18 April 2019

178-year-old home once used as church and school for sale 2.5 hours from Canberra

| Glynis Quinlan
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Over the years this sandstone heritage home has been used as a church, a school and a rectory. Photos supplied by Macarthur United Real Estate.

A 178-year-old sandstone heritage home formerly used as a church, a school and a rectory is on the market 2.5 hour’s drive from Canberra and just one hour from Sydney.

The home sitting on a large 1,315 square metre block at 5 Toggerai Street, Appin has a price guide of between $900,000 and $990,000. It has been restored as a family home but is brimming with history.

Over the years the property has served many purposes including formerly being the rectory for St Mark’s Anglican Church.

According to the Aussie Towns website, the home takes you back in time to the mid-1800s.

“Its neat little porch, attic, gabled roof, square stone chimney, and fifteen tiny windows are a reminder of what the buildings in the town looked like in the mid-19th century,” the website states.

“There is a Latin text above the doorway which translates ‘Except the Lord build the house their labour is but lost that built it’.”

Listing agent Jake Alchin of Macarthur United Real Estate said the property is NSW heritage-listed and its historic appeal can be seen in its grand entrance, sandstone walls, polished hardwood floors and high ceilings with their original cornices.

The home also has three entrances, lovely archways and three fireplaces.


“There’s so much history behind it. It’s the only place like it,” said Mr Alchin.

The home features four spacious bedrooms, two separate living areas, a separate dining room, a large rumpus room/teenager’s retreat and a beautiful colonial-style kitchen and bathrooms.


Outside there is a wrap-around veranda overlooking attractive gardens, a double garage, laundry, glasshouse and workshop. The garage was added on to the original house, with effort made to match the look of the sandstone home.


Mr Alchin said the home has been extensively renovated and restored over the years but would benefit from some freshening up with paint and better lighting.

The home is located in the quiet suburb of Appin which is around 2.5 hour’s drive from Canberra, an hour’s drive from Sydney’s CBD and 20 minutes from Wollongong.

For more information or to arrange an inspection please contact Mr Alchin on 0438 228 722 or click here.

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