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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For affluent homeowners, the laundry is no longer a utility space. It’s becoming a performance-driven investment in hygiene, longevity and seamless living.
2 min
In high-end homes, the most telling upgrades are no longer the obvious ones.
It’s not just the marble in the kitchen or the view from the terrace. Increasingly, it’s the rooms you don’t see, and how well they actually work.
The laundry is a perfect example.
Once treated as a purely functional space, it is now being reconsidered by architects and homeowners alike as a zone where performance, hygiene and design need to align.
And for buyers operating at the top end of the market, that shift is less about aesthetics and more about control.
Because in a home where everything is curated, inefficiency stands out.
ASKO’s latest “Laundry Care 2.0” range leans directly into that mindset, positioning the laundry as a long-term investment rather than a basic appliance purchase.
Built on more than 75 years of engineering, the Scandinavian brand’s latest systems focus on durability, precision and what is becoming a defining luxury in modern homes: quiet.
One of the more telling innovations is something most buyers would never think to question until it fails.
Traditional washing machines rely on rubber seals that trap dirt and bacteria over time. ASKO replaces that entirely with a steel solution designed to maintain a cleaner, more hygienic drum.
It’s not a headline feature. But it is exactly the kind of detail buyers tend to notice.
Then there is the issue of noise.
As open-plan living has become standard in prestige homes, the background hum of appliances has gone from unnoticed to intrusive.
ASKO’s suspension system is engineered to minimise vibration almost entirely, allowing machines to run without disrupting the wider home environment.
In practical terms, that means a load can run late at night without carrying through the house. In lifestyle terms, it means the home functions as intended.
The same thinking extends to the drying process. Uneven loads, tangled fabrics and repeat cycles are treated as inefficiencies rather than inconveniences, with technology designed to keep garments moving evenly and reduce wear over time.
For buyers, this is where the value proposition sharpens.
It is not about having more features. It is about removing friction.
Less maintenance. Less noise. Less time spent correcting what should have worked the first time.
In that sense, modern laundry is no longer just a utility. It is a reflection of how a home performs behind the scenes, and whether it lives up to the expectations set by everything else.
Because at this level, luxury is not just what you see.
It is what you don’t have to think about.
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