Elizabeth Tilly, writing in the Courier Mail, reports that Clonlara of Clayfield, a landmark Federation home, sold for the first time in 60 years for $7 million, which smashes the record for Clayfield, one of Brisbane’s most exclusive suburbs.
The century-old Queenslander was home to the late Sir Edward and Lady Dorothy Williams for 60 years.
Daughter Zilla Lyons told The Courier-Mail her parents bought the house in the late 1950s, attracted by its size.
“They also needed space for their growing family (the first seven of their eight children were born in nine years) and accommodating all those children necessitated some practical modifications to the original layout,’’ she said.
This included turning what was originally a billiard room into a “glamorous girls’ dormitory’’ and enclosing a back veranda to provide a large sunroom during winter.
She said a little house near the tennis courts was built as a wonderful Christmas present for the girls, which they treated like a large dolls’ house.
The property comes with two championship-sized tennis courts.
Sir Edward Williams was a respected Queensland legal identity, a former Queenslander of the Year, Australian of the Year, Father of the Year, Chairman of the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and Commissioner General of Expo 88.
Many of the six-bedroom home’s original period features have been preserved including the grand entry foyer which leads to formal dining and lounge rooms.
A light airy quality to the home is achieved with the versatility of timber and blinds on the sweeping north easterly verandah. At the press of a button, blinds rise to offer cross ventilation maximising the cooling Moreton Bay breezes.
Much of the home's original period details have been preserved including the grand entry foyer to formal dining and lounge rooms, ornate plaster and pressed metal ceilings, solid timber walls and leadlight windows.
There are six bedrooms including a former bedroom off the master suite, dedicated to a dressing room.
"Clonlara" is deservedly a landmark Brisbane estate, unparalleled in grace and style, a significant land parcel highly sought and rarely available so close to Brisbane's CBD.
The sale of the property eclipses the previous record for Clayfield of $6.75 million, achieved in 2017 for a property at 108 Oriel Road.
It is also the fifth highest residential sale in Brisbane this year according to CoreLogic records, with the biggest sale belonging to a property at 110 Virginia Ave, Hawthorne.
References:
Trophy home sale price revealed: $7m for Clayfield masterpiece - Elizabeth Tilley