Lamb House owner: ‘Our family would rather see the house fall down’ – than sell to Kevin Seymour

In a rare interview, the widow at the centre of the Lamb House controversy has hit back at accusations she is thwarting the restoration of her landmark heritage home – rather she feels “pressured” by property magnate Kevin Seymour. VIDEO TOUR

IN A RARE interview, the widow at the centre of the Lamb House controversy has hit back at accusations she is deliberately thwarting the restoration of her landmark heritage home.

Joy Lamb, whose health is ailing, claims she is being pressured by property magnate Kevin Seymour into surrendering the Kangaroo Point property so he can demolish it to make way for high-rise units.

“Our family would rather see the house fall down than sell out to a developer who only wants to replace it with phallic symbol to himself – get lost, Kevin!” she said.

Mrs Lamb, a heritage campaigner since the 1980s, said she had been offered $6 million by Mr Seymour for the 116-year-old home inherited by her late engineer husband Frank in 1994.

However, she said sources close to the developer had told her Mr Seymour had been bragging about turning $6 million into $60 million.

Joy Lamb: “Our family would rather see the house fall down than sell out to a developer who only wants to replace it with phallic symbol to himself – get lost, Kevin! [Seymour]” Picture: Peter Wallis

“Over my dead body,” said an angry Mrs Lamb, who resents being portrayed as “a pity case”.

“I value my privacy, but to suggest I’m a has-been, get a life! Back in my prime, I may have been nicely clad in fashionable garments but I never tried to be a socialite or fashion queen”.

Mr Seymour has described Mrs Lamb as “one (of) the leading ladies in Brisbane” who “has been unlucky enough to fall on hard times” and has reportedly offered to take Lamb House off her hands and restore it at a personal cost of $12 million.

The once impressive mansion is now a magnet for “squatters, druggies and thieves”, with smashed windows, rotting timber and mounds of rubbish. Picture: Peter Wallis

The 78-year-old developer, estimated to be worth $874 million, has said if the home were left much longer it would be impossible to save.

Mrs Lamb said Mr Seymour first approached her, via an agent (Ben McGrath, of Knight Frank), in late 2017 about purchasing the 3160sq m hilltop property that comprises several lots, including the largest one on which Lamb House stands.

“I made it clear 18 months ago that the house was not for sale, but that he could have first option to buy two other lots if I decided to sell, provided he maintained the grounds,” Mrs Lamb said.

Property magnate Kevin Seymour, 78, (pictured), estimated to be worth $874 million, has said if the home were left much longer it would be impossible to save. Picture: Jamie Hanson

“That has not happened, and it makes me sick to come here and look at how overgrown everything is.”

As for a reported breakdown in a long-term relationship with Mr Seymour, Mrs Lamb said the two were never friends.

“We were acquaintances, and believe me, I’ve had lots of people wanting to buy our property over the years, including Chinese investors offering $30 million, but I have my principles.”

Mrs Lamb, widowed in late 2013 and who has no children, now lives in a “small garden unit” on nearby Main Street that puts her within easy walking distance of the historic home.

She moved out of “the Lamb residence”, as she prefers to call it, in 2015 after the top storey bathroom floor collapsed.

Mrs Lamb said Mr Seymour first approached her in late 2017 about purchasing the 3160sq m hilltop property that comprises several lots, including the largest one on which Lamb House stands. Picture: Peter Wallis

The once impressive mansion is now a magnet for “squatters, druggies and thieves”, with smashed windows, rotting timber and mounds of rubbish.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” she said, “and while I’ve contacted the police to put trespass orders in place it still continues.

“Burglars have taken antiques, lighting, crockery and designer clothes – all I have left is a dining table and a few chairs.”

This week, Brisbane City Council weighed into the controversy, proposing to split the cost of purchasing the home with the State Government, then seeking donations so it could be restored as a community building.

“Burglars have taken antiques, lighting, crockery and designer clothes – all I have left is a dining table and a few chairs.” Picture: Peter Wallis

BCC on Tuesday placed a temporary local planning instrument (TLPI) on Lamb House to protect it for two years.

Mrs Lamb said she would be delighted to talk to Lord Mayor Schrinner, “who knows the full history of our home and surrounding developments”.

She said if a similar proposal had not been rejected by the Beattie Government in 2002, then the Lamb residence would already be preserved as a “living house, with all its furniture and ornaments” for the public to enjoy, as she and her late husband had wanted.

However, ongoing development, including the 2010 construction of a neighbouring mansion that sold in 2017 for $18.48 million, had caused irreparable damage to the rock foundations on which Lamb House was built.

Brisbane City Council is proposing to split the cost of purchasing the home with the State Government, then seeking donations so it could be restored as a community building. Picture: Peter Wallis

“The rock breaking, going as far back as the start of the Southeast Freeway in 1969, has destabilised our home,” she said.

In the early 2000s, Mrs Lamb defeated a bid by former internet porn king Greg Lasrado – who was “good to deal with, he treated me well” – to build on the site now occupied by the mansion.

She also successfully campaigned in the 1980s to stop three theme parks being built on the Kangaroo Point foreshore.

“It’s a long time that we have been caring about it (the house) … but it’s all but too late if the government and the council don’t apply their own laws for protection of supposed heritage buildings, then what hope does it have?”

Joy Lamb at Lamb House which is becoming ruined and has squatters. Pic Peter Wallis