Medicos in bid to demolish $5m ‘character’ home in Hamilton, Brisbane

A couple who just six weeks ago dropped almost $5m on a stunning Hamilton Hill mansion with panoramic views of the Brisbane River have applied to knock it down.

The owners of 17 Dickson Tce Hamilton have applied to demolish it.

Six weeks after a medico couple spent almost $5m buying a 1935-built mansion with panoramic views across Brisbane River, they have applied to knock it down.

On July 2, anaesthetist Fayavar Ajvadi and radiologist Shohreh Rezai, filed their application with Brisbane City Council to swing the wrecking ball at the Hamilton home on one of Brisbane’s most exclusive streets.

The front of the character home.

The couple paid $4.95m for the five-bedroom five-bathroom home on May 20, buying it from a company wholly-owned by hotelier Anthony Fargas, 43, owner of CQ Hotels, who had been seeking offers over $5.9m.

The house at 17 Dickson Tce is not a renovators’ delight, with internal pictures showing it has relatively modern decor and updated amenities.

The property has views across Brisbane River.

But its value lies in its spectacular river views over three levels, and its location high on Hamilton Hill, just down the road from the former home of disgraced businessman, the late Christopher Skase – a $14 million, six-bedroom mansion more recently owned by the wife of disgraced tax evader Sir Yii Ann Hii.

An aerial image of 17 Dickson Tce, Hamilton, from a demolition report filed with Brisbane City Council.

Other neighbours in the street include entertainment king Harvey Lister, jewellery designer Margot McKinney, ex-league player turned McDonald’s franchisee Gary Coyne and mining executive Geoffrey Haviland.

Also living in the street are Natalie and Rodney Levien, the owner of Newstead-based uniform manufacturing business Weareco.

Dr Fayavar Ajvadi and wife Dr Shohreh Rezai

Council approval is required for demolition because the home is affected by the “traditional building character overlay” under the planning scheme.

According to a demolition report commissioned by the couple and filed with council, the home on 582sqm was built by Douglas Blaikie Duncan as a late-interwar era variant of the Georgian traditional house style.

The demolition report, prepared by Vault Heritage, states several buildings constructed during or prior to 1946 along Dickson Tce have been demolished and substituted with large, contemporary buildings.

The property from the street.

The town planners refer to the “overtly contemporary dwelling, which comprises up to four levels” on Dickson Tce owned by developers Stephen and Jody Gosling, and a six-level modern home on the street owned by orthodontist Daxter Yeo as examples of modern homes.

Vault Heritage states that 17 Dickson Tce “has predominantly maintained its original built form and corresponding construction/external materiality ... (at) the street frontage … but has more recently been extended and appended towards the rear of the site”.

Inside 17 Dickson Tce Hamilton.

The advertisement for the recent sale of the home boasted that the main living room has “wall-to-wall windows” overlooking the river, and a chef’s kitchen boasts with high-end appliances and a well-equipped butler’s pantry, and a games room with a bar.

A town planning report submitted to council in support of the demolition states that the streetscape of Dickson Tce “is now predominantly post-1946 in nature”.

Dr Ajvadi works in both public and private practice in several hospitals throughout Brisbane, his website states.

The application is in its early stages and no decision has been made by council.

Originally published as Medicos in bid to demolish $5m ‘character’ home in Hamilton, Brisbane