HOUSE ONE FOR HISTORY LOVERS
A PROMINENT character home on a huge Belmont block has been listed for sale with all the makings of one of the suburb’s finest properties.
The four-bedroom, Federation-style house at
185 Roslyn Road offers a dream renovation project with 1389sq m of land to play with.
Maxwell Collins, Geelong listing agent Duncan Skene said there was room to extend and put in a swimming pool or potentially carve off the back yard for a second dwelling. Price expectations are $995,000 to $1.09m ahead of a
November 14 auction. Mr Skene said while the house “needed a bit of love”, it had great bones and was in good condition.
High cedar ceilings, leadlight windows, timber fretwork and a return veranda with views back towards Geelong are among the surviving features of the former farmhouse, which counts late Geelong explorer and writer John Bechervaise among its past owners.
Mr Bechervaise served as a leader at Antarctica’s Mawson Station and has a nearby island named after him. Vendor Tony McWilliam said a world map built into the hallway was a reminder of the property’s rich history.
He said the circa
1914-15 house, originally built on 4ha of farm land, now neighboured Roslyn Primary School and was moments from Belmont High School.
“When we bought it, the house was a bit of a wreck because John Bechervaise was an explorer. There’s maps of the Himalayas and Antarctica and he had been to those places,” Mr McWilliam said.
“It was all wonky because it was on old stumps and the walls were lined with bookcases. There were bookcases down the hall, even in the main bedroom there was floor-to-ceiling bookcases.”