House was birthday gift
Now family haven is on the market
AS far as birthday presents go, it’s hard to beat a newly constructed house.
And that’s exactly what the late Allan Boyd gave his wife, Isobel, on her 40th birthday back in the 1960s.
Mr Boyd had the original family house at 23 Roebuck St, Newtown, demolished and a shiny, new brick veneer residence built in its place just in time for the milestone celebration.
The couple and their three children moved in on the day Isobel turned 40.
Her son Neil Boyd and his brother Graham are now selling the family home after Mrs Boyd’s death in June.
Mr Boyd said his mother had never forgotten her husband’s grand gesture.
“Even still in the nursing home until the day she died she was still talking about the house that Dad had built her,” he said,
“She was so proud of her house.”
He said his grandparents bought the original weatherboard house at 23 Roebuck St (then Elizabeth St) back in 1931 and later rented it out.
His father bought it from them after the war in 1947 and moved in with his bride in 1949.
“The house was alive with fleas when they moved in . . . they had to scrub out the house with disinfectant,” he said.
“There was an outside wash house and toilet.”
He said the triple-fronted brick replacement was modern for its time and the family revelled in the luxury of an inside bathroom, toilet and laundry.
Barnett Real Estate will auction 23 Roebuck St, Newtown, on Saturday at 1pm. It is expected to fetch $850,000.