Historic home on one of Brisbane’s best streets sells for $17m

A landmark federation home on one of Brisbane’s best streets has clinched the nation’s top auction result of the weekend after selling for $17 million.

Built in early circa 1900s, the six-bedroom estate sits on a 2,024-square-metre parcel at 1 Sutherland Avenue, Ascot, and has remained in the same family for 25 years.

Four buyers registered for the Saturday auction, including two locals and two virtual bidders who phoned in from Sydney and the US. In front of a crowd at the Calile Hotel, bidding opened at $12 million with three bidders trading mostly $1 million rises. At $16.8 million, two remained and the auction paused – before selling under the hammer moments later.

Ray White Collective’s Matt Lancashire marketed the home, and while unable to disclose buyer details, he said the result showed Brisbane’s defiance in the face of grim national property headlines.

“The campaign was amazing. We had close to 100 groups through in three weeks but when you’ve got a landmark once-in-a-generation home like this that’s why,” he said.

“Houses on Sutherland Avenue just don’t come up often and it’s generally regarded as one of Brisbane’s best streets.

“But this result also tells me that Brisbane’s high-end market is in good nick.

“We had 10 (interested) buyers with the capacity to spend that money. The issue is there’s no stock for them to buy.”

The Ascot property sits a stone’s throw from Brisbane’s second most expensive home – 32 Sutherland Avenue – which smashed the city’s price ceiling when it fetched $23 million in late 2024. In 2025, an unrenovated riverfront home at 17 Julius Street, New Farm, reset the record at $25 million.

For vendor Donna Scott-Young, the sale marks the end of a deeply personal chapter.

Together with her family, Scott-Young bought the home for just $1.66 million in 2001 and project managed a three-year renovation in 2007.

“The home is just faultless … and it has a real soul,” said Lancashire said.

The Ascot property was one of 159 scheduled auctions across South East Queensland over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 32 per cent from 115 reported results, with 16 homes withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold when calculating clearance rates.

In Camp Hill, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on a 316-square-metre parcel at 16 Grant Street sold for $2.27 million in “textbook” auction, going to a young local.