Iconic Blue Mountains home Leuralla is for sale.
A former toy and train museum in the Blue Mountains has come to market for the first time in more than a century and after four generations in the same family hands.
Leuralla, a period property at 43 to 69 Balmoral Rd in Leura is the second homestead to be built on the same 5.5 acre estate in the historic township west of Sydney.
An original house constructed on the land in 1903 by the late Harry Andreas Esquire was tragically destroyed by bushfires and the current Federation free classical home was erected on the same spot in 1914.
The home sits on around 5.5 acres.
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As the home of the Katoomba Music Society in the 1930s, Leuralla hosted numerous musical guests including the international celebrated pianist Solomon Cutner, known as The Great Solomon, composer and conductor Sir Eugene Goosens, and music critic and cricket commentator Sir Neville Cardus.
Andreas’ daughter, Marjorie Alice Evatt (nee Andreas) and her husband Clive Raleigh Evatt Senior acquired the family property in the 1950s, it was then passed down to Victor Raphael Evatt in the 1980s, and eventually to the late Clive Andreas Evatt Jnr.
It was Evatt Jnr, a renowned barrister, and his second wife Elizabeth Margaret Evatt (nee Avery) who transformed the residence and grounds into the NSW Toy and Railway Museum in 1980.
The passionate pair scoured the globe for rare and collectable toy and railway memorabilia to curate what was thought to be the world’s the most significant single collection of 20th century toys.
The home has been owned by the same family for four generations.
It’s for sale for the first time in over 100 years.
It’s one of The Blue Mountains’ best known homes.
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In May 2022 the museum was finally closed after floods, fire and Covid impacted the business and the treasures were sold off under the hammer late last year. According to auctioneers from Davidson Auctions, the job of cataloguing the years of collectables was so intense a team of four experts moved into the home for four months.
The big ticket item to sell was a Marklin HMS Terrible Tinplate Clockwork Battleship which fetched $26,000 at auction.
Just listed through co-agents Craig Pontey of McGrath Double Bay and Darren Curtis of Christie’s International Real Estate, the stately six-bedroom residence retains many of its original features first crafted by architect Edward Hewlett Hogben.
Alice Evatt inspects the toys at the Leuralla Toy and Railway Museum at Leura in the Blue Mountains in April 2004. Picture: Jason Busch.
There are ornate fireplaces throughout.
The fairytale-esque grounds.
Beyond the classic portico entryway, there is French polished Queensland maple panelling throughout, coffered and moulded ceilings, ornate fireplaces, formal rooms including a ‘gentlemen’s drawing room’, a music room, games room, grand staircase, various balconies and enclosed verandas.
The incredible sprawling estate is on 11 titles with magical formal grounds designed by Harry Andreas and updated by Paul Sorensen featuring sandstone walls, rolling lawns and meandering paths on the fringes of the Blue Mountains National Park near Elysian Rock Lookout.
According to PropTrack, the median house price in Leura is $990,000. That’s down 20.8 per cent over the past 12 months.