s so affordable, listed for just $290,000, which includes the house and 108,000 square metres of land.
“Until this time last year, a house like this could have been on the market for three years or more,” selling agent Gin Gin Country Realty’s Trevor Versace said. “But since COVID-19, it’s become very popular. It’s a neat little place to hide from COVID.”
Mr Versace said the ability to work from home had seen many people from the bigger cities move to rural areas like Gin Gin to live.
It was a similar story in Oatlands, about an hour north of Hobart, where a family hobby farm has come up for sale.
The vendor has decided to downsize, listing the almost original 1940s home overlooking Lake Dulverton in recent weeks.
The two-bedroom home at 151 Tunnack Road is expected to fetch the high $400,000s to early $500,000s, Harcourts Northern Midlands agent Nick Hay said.
“It’s been in the same family since the late 1970s, and they recently clad the outside of the home to neaten it up,” Mr Hay said. “But it certainly is a step back in time.”
Mr Hay said the vendor had kept a menagerie of animals at the home over the years, including draught horses, geese, poddy calves and most recently, guinea fowl.
The home would suit a young couple looking to get into the market with some acreage on offer – 5.4 hectares of land come with the home.
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