Norman Selfe's Ashfield 1888 trophy home, Amesbury listed
Amesbury, the grand 10-bedroom Queen Anne-style Ashfield mansion, has been listed for sale.
It comes with a four-storey gabled Romanesque belfry-style tower, constructed in 1888 as a house by the Sydney engineer, Norman Selfe to celebrate the country’s Centenary.
Selfe’s international travels during 1884 and 1885 inspired the design of the home which has now been listed by the international peace and meditation organisation Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga.
They bought it in 1986.
It has had a heritage preservation order since Planning and Environment minister Terry Sheahan's decision in 1984.
On its completion, Amesbury, which has also been referred to as Anesbury, was considered the ultimate modern showpiece with the 1888 Australasian Builder and Contractors’ news describing it as having “more novelties both externally and internally than any other house in the colony”.
Offers on the 78 Alt Street property close 25 September.
More than $3.5 million is tipped by Jennifer Aaron from Jennifer Aaron Real Estate.
Norman Selfe, the engineer who heralded the building of Sydney Harbour Bridge, was also responsible for the 1870 Victorian Gothic residence on the Balmain waterfront, Normanton.
Around 1894, Selfe and his family moved from Anesbury to the upper north shore’s Hornsby shire where he built another significant grand house, Gilligaloola.
It still stands at 82 Pennant Hills Road in Normanhurst, the suburb bearing Selfe’s name. He died in 1911.
