Take a look inside this Paddington Victorian terrace that was bought for $51,000 but now has a $8 million guide

When Frank and Suzanne Davidson bought their grand double-fronted Victorian terrace in Paddington in 1972, the high-density suburb was one of Sydney’s epicentres of cool thanks to the bohemian artists, writers and students who populated it.

Frank, a literary scholar and founding president of the Scottish Clan Davidson Society in Australia, and Suzanne, a former NSW manager of the Australian Ballet, paid $51,000 for their Elizabeth Street home after a bit of haggling with the vendor, a tailor from Greece, Savas Milienos.

The purchase price was more than double what was then Sydney’s $23,700 median house price.

The suburb’s fortunes have at times waned but more often waxed since then as the gentrifiers have moved in and had their way, opening up enclosed balconies and the back kitchen to create open-plan living areas.

The Davidsons have followed suit.

The heritage parts of the house remain set behind the historic 10.4 metre-wide facade and tessellated tile entry, with marble fireplaces, detailed ceiling plasterwork and picture rails still in place.

But the rear has been opened up so that the kitchen overlooks a rear deck and swimming pool, and there is a prized double car space with rear lane entry.

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The profile of locals has changed since the Davidsons bought their family home almost half a century ago.

Artists such as the late Margaret Olley and Donald Friend were later joined by the likes of media personalities Phillip Adams and Ita Buttrose.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy set a record for the suburb of $2 million in 1995 when they sold their former home Alster House.

There have been sales in the double digits in more recent years thanks in large part to bankers like Moelis Australia managing director Andrew Martin, who bought tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’s converted furniture emporium in 2015 for $10.4 million, and former Goldman Sachs director David Nolan, who bought the former Windsor Castle hotel for $11.85 million in 2016.

Former Westpac chief Brian Hartzer downsized to a free-standing terrace last year for $6.72 million, and in 2018 AfterPay executive director David Hancock bought into the neighbourhood for $7.65 million, all well above the suburb’s 2020 median house price of $2.54 million.

The Davidson’s five-bedroom home on 354 square metres – opposite what was once the popular 1980s nightclub Paddos – goes to auction on May 8 with an $8 million guide.

SOLD - $9,000,000

23 Elizabeth Street, Paddington NSW 2021

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