Basketball superstar Aron Baynes puts Paddington property back on the market

Olympic basketballer Aron Baynes bought a sprawling Brisbane home last year, planning to renovate it. But after a major injury he’s putting it back on the market.

Basketballer Aron Baynes is selling his historic Paddington property. Picture: Peter Wallis

Olympic basketballer Aron Baynes is returning home to Australia, but not to the Paddington pad in Brisbane the family bought last year.

Baynes and wife Rachel bought an 1860s-era residence called Governess in the popular northside suburb last year and intended to renovate it for their young family after a near decade-long career overseas with several NBA teams.

But after suffering a spinal cord injury at the Tokyo Olympics last year that forced 208cm Baynes to relearn how to walk, the family decided to sell the property and buy again in the riverside suburb of Hamilton, closer to the children’s school.

“There is only one place in the state you can find a federation home and that is Brisbane,” said Baynes, who is originally from Mareeba in Far North Queensland.

“It took a long time to find a house like that at the right price; it all lined up.”

49 Reading St, Paddington, shares the same outlook as Brisbane’s Government House.

“Governess” is a landmark seven-bedroom home on a sprawling 1634sq m block at 49 Reading St, Paddington, which shares the same vantage point as Government House.

The property predates the Queensland governor’s official residence and shares the same architect.

“We loved the history of the house and that she would need a lot of work to bring her back,” Baynes said.

The Baynes family commissioned local architectural firm Graya to draw up designs for the renovation, which would keep the facade the same but add to the rear of the property. Development applications for the plans have been approved, allowing the imposing home to be reborn with a cinema, workshop, wine cellar, gymnasium, pool, spa, steam room and indoor/outdoor entertaining.

An artist’s impression of the approved renovations.

A home with such a significant pedigree rarely hits the market, said Ray White New Farm agent Matt Lancashire, who is leading the marketing campaign alongside Josh Brown.

“It’s a big, old, grand Queenslander,” Lancashire said. “The location and orientation and size is something that can’t be replaced.”

Lancashire said one of the founding Graya brothers, Josh Gray, was considering buying the home himself.

Aron Baynes at the property with Ray White agent Matt Lancashire. Picture: Peter Wallis

Baynes played in Europe before joining the San Antonio Spurs in 2013 and later winning the NBA championship.

He has also played with the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and the Australian national team.

He is now back home playing for the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL. “I am rebuilding myself and rebuilding basketball in Brisbane at the Bullets,” he said.