$2.75m piece of Kew ex-asylum where cricket greats died for sale

The five-floor residence at 4 Wiltshire Drive, Kew, is built into the old Kew Lunatic Asylum’s administration building.

A five-storey home built into a former lunatic asylum that hosted some of Australia’s leading Test cricketers has hit the market with a $2.75m asking price in suburban Melbourne.

The former Kew Lunatic Asylum, later renamed Willsmere, was one of Australia’s biggest and operated for more than 100 years from 1871-1988.

Some of its most prominent patients included Australia’s first heavyweight boxing champ Bill Farnan, as well as test cricketers Billy Midwinter and Patrick McShane who both died in the asylum — though in a different part to the administration building where the home is located.

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George “Harry” Trott, Australian cricket captain and test player in the 1800s, also wound up in the asylum after a mental health breakdown following the nation’s Ashes victory in 1897-1898.

Tom Wills, who helped found Australian rules football, also spent time at the mental hospital.

It was initially conceived to host colonial Victoria’s growing number of lunatics, idiots and drunks, with the Italianate design by architects G.W. Vivian and Frederick Kawerau considered a Melbourne landmark.

Sold off by the Victorian government shortly after it ceased operating, the former asylum and its expansive surrounding gardens were redeveloped for housing that opened in 1993.

The 1893 Australia national cricket team, including Harry Trott at the left end of the middle row.

The home’s main living zone is a sprawling space bigger than some homes by itself.

A loft-style living area inside the apartment that spans five levels.

One of its most impressive residences is 4 Wiltshire Drive, a five-bedroom, five-storey home is now testing the market with a $2.75m asking price that would make it among the most expensive in the building.

The home is built into the complexes former administration wing.

Jellis Craig Boroondara’s Lloyd Lawton said the listing price was based predominantly on the sale of another home in the complex, 106 Wiltshire Drive, which has a larger, seven-level floorplan, and sold for $2.85m in 2024.

Records show the current owners paid $1.95m for No. 4 when they bought the home in 2018, but Mr Lawton noted it was actually their second purchase in the property.

Portrait of Australian Rules football game founder Tom Wills with a cricket bat.

An open-plan home office and bedroom space on one of the home’s upper floors.

An expansive kitchen provides residents with plenty of room to cater for a crowd or family.

“These owners bought it, and they lived in another part of the building previously,” he said.

“So this was one better. And a lot of people do that after they move in.”

He’s expecting families, most likely with teenage kids who will attend the area’s sought-after local schools, to be the most likely buyers.

“And it’s great for security and safety, once you are within the walls, you can basically let the kids run around safely like my generation did as kids,” he said.

Expats and even those looking for a lock-up-and-leave base in Melbourne would also appreciate the offering.

The former administration building’s facade is equal parts grand and imposing.

Soaring ceilings and herringbone floors give the home plenty of character appeal.

The home also has a balcony with impressive, tree-lined views.

And while the estate might once have had a reputation as an asylum, it was intended to be a place of wellbeing and rehabilitation — something the current owners have embraced by turning the third-floor living zone into a yoga retreat with a sauna.

The wider grounds also include a gym, pool and tennis court.

Mr Lawton said the home also offered a handful of features that could not be replicated anywhere else in the area.

The four-storey floorplan can’t be achieved with maximum heights across most of the suburb capped at three storeys. Coupled with an elevated position, the home’s upper-level views are equally unmatchable for almost any other residence.

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