Owner Graeme Anderson is selling his home at 28 Nelson St, Gordon, after 55 years.
More than half a century has passed since Graeme Anderson stood in an auction room in the city to throw his hat in the ring for a sprawling estate in Gordon known as Trenayr.
But the 91-year-old remembers it like it was yesterday.
Mr Anderson and his wife Jean were living in nearby Pymble at the time, in a typical three-bedroom home.
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With four children in tow, the family home was bursting at the seams and needed more space.
He was hunting around the area when he came upon Trenayr at 28 Nelson St.
Owned by NSW Supreme Court Judge Martin Hardie, he was very keen on the property, if a little perturbed by the price guide of 50,000 pounds.
“The one I was selling (in Pymble) was about 22,000 pounds,” he said. “But I decided to go into town to the auction anyway. I put in the opening bid of 36,000 pounds.
“There were no other bids so it was knocked down to me for 36,000 pounds.”
Grand manor – 28 Nelson St, Gordon.
Original style.
With the deal done on the 3495sqm property, Mr Anderson was then faced with another challenge – calling his wife to tell him what he had just done.
“I was still in town and I needed to find a phone and I had a Dodge car so I drove to the dealer and said I needed a service, and could I also use their phone,” he said.
“I called my wife and said darling, I’ve just bought a house.
“Her first question was ‘does it have hot water?’.
“I said I wasn’t sure but that if it didn’t I would put in.”
Trenayr has been the Anderson family home ever since.
Mrs Anderson passed away in 2002, and with their children now grown and living in other areas of Sydney, the time has come for Mr Anderson to downsize.
The home has been lovingly maintained over the years but remains in largely original condition.
The dining space.
Family friendly.
About eight years ago, Mr Anderson (pictured inset outside his home) stripped the external paint right back to the original layer, and repainted it in that colour.
The engineer, who has held many different jobs over the years, including 10 years as chairman and managing director of Otis Lifts, has also added his own touches to the property.
He enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, architect Robert Woodward, who designed the famed El Alamein Memorial Fountain in Kings Cross.
The fountains Mr Anderson built over the pool.
Traditional gardens surround the home.
The dandelion-inspired design has become one of the world’s most copied, and won Mr Woodward the NSW Institute of Architects Civic Design Award in 1964.
Mr Woodward shared his designs for the fountain, as well as the New South Wales Parliament House Courtyard Fountain he created in 1983.
Mr Anderson spent years painstakingly recreating both fountains, which are installed above the swimming pool at Trenayr.
Interestingly, the pool was one of the earliest pools to be build on the north shore and is believed to have been build before 1939.
A cubby house was added in 1965 – the year the Andersons arrived – using packing cases from the Allis Chalmers Tractor dealership. It is one of the few buildings in Nelson St without a heritage listing, according to Mr Anderson.
With five bedrooms and four bathrooms, the home proved to be the perfect family home, and the family had no desire to move anywhere.
But Mr Anderson had started thinking about downsizing to his holiday home on the Central Coast when a huge storm hit the north shore late last year, damaging a stand of four massive trees at the front of the property.
All four trees had to be removed, and the front fence was rebuilt. For Mr Anderson it was a sign.
“It’s been home for such a long time, and there are so many memories,” he said.
“But it’s time to move on, and let someone else enjoy it. The house is without a doubt the prettiest house in Nelson St.”
McGrath Lindfield agent Glenn Curran and the owner of 28 Nelson St, Gordon, Graeme Anderson, outside the home.
The home is in original condition but has been lovingly maintained.
No other owner of the property has come close to owning the property as long as the Andersons. Judge Hardie came the closest – and he lived there for 14 years.
The property comes to market this week, with Glenn Curran, of McGrath Lindfield. He is selling the property by expressions of interest, with a guide of $8.5 million.
Mr Curran expects the property will attract a lot of attention from local and out-of-area buyers – especially families looking for a substantial estate they could put their own stamp on.
“It is one of the last remaining, untouched tennis court estates like this in the area,” he said. “It presents someone with a beautiful opportunity to do it justice.
“It’s original in its proportions and its layout on the block is perfect.”
Inspections will be by conducted by private appointment. For more details contact Mr Curran.
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