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The five-floor residence at 4 Wiltshire Drive, Kew, is built into the old Kew Lunatic Asylum\u2019s administration building.<\/p>\n
A five-storey home built into a former lunatic asylum that hosted some of Australia\u2019s leading Test cricketers has hit the market with a $2.75m asking price in suburban Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The former Kew Lunatic Asylum, later renamed Willsmere, was one of Australia\u2019s biggest and operated for more than 100 years from 1871-1988. <\/p>\n
Some of its most prominent patients included Australia\u2019s first heavyweight boxing champ Bill Farnan, as well as test cricketers Billy Midwinter and Patrick McShane who both died in the asylum \u2014 though in a different part to the administration building where the home is located.<\/p>\n
RELATED: How Melb Vixens star built property wealth<\/a><\/p>\n Mogul Ross Pelligra eyes $13m+ Moonee Ponds record<\/a><\/p>\n Vic retreat with graffiti wall seeks six-figure sum<\/a><\/p>\n George \u201cHarry\u201d Trott, Australian cricket captain and test player in the 1800s, also wound up in the asylum after a mental health breakdown following the nation\u2019s Ashes victory in 1897-1898.<\/p>\n Tom Wills, who helped found Australian rules football, also spent time at the mental hospital.<\/p>\n It was initially conceived to host colonial Victoria\u2019s growing number of lunatics, idiots and drunks, with the Italianate design by architects G.W. Vivian and Frederick Kawerau considered a Melbourne landmark.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The 1893 Australia national cricket team, including Harry Trott at the left end of the middle row.<\/p>\n The home\u2019s main living zone is a sprawling space bigger than some homes by itself.<\/p>\n A loft-style living area inside the apartment that spans five levels.<\/p>\n One of its most impressive residences is 4 Wiltshire Drive<\/a>, 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. <\/p>\n The home is built into the complexes former administration wing.<\/p>\n Jellis Craig Boroondara\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n Portrait of Australian Rules football game founder Tom Wills with a cricket bat.<\/p>\n An open-plan home office and bedroom space on one of the home\u2019s upper floors.<\/p>\n An expansive kitchen provides residents with plenty of room to cater for a crowd or family.<\/p>\n \u201cThese owners bought it, and they lived in another part of the building previously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this was one better. And a lot of people do that after they move in.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s expecting families, most likely with teenage kids who will attend the area\u2019s sought-after local schools, to be the most likely buyers. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Expats and even those looking for a lock-up-and-leave base in Melbourne would also appreciate the offering.<\/p>\n The former administration building\u2019s facade is equal parts grand and imposing.<\/p>\n Soaring ceilings and herringbone floors give the home plenty of character appeal.<\/p>\n The home also has a balcony with impressive, tree-lined views.<\/p>\n And while the estate might once have had a reputation as an asylum, it was intended to be a place of wellbeing and rehabilitation \u2014 something the current owners have embraced by turning the third-floor living zone into a yoga retreat with a sauna. <\/p>\n The wider grounds also include a gym, pool and tennis court. <\/p>\n Mr Lawton said the home also offered a handful of features that could not be replicated anywhere else in the area.<\/p>\n The four-storey floorplan can\u2019t be achieved with maximum heights across most of the suburb capped at three storeys. Coupled with an elevated position, the home\u2019s upper-level views are equally unmatchable for almost any other residence.<\/p>\n Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here <\/a>to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.<\/p>\n MORE: \u2018Shouldn\u2019t exist\u2019: Iconic Mildura home hits market<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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