Forrest record broken with $6.45m sale via letterbox drop

Opening the mailbox is a seemingly mundane activity. Typically you can expect some catalogues, bills, junk mail, real estate brochures and an invitation to your next council meeting.

You don’t expect a trip to the mailbox to result in you acquiring more than $6 million, but for one Forrest family this was the remarkable case.

On a typical day in April this year, the owners of 4 Ord Street were met with a letter by a passerby expressing interest in buying their home, which was not on the market.

Two inspections of the home cemented the author’s love for it, and they made an offer of $6.45 million, which was accepted – the highest residential sale in Forrest and the third highest in Canberra’s history*.

The home was designed by architect Terence Ring, of Architects Ring & Associates, and built by CHASE Building Group about seven years ago.

On the architect’s design brief it states: “The block’s width exceeds its depth and as the northern sun is at the rear of the block, we designed the house to be long and narrow so all the rooms capture the northern sun.”

“The design of the house is almost see-through from the street, to allow the rooms to take full advantage of the solar gain and streetscape.”

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Mr Ring said one of his favourite elements was that it was actually designed to be a home, as opposed to just a house.

While the home does not beat the Canberra record for highest sale, Mr Ring pointed out it was the record for a “normal-sized” block.

There are two higher sales, both on Mugga Way, Red Hill – 11,353 and 5528 square metres, respectively.

Not included in the top 10 highest sales is Yarralumla’s Westridge House, as the sale price has not yet been released but it’s believed to have sold for more than $6 million. It sits on a 19,210-square-metre block.

The owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said the sale came at the right time as they were looking to downsize.

“We are happy the house will now be a home for a family similar to ours, and wish the new owners all the best in their new home,” the owner says.

“To have been approached by such like-minded people to purchase our home has made the whole process a seamless transition.”

The current owners will continue to live in the home until the end of July.

*Domain data sourced from government data.