Trophy Homes: Queensland rugby chief Richard Barker looks to sell

Queensland Rugby Union CEO Richard Barker and wife Tracey have listed their inner-city Brisbane home.

El Nido on Hamilton Hill, Brisbane.

Queensland Rugby Union CEO Richard Barker and wife Tracey have listed their inner-city Brisbane home, just south of the Gabba. Tracey, a keen decorator, oversaw the renovations of the 1900s Woolloongabba Queenslander that cost the couple $850,000 in 2012. Their five kids have now grown up and moved out. A swimming pool and cabana sit on the 615sq m parcel that holds a home with four bedrooms, three bathrooms along with a front and rear deck. Glynis Austin Properties agent Glynis Austin has the listing. Richard Barker was the general manager of Southern Cross Austereo before being made CEO of the Queensland Rugby Union in 2016. The home, which has city glimpses and cooling breezes, along with charming street appeal, is one of the dozen homes for sale in Woolloongabba.

Whisky baron’s den a go-go

El Nido, the Hamilton Hill home of Margaret Batt, wife of bankrupt whisky baron and Nant Distillery founder Keith Batt, has been sold by the receivers for $1.615 million. The 1927 Spanish mission-style home was bought by a company associated with Margaret at the helm for $1.43m in 2013. Margaret listed the home late last year with no buyer emerging, and this time receivers stepped in to sell the three-level home that has four bedrooms. Place agents Tristan Rowland and John Bradley secured the sale. Designed by Eric Percival Trewern for the Powers family, El Nido was possible the earliest of the Spanish Mission-style houses in Brisbane, and calculated as one of the most expensive pre-Depression houses erected at a cost of £3500. It was originally known as Cassa Anna.

Estate and gardens on offer

Wynyate, a Hawthorn East estate dating back to 1910, has been listed for sale by company director Dawn Oldham and her landscape gardener partner Jens-Peter Coombes. The gardens surrounding the brick Edwardian home on its 1195sq m holding have been maintained by Coombes. It has four bedrooms and a fitted study for Oldham, who sits on a number of listed company boards including financial investment company IOOF. The original period features have been retained, including large verandas, coloured leadlight glass, timber fretwork and stained timber woodwork. Marshall White agents Sally O’Connell and James Tostevin have set a May 19 auction with a price guide of $4.2m-$4.6m.

Wallaby tries for a sale

Busy playing in Japan, Wallaby veteran Matt Giteau has listed his Cottesloe home in Perth. Giteau, who now turns out for Tokyo-based Suntory Sungoliath, paid $2.225m for the 2002-built home near the beach in 2007 upon joining the Western Force. The marketing suggests Giteau hasn’t spent too much time at the home in recent years. Marcus Sproule at Mack Hall says it’s the “ultimate lock and leave home”. The well-leased home has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and an open-plan living, kitchen and dining area that opens to an outdoor deck. Considered one of Australia’s greatest ever rugby players, Giteau played 103 games for the Wallabies over 14 years.

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