Historic Lorn property Warrane is tipped to break the record for residential sales in Maitland with calls for expressions of interest over $2 million.
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Selling agent Rhonda Nyquist of PRD nationwide hopes the Belmore Road home breaks the $2 million mark and fetches $2.5 million.
Ms Nyquist said her agency had a record number of $1 million-plus residential sales during the past two months with professional families from Newcastle and Sydney snapping up prestige properties across the city.
“Maitland has been doing well all year and I am confident we can achieve the same result in Lorn, with the top end of the market moving particularly well,” she said.
Warrane’s owner Kylee Hughes bought the property 12 years ago and has carried out extensive renovations to the home, which is believed to be about 130 years old.
Warrane was built by Richard Windeyer Thompson, the son of surveyor-general John Thompson and his wife, Ann, who was the eldest daughter of Charles Windeyer, the first police magistrate in Sydney.
The family started a legal practice in Maitland and later joined with members of the Norrie family to form Thompson and Norrie Solicitors, which operated in Church Street, Maitland.
One of the Thompson women, Kate, married Ellis Eyre Capper.
Mr Capper’s family established an importing and distribution business in Maitland’s developing commercial centre in 1842. Goods such as hardware, crockery, tools and building materials were supplied to wholesale outlets and the local retail market. The business operated from the family’s striking four-storey emporium in High Street.
Katie Capper died in 1957 and the entire contents of the house were sold at one of the biggest auctions Maitland had ever seen.
After standing empty for more than a year, the property was bought by cabinetmaker Allan Eckford in 1958.
Once again it became a family home where Mr Eckford and wife Lily raised 12 children.
For more than 130 years Warrane has been a family home with links to some of the area’s most significant families.
Although some alterations have been carried out, the house retains its original form and character, its gardens and mature trees complementing one of Lorn’s most significant residences nestled on a three acre site.
Ms Hughes commissioned Hunter Valley-based designer Chris Cole Clark to bring the home back to its former glory with empathy for its historic and unique style.