Amesbury,+Ashfield,+NSW

78 Alt Street Ashfield, NSW
[Previous post: Appropriate Heritage Development ... Next post: Glenella, Blackheath] 'Amesbury' - Landmark c1888 Queen Anne Mansion on 1369 sqm Level Grounds > //Follow-up story at PropertyObserver.com.au //
 * [[image:https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DhFHQf_Yo-Y/U_FfGXN_Q3I/AAAAAAAAdao/U8TfmYogSQI/s640/Amesbury%2520Ashfield%2520med%2520animation.gif width="332"]] || [[image:https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ysk543Z-ABA/U_Fe_7NYe3I/AAAAAAAAdac/5uGMdztQxLM/s640/alt78.jpg width="326" height="221" align="right"]] ||
 * Amesbury is one of the earliest Queen Anne houses erected in Australia
 * It has had a heritage preservation order since Planning and Environment minister Terry Sheahan's decision in 1984;
 * See also post Queen Anne or Federation Queen Anne?
 * Listing
 * A sale of more than $3.5 million is tipped by Jennifer Aaron from Jennifer Aaron Real Estate.

=Ten-bedroom mansion with four-storey tower to fetch astronomic price =
 * BRENDAN WONG REAL ESTATE REPORTER
 * INNER WEST COURIER INNER WEST
 * AUGUST 15, 2014 1:00PM

One of Sydney’s grandest and most distinctive properties has hit the market for the first time in three decades. Amesbury is a grand 10-bedroom Queen Anne-style mansion on a 1366sq m block in Ashfield and is primarily recognisable by its four-storey Romanesque belfry-style tower.
 * While it appears to bear all the hallmarks of a church, it was designed and constructed in 1888 as a house by renowned Australian engineer, Norman Selfe to celebrate the country’s Centenary.

Ashfield's most significant historic home. 'Amesbury' is a grand 10-bedroom Queen Anne style mansion built in 1888 by Mr Norman Selfe (1839-1922), Australia's foremost engineer during the late 19th and 20th centuries. [[image:https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/72kI1-W3pA5w-NHyP89EpRSFgy-aPsNfBIRdcZnBMWXFGFz3tmAgfoAaq5uq6bDqnIymMOT9PISIX4ufWHCmfU-Y4_btPFoX7buDJfFDNuSoJclpu-Ja8rxSUXsdm-CIkJgH6gUhA9nPdRcsuRvkLV6S5TqvGMylmdyOJAMmHAnA_vPnfBqDXIO3vBaKS0PrPm0aXOEA8bKxabZcz5aLV0nmXWSegFycGzqfSoT11q1wvN-JFyRN4uZlE39qHasDKtCMWAXyll6x66TKERFnj9av47kw_U23XyHIJoBIdE6sFHSZWLvQ_f5CMWybysEsXwFuahHe0Uwzvuw_Kk93V5ulfuztZa-Drb2q3SUvlNpJDIAxJMWgrPNJxN8aqqYTf7ueACEfBh0NDGj2UxnaSafRnKI9C3hsqbbv9BX3eljZgv9g7HuF6g-N6JnEB7eEgoU8OvAag76t7L_Q7KxwDCCVK9W5klHBUJd5xUaLBz1HCHT71wrjW76mzUherTxo_XUNalAGqO-OUkGHrgieAjiW-bbdIXigUpEIU9M9X1ThFSVzqJnQ-EWV1IFziOenxdPsk8mdZMqj4mU2e370LM6_qA0v5Hl3iL54jet44nlP8iLaS_xHhA=w800-h600-no align="center" caption="The distinctive four-storey Romanesque tower was tailor-made for Norman Selfe’s hobby of astronomy, complete with terracotta lyrebird reliefs by artist Lucien Henry on the front wall. The distinctive four-storey Romanesque tower was tailor-made for Norman Selfe’s hobby of astronomy, complete with terracotta lyrebird reliefs by artist Lucien Henry on the front wall."]]
 * Last traded 30 years ago, the landmark residence was designed and constructed by Selfe during an era when engineers were regarded far more highly than architects. Upon completion, 'Amesbury' was considered the ultimate modern showpiece; it was feted in 'Builder and Contractors News" as presenting "more novelties both externally and internally than any other house in the colony".
 * With an elite pedigree of timeless distinction and historic significance, 'Amesbury' is a magnificent example of a wealthy Victorian gentleman's family residence.
 * Distinguished by a four-storey Romanesque tower with north-easterly views to the harbour, 'Amesbury' retains a host of beautiful internal and external features, including white Canterbury stone window surrounds and a pair of terracotta lyrebird panels modelled by decorative artist, Lucien Henry.


 * It does have a spiritual connection though, having been owned by international peace and meditation organisation Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga since 1986.

Upon its completion, Amesbury was considered the ultimate modern showpiece.


