Family’s 115-year hold on Brunswick home ends through $1 million auction

A dilapidated Brunswick house held by the same family for 115 years sold for just over $1 million at auction on Saturday.

The two-bedroom Edwardian at 28 Barry Street, known as Beatrice, was originally purchased for 89 pounds and five shillings in 1910.

A local campaign to save Beatrice from demolition, along with huge online interest, helped draw a large crowd to the property that also housed squatters over the years.

The property was one of 1363 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne this week. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 64.4 per cent from 897 reported results throughout the week, while 122 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The property, which was built by prominent local builder Victor Heiberg in the historic Brickworks Housing Precinct, had been boarded up. Its interiors were covered in graffiti.

It was listed with a price guide of $760,000 to $835,000, with the reserve set at $900,000.

Bidding kicked off at $750,000. Six active bidders, including developers and families, competed for the home on a 351-square-metre block. The auction ran for almost 25 minutes and ended in a bidding war with $500 increments until it sold for $1,010,000.

Auctioneer Hassan Allouche deals with six active bidders during the race for the Brunswick property on Saturday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

An accountant from Pascoe Vale bought the house with two of his brothers. They plan to develop the home, while keeping its heritage facade. The underbidder was a young couple.

Trish Di Vito from Ray White Brunswick said the property attracted strong interest from renovators and families.

“Most people wanted to renovate it for themselves or build something new while keeping the facade, they just loved the area,” she said.

In Prahran, a small Victorian cottage sold for $1,213,500, well above its price guide.

The interior of the Brunswick house.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

The two-bedroom home at 45 Wrights Terrace attracted four bidders, with a price guide of $1 million to $1.1 million. The reserve was set at $1.1 million.

Bidding opened at $1.08 million and quickly escalated in a competitive auction among four bidders. Over 15 minutes, 74 bids were placed, with increments slowing to $500 at the end.

The successful buyer was a young woman planning to move in and renovate. The underbidder was bidding on behalf of a young couple with similar plans.

Michael Tynan from BigginScott Stonnington said the home’s location near Hawksburn Village and potential for renovation drew in a crowd of 60 people.

“It was a charming, single-fronted Victorian, and then the option to renovate and put their own stamp on it was really appealing to people,” he said.

Tynan said despite economic uncertainty, confidence in the property market was returning.

“We always find when the stock market crashes and there’s a bit of uncertainty in that area, people usually come back to bricks and mortar as an investment,” he said.

A renovated home in Kingsville sold for $1.73 million after auction, passing in following a single bid from first home buyers.

The four-bedroom house at 78 Coronation Street had a price guide of $1.59 million to $1.69 million. The reserve price was not disclosed.

The auction began with vendor bids of $1.6 million and $1.65 million, attracting only one bidder. A young family from nearby Seddon, after looking for a home for two years, placed a $1.66 million bid and secured the home in post-auction negotiations.

“They’ve been looking at large family homes, turnkey properties which are typically less available. When they saw this one, they were quite enamoured,” said Raymond Abilameh from Village Real Estate.

“It had 10-feet high ceilings, multiple living areas and off-street parking. It ticked a lot of the boxes for families.”

A small terrace sold for $1.3 million in Carlton, after bidding between a first home buyer and an academic.

The two-bedroom home, set on 84 square metres with a four-metre width, had a price guide of $1.2 million to $1.3 million. The reserve was set at $1.25 million.

The auction opened with a vendor bid of $1.18 million and three bidders took part. The winning buyer, a young woman, bid in person with her mother and a friend. The underbidder, the academic, bid over the phone from an overseas conference.

The vendors were an older couple whose daughters lived in the property while they were at university. The terrace was later rented out and recently used by the couple’s grandson while he studied.

Peter Stephens from Nelson Alexander Carlton described the architecturally designed home as “very practical”.

“It didn’t feel small,” he said. “There was a good-sized dining space, a good-sized lounge, a study, and two bedrooms divided by a central bathroom.”