Gordon Park’s richest house at 92 Gordon St.
A 1920s Queenslander, built using prizemoney won in a horse race, set a suburb record for Gordon Park yesterday and became the first house to pass $2m.
For sellers, Cathy and Ian Hess, the $2.065m sale of 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park was like winning the Stradbroke Cup with a $500,000 bonus on top.
“We had fairly high expectations but that blew us away,” said Mrs Hess, who bought the property with her husband 30 years ago.
The four-minute race to this finish line took more than twice as long as the Stradbroke Cup and importantly, none of the 25 starters bolted.
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Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker starts the auction. Picture: Annette Dew
“You’re here to buy it, we’re here to help you do it, so let’s get into it ladies and gentlemen,” Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker said, facing expectant owner occupiers and at least one investor in the backyard of the 943 sqm block.
“Who’s got the opening bid?”
A shout of $1.6m came from a man under a mango tree in the far corner beside a laneway that joins Gordon St with Rose Lane behind.
This aerial shot shows the laneway at the bottom of the picture that used to belong to the property at 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park and was used to ride horses too and from the racecourse.
“That laneway used to belong to this property,” Mrs Hess said.
“There was a racecourse where Kedron State High School is now and a lot of people around here had stables in the backyard and they’d use that laneway to get to the track.
Kedron Park Racecourse in 1922. Photo courtesy of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
“About 20 years ago the son of the original owner dropped in out of the blue and told us the history of the house.
Ian and Cathy Hess with the sign they had made in honour of the original owners. Picture: Annette Dew
“He introduced us to his bride and said they were married on the front veranda here and he was born here as well. His mother built this house on the money that she won on a racehorse called Dulcify, so we thought we’d honour them by calling the horse Dulcify.”
The backyard at 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park.
The backyard is now an open grassed area fringed by trees and on the opposite side to the opening bidder, two men stood a scant 1.5m apart. It soon became apparent that the race for this three-bedroom home would be won between them.
The Clayfield bidder and his partner were looking for their next home. Picture: Annette Dew
“I kept giving him a look,” said the bidder from Clayfield who stood slightly in front of his rival.
“But he wasn’t making eye contact with me.
“We’ve got two teenage boys and the downstairs area would be perfect for them.”
There’s plenty of space for teenagers downstairs.
As the property passed $2m and was announced on the market, onlookers exhaled any number of descriptives.
“Geez” was the one most appropriate for this column and its giver raised her eyebrows to drive home the point.
Gordon Park’s previous suburb record was set at $1.95m on Groom St just before the pandemic began in February last year.
Bidders at the auction of 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park. Picture: Annette Dew
Standing behind the man from Clayfield was a local investor looking to add this property to his portfolio and at $2.055m, with his foot planted firmly in a stand of tall grass, it looked like he had it.
“No, we’re done,” said the man from Clayfield, but as the auctioneer called the property for the third and final time, he gave it one more go.
“$2.06m,” he offered.
Within a heartbeat the investor fired back another $5000 and the house was won.
Ray White Ascot lead agent Andrew Flanagan commiserates the under bidders after the auction of 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park. Picture: Annette Dew
“We won’t be living here, we live close by,” he said.
“I thought that was pretty good buying at the current market price.”
Gordon Park, 8km north of Brisbane’s CBD, has seen house values increase by 5.3 per cent in the three months to the end of June, to $1,030,340, CoreLogic property data shows.
“It’s land banking. I’ve got a few homes around. Everyone wants a character home, even though they’re hard work, because of the street appeal, and I’d rather live here than Ascot. There’s working class people around here.”
The well-maintained living area at 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park.
Cathy and Ian Hess are now off to Dayboro to help their daughter run the Bunya Springs Equestrian centre.
“Horses are a bit of theme with this house,” Mrs Hess said.
The end of an era for Ian and Cathy Hess who have just sold their home of 30 years at 92 Gordon St, Gordon Park. Picture: Annette Dew
“And we’re going from a massive big house to a two-bedroom downstairs apartment with one bathroom with a laundry in it, but it’s on 43 acres and we look out over a lovely arena, paddocks and we have a creek frontage. So it’s incredible.”
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