 * The Australasian Builder and Contractors’ news even described it as having “more novelties both externally and internally than any other house in the colony”.
 * Selfe’s international travels during 1884 and 1885 inspired much of the design of the home. For the exteriors, he discarded cast iron lacework in favour of distinctive timber balustrades and carved fretwork.
 * An imposing entrance hall with a beautiful staircase (crafted from exotic timbers including American hickory and English oak) featuries hand made stained glass windows.

Dividing the living and dining rooms is an extraordinary three-metre wide vertically sliding door panelled in New Guinea cedar and blackwood. Also in excellent condition in these rooms are oversized panel doors and wide architraves of oak and rosewood.

The tower was purpose-built for Selfe to pursue his hobby of astronomy and boasts north-easterly views to the harbour.
 * || In 1885 Selfe bought land in [|Ashfield] and designed a grand house called [|Amesbury.] Built around 1888 to honour the centenary of the colony, Amesbury still stands at 78 Alt Street, complete with terracotta lyrebird reliefs by artist [|Lucien Henry] on the front wall, and a tower purpose-built for Selfe to pursue his hobby of astronomy. [|[18]]

As children, Rhoda and Norma attended their Aunt Maybanke's school in [|Dulwich Hill.] [|[19]]  As adults, they trained in Italy with educator Maria Montessori, returning to Sydney to open a Montessori school of their own at [|Ashfield,] called [|Warwick.]

 1894 the family moved once again, this time to [|Hornsby shire,] where a new Selfe-designed house, [|Gilligaloola,] was built on 11 acres (4.5 hectares) purchased by Selfe 10 years earlier. Gilligaloola, at 82 Pennant Hills Road, is still a local landmark, with its distinctive tower and twin chimneys. [|[20]]


 * Normanhurst's Finest Mansion 'Gilligaloola? Circa 1893 **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Gillingaloola - meaning a pleasant place brings the yester years and the contemporary together in what is Normanhurst's finest federation mansion. The contemporary kitchen with granite bench tops built for the entertainer flows onto an informal dining and living area. Wait, the best is yet to come - this dinning and living area opens up to the king size deck overlooking the koi pond and the swimming pool amidst the magnificently landscaped gardens with the sound of water fountains in the background. This meticulously renovated mansion throughout boasts of stately formal lounges and dining rooms, 5 to 6 huge bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, study and a library. City views are enjoyed at night from the tower room and crows nest lookout. The close proximity to the station, shops and schools is an added draw card. Truly your opportunity to own a part of history.

<span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">As President of the [|Board of Technical Education,] Norman Selfe fought passionately for the establishment of an independent system of technical education, to serve the needs of a rapidly industrialising society. Selfe's strenuous efforts in a number of causes went unrewarded during his life, but formed the basis of innovations later realised.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Norman was a committed citizen, and a natural spokesman for the local community, to the extent that when the railways needed a name for the locality, the community chose [|'Normanhurst'] (though Norman himself felt that 'St Normans' would have been 'much more elegant and suggestive'!). || == Selfe, Norman == <span style="color: #320a0a; display: block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;">by [|Catherine Freyne], 2009 supported by [|Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> **Selfe** was an engineer, naval architect, inventor, urban visionary and controversial advocate of technical education. Today, he is best remembered in the name of the suburb of [|Normanhurst,] where his grand house [|Gilligaloola] still stands. But decades before the existing [|Harbour Bridge] was built, Sydney came close to building a Selfe-designed steel cantilever bridge across the harbour with its northern foot in [|McMahons Point.]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When he wasn't designing bridges, docks, boats, precision machinery and new transport schemes for Sydney, Selfe was energetically involved in organisations ranging from the [|Royal Society of New South Wales] to the [|Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts;] the [|Australian Historical Society] to the [|Central Federation League.]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Dictionary of Sydney || <span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In 1912, the property was bought by Melbourne draper John Hindle who added tennis courts and Japanese gardens until part of the land was subdivided into eight flats during the 1920s.
 * Today the property still retains its heritage internal and external features including white Canterbury stone window surrounds and a pair of terracotta lyrebird panels modelled by decorative artist, Lucien Henry.





<span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Inside, there is a grand formal sitting, living and dining room opening from an imposing entrance hall with a timber staircase and stained glass windows.
 * <span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On the ground floor are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office, storeroom, kitchen and casual dining areas. A rear extension, with a separate entrance, has two more bedrooms, a sitting room and bathroom.
 * <span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">At the top of the staircase, on the first floor, are five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a storeroom. Another staircase leads to the second floor that has a large entertaining room (formerly a billiard room) and two storerooms, one with steep stairs leading up to the observation tower.
 * <span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There is also a basement or worship room with extensive storage space.
 * <span style="background-color: #f8f8f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Other features of the home include landscaped gardens, separate studio or office, a single garage and off-street parking for seven cars in the front driveway off Alt St.

78 ALT ST, ASHFIELD
**INSPECT:** Strictly by appointment
 * FOR SALE:** Expressions of interest
 * CLOSE:** Thursday, September 25 2014, 4pm
 * PRICE GUIDE:** More than $3.5 million
 * AGENT:** Jennifer Aaron Real Estate agent Jennifer Aaron on 0418 440 653