6 Thule Court, Brighton was designed by influential architect Joseph Reed.
A Brighton house designed by “one of the most important architects in the history of Melbourne” is offering a rare buying opportunity.
The 1887-built Victorian at 6 Thule Court was drawn up by Joseph Reed, who the Victorian Heritage Register describes as “a major figure during one of Melbourne’s most vigorous periods of growth: the 1870s and 1880s”.
Reed arrived in Melbourne from England in 1853, founded his architecture firm, and won a competition the following year to design the Public Library, now known as the State Library of Victoria.
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The house features exquisite formal rooms.
The grand reception hall.
His other notable creations included the Melbourne Town Hall, the Trades Hall, Rippon Lea Estate and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building.
“His was the first major private architectural practice in Melbourne, and its successors have continued to contribute to Melbourne’s architectural richness ever since,” the VHR said.
Kay & Burton Bayside director Alex Schiavo said Reed’s firm still existed, as Bates Smart, and one of its partners inspected the Thule Court house after it hit the market with a $5.3-$5.8m price guide.
“They were absolutely enamoured by it,” he said.
The reception hall flows into the formal dining and sitting rooms.
The house has four bedrooms.
The couple who had owned it about 13 years had the same reaction when they first spied the residence, which Reed designed Thule for shipping merchant Thomas Telford.
Mr Schiavo said the husband surprised his wife, a lover of heritage homes, on her birthday by announcing he’d bought the home.
“She fell in love with the principal period rooms in particular,” the agent said, referring to the grand formal sitting, dining and reception rooms.
“She wasn’t expecting it.”
The residence retains exquisite period details, including open fireplaces, high ceilings, leadlight windows, and cedar wood finishes.
An open-plan living, dining and kitchen space was added to the house by previous owners.
The north-facing space looks out to the gardens.
Previous owners added a north-facing, open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, with the 1054sq m landholding providing plenty of room.
Four bedrooms, including a main with an ensuite and walk-in wardrobe, complete the floorplan while the grounds feature a pool and low-maintenance gardens.
Mr Schiavo said the property’s expressions of interest campaign, which closes July 30, had attracted significant interest from Australian expats based in Hong Kong, the US and the UK.
Local buyers and those from interstate, Sydney in particular, were also in the mix.
The 1054sq m Brighton block features a pool.
Another house with an esteemed designer behind it — Anatol Kagan’s 4 Theodore Court, Toorak — is also on the market.
A mid-century Toorak house designed by another architectural heavyweight, Anatol Kagan, is also for sale.
The 1956-built, three-bedroom house at 4 Theodore Court has returned to the market via Abercromby’s Real Estate, with a $3.7-$4.07m price guide, after a stint for sale with another agency from late 2018 into 2019 failed to net a sale.
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4 Theodore Court has a $3.7-$4.07m price guide.
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