Considered a creek change?
When LJ Hooker Brisbane’s Ben Armstrong first saw the Boatshed House he figured he might be looking at the most perfectly seasoned man cave. Located facing Norman Creek, which flows into the downstream reach of the Brisbane River, and surrounded by hectares of parkland, the property has privacy aplenty.
Having been used as boat-building premises by various owners since it was first developed in the 1930s, the 678-square-metre property at 45 Scott Street, Norman Park, is set up with several authentically rustic workshops.
So Boatshed House has a functional purpose, enough rough edges to keep it from being pretentious and a story of association with an old-school shipwright.
At one point, it was the workplace of one of Brisbane’s most famous wooden-boat craftsmen, the late Fred Fleming, whose characterful Morton Bay motor cruisers are moored in many Australian ports. When they change hands, they can sell in the hundreds of thousands.
But there is more: This man cave also comes with a private jetty and a small slipway into the creek. Admittedly, these elements are in a bit of a state, yet, says Armstrong, they could easily be fixed. This would be worthwhile as they’d be hard to replicate on any other private and absolute waterfront holding within ahoy-ing distance of Brisbane’s CBD.
“You wouldn’t know you were so close,” Armstrong says. “You can hear birds singing along the creek and catch mud crabs. You can sit out by the creek at night – beside the firepit – and lose all perspective that you are within a couple of kilometres of the city. It’s so charming. I love it”.
Yet perhaps the real clincher in the grizzled appeal of Boatshed House is that above the main shed is residential accommodation in the form of a two-bedroom apartment. The basic kitchen facilities are downstairs but the whole arrangement is operational enough to have been occupied by the widow of a small-scale boatbuilder who bought the place a couple of decades ago.
“She’s carried on living there,” Armstrong says.
Recently, at the urging of her family, she decided to sell up and move to the coast. So under the tagline “Retiring owner sets sail to live elsewhere,” LJ Hooker advertised the unusual property under various categories: factory, warehouse and industrial.
With its location within the parkland precinct of family-friendly Norman Park and right beside a popular walking track and off-leash dog area, Armstrong says he can also envisage “that it could have potential as a hole-in-the-wall cafe”.
As the property has been so long occupied as lodging, however, Armstrong had his residential colleagues access it and says that while “this fascinating property”, could be suitable for many light industrial uses, without rankling the local council, it remains feasible for the apartment to continue being used as an on-site “caretaker’s flat”.
Strategically, the agency began the marketing campaign two days before Christmas, “when people have more time to search online”.
And duly, over the generally quiet Yule, Armstrong says around 15 enquiries came through “from people looking for alternative investments, from professional boatbuilders, and from people who have plans to build their own boats”.
“It takes two to three years to build a boat, so during that time they could live on-site,” he adds.
So far, LJ Hooker isn’t giving any clues about the ballpark figure that might buy Boatshed House. “We’ve had appraisals from $600.000 to $1.5 million, which is not a huge price tag for such an unusual place with such a beautiful feel about it,” Armstrong says.
With an owner wanting to sell quickly and with as little complication as possible, “we don’t want to be advising people about what it’s worth”, he says. “We want to hear offers to purchase. So, if you’re interested, you tell us what you think it’s worth and what are the terms under which you want to buy it.
“Then, by early February, we’ll tailor the sale along the lines that will be suitable for the owner.”
