12 February 2018

Historic Yarralumla home on inner-south’s largest block sells for record-breaking price

| Glynis Quinlan
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A magnificent Yarralumla home built in 1928 and sitting on the largest privately-owned residential block in Canberra’s inner south has broken two Canberra property sales records.

The sale of ‘Westridge House’ at 55 Banks Street has achieved a new record price for Yarralumla and recorded the highest price for any property sold in Canberra for 2017.

While the new owner is keeping the final figure undisclosed it is known to be above $6 million. The house was sold to an Australian resident who has chosen to remain anonymous but who plans to live there long-term.

Westridge House was built by inspector-general of Forests, Charles Lane-Poole, in 1928 and sits on 19,210-square metres of land – or close to five acres.

The five-bedroom three-bathroom home with its own elevator and car accommodation for eight cars was passed in at auction at $5.9 million last Sunday (November 26) providing the highest bidder with the opportunity to negotiate a sale price privately. The property sold immediately after the auction.

The sale was facilitated by Mario Sanfrancesco of Peter Blackshaw Manuka who said the property attracted local, interstate and overseas buyers, with one international buyer flying their private jet to Canberra for the auction.

Bidding started at $3 million and lasted just under one hour with bids made by a small number of interested parties.

“The sale of Westridge house was a rare offering that is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon,” Mr Sanfrancesco said.

“We saw a lot of interest from buyers who realised the significance of the property and were attracted by its unparalleled location, opportunity for further extensions and the history of the home itself.”

Mr Sanfrancesco was not surprised with the high amount of interest.

“We expected a lot of interest for a property like this. This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the new owner,” he said.

“Rarely do you find an opportunity to live on such a large estate in the inner south, only minutes from Lake Burley Griffin and surrounded by exclusive residences like Government House.”

Mr Sanfrancesco currently holds six suburb sales records in Canberra including Yarralumla, Forrest, Narrabundah, Chifley, Waramanga and Jerrabomberra. He recently facilitated the private sale of two homes priced at $6 million and $4.125 million in Forrest.

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