One of Maitland's hidden Victorian architectural treasures has been listed on the property market.
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Helyhurst in historic Regent Street, has been listed with David Haggarty First National and will be auctioned later this month if not sold beforehand.
Located at the eastern end of Regent Street, Helyhurst's story began in 1831 when Governor, Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, made a 100 acre land grant and named the property Helyhurst to Fredrick Augustus Hely, a public servant and settler of colonial Australia.
As identified in the 'History of Maitland', the land grant became part of the identification of boundaries in separating East and West Maitland in 1835.
With the sheer size and proximity to the centre of Maitland, quite a lot of the current city was once Helyhurst land making this property integral to Maitland's history.
The second owners of the property were Mr and Mrs Fredrick and Emily Beckett. Fredrick was the second son of Issac Beckett co-founder of Maitland general store Owen and Beckett. He commissioned renowned architect JW Pender in 1880 to design Helyhurst.
Only four families have lived in Helyhurst. The widowed Emily Beckett sold the property to the Williams family in 1931. A Miss Geggie purchased it and shared it with her then husband, Paterson Post Master Mr Preistly before the current owners purchased it in 1984.
"The current owners undertook a mission to restore the property with an intention to honour the Becketts who had no children but lived out their lives at Helyhurst," Mr Haggarty said.
Some of the home's more unusual features include original sandstone doorway thresholds which have dipped from years of foot traffic. A window in the third bedroom (the red room) is off centre. The room was designed as a nursery with a cot one side of the window and the nanny's bed on the other. There is a cellar under the stairs in the back living room which goes under the house and the kitchen was originally servants' quarters.
It also has iron lace work, original timber windows, ceiling roses, original fireplaces, pressed tin ceilings and a working antique Aga cooker. The property also has an in ground pool. Helyhurst is nestled on a 4060 sqm block catering for horses with yards and stables. It will be auctioned on site at 11am Saturday, July 20.