Record sale: 9 Corberry Street, The Range, sells for $2.25 million

In a record residential sale for the Rockhampton region, a century-old house on The Range has sold to local buyers for $2.25 million. Here’s what we know about the property.

In a record residential sale for the Rockhampton region, a century-old house on The Range has sold to local buyers for $2.25 million.

The property at 9 Corberry Street sold on January 19 and settled in March through Pat O’Driscoll Real Estate.

Sales consultant Penny Keating said the home was built by the Skyring family in 1920.

Ms Keating said T.D. Skyring was well known in the timber industry and was the manager of the family owned sawmill at Toolooa, in the Gladstone region.

SOLD: 9 Corberry Street, The Range, sold for $2.25 million on January 19, 2022. Picture: Contributed

“When the sawmill was dismantled and re-erected in Rockhampton, the family moved to Corberry Street,” she said.

“One of their three children, Doris Una Skyring, became well respected as a medical professional dedicating her life to the Central Queensland community.”

She said the Skyring family left their home in Corberry Street in 1949 and moved into a modern brick home at 98 Victoria Parade - where the Skyring’s Restaurant and Bar named in their honour stands today.

She said 9 Corberry Street was then purchased by the Department of Health and Home Affairs for the purpose of setting up a hospital for premature and sick babies, as well as providing accommodation for their mothers.

She said after 20 thousand pounds was spent converting the home for this purpose, The Maternal and Child Welfare Home opened on September 21, 1952.

She said the site was bought by a private syndicate in 2007 with the intention to redevelop the property and build units, however, the global financial crisis disrupted their plans.

She said the home was then bought by a local family who set about restoring the dwelling to its “former health and grandeur”.

“This they have done over many years revealing a wonderfully faithful and quality restoration and renovation,” she said.

“All renovations have been done to the utmost quality.”

She said the property was not advertised before it sold in January.

“We had clients who we knew were looking for properties similar to that so we alerted them,” she said.

SOLD: 9 Corberry Street, The Range. Picture: Contributed

“The second person who looked at it bought it.”

The main home has verandas on two sides, a new kitchen with a butler’s pantry, adjoining breakfast room and a maids room, formal and family living rooms, six bedrooms and breezeways.

There is a separate large extension, which was used for offices, and includes a bathroom and kitchen.

There is also a separate annex with polished concrete floors, four rooms used for further living and sleeping, a bathroom and laundry.

The property, which is situated on a 3035 sqm block, has two street frontages, an in-ground pool and expansive landscaped lawns and gardens.

“The previous owner had a special love for gardening and everything is beautifully finished,” Ms Keating said.

“It’s just a beautiful one-off package.”

She said the new owners were going to live in the home and “will probably turn it into one big house”.

In Herron Todd White’s Month in Review April 2022, valuer Alistair Gunthorpe stated that for the first time in Rockhampton’s history, a house had settled above the $2 million mark.

“The high-end sector of the market has seen some notable activity recently,” Mr Gunthorpe said.

Ms Keating said the sale showed that “quality never goes out of fashion”.

“The buyers recognised it as the utmost quality and it just reinforces the fact that if you give the market quality they will pay for it,” she said.