Nine Australian homes with a grim history

Every home has a history, but some are more grisly than others. If the walls of these particular properties could talk they’d have some tragic stories to tell.

Currently on the market, this Eagle Vale property in Sydney’s South once belonged to serial killer Ivan Milat – in fact, it was built by Milat and his brother and was the site of his 1994 arrest.

However, as agent Sue Parkes notes, no crimes were committed at the property and “the home has been very much loved for the last 20 years“.

The Frisoli murder house

A charming, well-renovated property, this free-standing house in Rozelle was the site of the Frisoli murder in 2009 in which property developer Albert Frisoli and his brother, Mario, were stabbed by a former business associate.

It sold for $2,265,000 to a Byron Bay buyer in June 2014.

Malvern Road

This apartment in Melbourne’s South Yarra was where Stuart Rattle, an interior designer, was murdered by his partner in 2013.

It went to auction in April 2015 with his former shopfront and sold for just over $2 million.

The Hyde apartment 

A two-bedroom apartment in The Hyde was the site of Lisa Harnum’s murder in 2011. Her fiance, Simon Gittany, was found guilty of murder after throwing her off the balcony. He has since launched an appeal.

The property went to auction in March 2015 but was passed in. It had been expected to sell for over $2 million.

Serial killers David and Catherine Birnie’s WA home

The three-bedroom brick home at Moorhouse Street, Willagee, is fully renovated and was put up for sale in October 2015. David and Catherine Birnie murdered four women in the property in the 1980s – a fifth victim escaped.

Catherine Birnie’s parole application was rejected earlier this year.

The home of the “woman Sydney forgot”, Surry Hills

The dilapidated terrace on Kippax St, Surry Hills, sold for $1,105,000 at auction in February. The body of Natalie Wood, a former David Jones machinist, was found at the property she owned in July 2011.

The last confirmed sighting of her alive was in 2003 at a local pharmacy.

Easey Street, Collingwood

This terrace in Collingwood was the location of the now infamous Easey Street murders in January, 1977. After the tragic event the property remained empty for nearly six years before being sold in 1983. It was listed and sold again in August 2011, fetching $571,000.

New DNA tests were ordered to be performed on the original murder suspects in 2012, and as of 2015 the crime remained unsolved.

The Snowtown Bank

The disused former Bank building in Snowtown, South Australia, came to public attention with the 1999 discovery of the bodies of eight murder victims as part of the infamous “bodies in the barrels” murder case.

The building, along with the four-bedroom house beside it, changed hands in 2012.  With a price of $200,000 sought, the selling agency raised $700 for charity at the property’s open day.

Boundary Road, North Epping

Sold in 2012 for $766,000, the four-bedroom home was the site of the Lin family’s killing in 2009, with full disclosure provided to all qualified buyers.

It’s a few suburbs over from the Collins St, North Ryde home where Sef Gonzales murdered his family in 2001.

Mugga Way, Red Hill

Luiga Costa murdered his neighbour, Terrence Freebody, in this property in July 2012. It went to auction last Saturday and was passed in.

Real Estate Institute ACT spokesperson Craig Bright said while “he did not expect the home’s history would affect the value of the property, but it might narrow the field of purchasers“.