Meet the heritage home with the lot – including a pool room
At a time when tradies are thin on the ground, this 19th century villa is move-in ready
2 min
Sydney’s inner west is generally characterised by workers’ cottages and terrace houses with postage stamp-sized courtyards barely large enough to take a swing on the Hills Hoist.
While there are still some substantial homes in Burwood, where this six-bedroom Victorian Italianate mansion is located, they have become increasingly rare as the developer’s wrecking ball threatens larger heritage homes that have seen better days.
Which makes this property at 24 Ethel Street even more special. Built c1888, this home in Sydney’s second smallest LGA is set over two levels, with multiple living areas and multipurpose bedrooms that can be used for hosting guests or as individual home office spaces. Entry is via a spacious portico and wraparound veranda with tessellated tiled floors in keeping with the age and style of the home. Stepping through threshold with stained glass front door and Marseille parquetry floors, there are enclosed living areas on either side of the hallway, including a pool room fitted out like a gentlemen’s club, complete with Timothy Oulton furnishings. At the rear, a Degabriele entertainer’s kitchen features Calcatta Vagli marble and Miele appliances.
Marble has also been carried through to the fireplace surrounds while contemporary chandeliers create a sense of drama to the open plan kitchen and living area.
There is also a basement area providing parking and storage. As is appropriate to a house this size, the 1098sqm property is set into spacious, well-maintained formal gardens with additional room for parking at the rear.
Perhaps the best thing about this home at a time when finding tradespeople is a struggle is that it is move-in ready. Period details such as ornate, coffered ceilings internally and iron lacework externally have been maintained and restored while modern conveniences including zoned heating and cooling, heated flooring and CCTV have been included.
With room for everyone, it’s a period home designed for modern zoning, creating spaces for multiple generations to come together and spend time apart.
With primary and high schools located within easy walking distance and the hustle and bustle of Burwood’s lively restaurant and entertainment scene just around the corner, this home is perfect for 21st century living.
Last sold in 2014 for $1.9m, it has a price guide of $8m.
Address: 24 Ethel Street, Burwood
Price guide: $8 million
Next open for inspection: Saturday July 8, 2.30pm-3pm
Agent: Michael Murphy, principal McGrath Strathfield 0486 123 888
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Odd Culture Group brings a new kind of after-dark energy to the CBD, where daiquiris, disco and design collide beneath the city streets.
2 min
Sydney’s nightlife has long flirted with reinvention, but its latest arrival suggests something more deliberate is taking shape beneath the surface.
Razz Room, the new underground bar and disco from Odd Culture Group, has opened in the CBD, marking the group’s first step into the city centre.
Tucked below street level on York Street, the venue blends cocktail culture with a shifting, late-night rhythm that moves from after-work drinks to full dancefloor immersion.
The space itself is designed to evolve over the course of an evening. An upper bar offers a more intimate setting, suited to early drinks and conversation, while a sunken dancefloor anchors the venue’s later hours, with a rotating program of DJs and live performances.
“Razz Room will really change shape throughout a single evening,” says Odd Culture Group CEO Rebecca Lines.
“Earlier, it’s geared towards post-work drinks with a happy hour, substantial food offering, and music at a level where you can still talk.”
As the night progresses, that tone shifts.
“As the evening progresses at Razz Room, you can expect the music to get a little louder and the focus will shift to live performance with recurring residencies and DJs that flow from disco to house, funk, and jazz,” Rebecca says.
The concept draws heavily on New York’s underground club scene before disco became mainstream, referencing venues such as The Mudd Club and Paradise Garage. But the intention is not nostalgia.
“The space told us what it wanted to be,” Lines explains. “Disco started as a counter culture… Razz Room is no nostalgia project, it’s a reimagining of the next era of the discotheque.”
Design, too, plays its part in shaping the experience. The upper level is warm and textural, with timber finishes and burnt-orange tones, while the sunken floor shifts into a more theatrical mood, combining Art Deco references with a raw, industrial edge.
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