Extract from ABC News
Political diehards are flocking to inspect an unassuming four-bedroom house on the market in Sydney's south-west, once owned by former prime minister Gough Whitlam.
Key points:
- Gough and Margaret Whitlam owned the Cabramatta house from 1956 until 1978
- Mr Whitlam was known to conduct media interviews at the property
- The rundown four-bedroom house is expected to fetch between $720,000 and $750,000 at auction
The Cabramatta home is modest by today's standards — especially for a prime minister — but it was an architect-designed showpiece and "ahead of its time" when it was built in the 1950s.
Ray White Canterbury director Manuel Roussakis said the home needed a lot of work but was attracting plenty of interest from buyers, and those keen to inspect a slice of Australian political history.
"We've certainly had a lot of interested neighbours and people that have interest in politics that come through the home," said Mr Roussakis, who is marketing the property using the famous Whitlam campaign slogan "It's Time".
The ALP stalwart and his wife Margaret owned the property from 1956 until 1978, including throughout his prime ministership, which concluded with his controversial 1975 dismissal.
The deceased estate has clearly seen better days and now has paint peeling from the ceilings, broken kitchen cupboards and an overgrown backyard with a murky brown swimming pool.
But there are plenty of original features including floral wallpaper, patterned floor tiles and a baby-pink tiled bathroom.
"It was designed for Gough Whitlam, he engaged in architects to design the home, " Mr Roussakis said.
"From our research, the architect was based in Cronulla, so it's very much a Sutherland Shire-style home.
With its floor-to-ceiling windows, corner glass, separated living and bedroom zones, and a central courtyard feature "it's unlike a lot of other homes in the area," Mr Roussakis said.
"It's a slice of history, a mid-Century classic, that gives good insight into the architecture of the time.
"It was very ahead of its time, in my opinion."
It's believed the Whitlams were only the second homeowners to build in the wide, peaceful street.
The property has a price guide of between $720,000 and $750,000 and is going to auction later this month.
Mr Roussakis has previously encouraged the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to buy the historically-significant property, but he would not be drawn on whether anyone from the party had come to inspect it.
"We're pretty confidential about who comes through and who doesn't, so all I can say is … we're accepting everybody in through the doors."
Whitlam held press interviews at home
Australia's 21st prime minister was known to give media interviews at the home and on the night of December 2, 1972, when he was elected prime minister, he held a press conference from the living room.
"It's clear that we've won handsomely in NSW and Victoria," he told a throng of reporters.
"I just can't get to a television set or to a telephone to find out how we've done in the other states."
He then pushed through the crowd to join hundreds of his campaign workers and supporters eager to congratulate him in his front garden.
The Whitlams put the house on the market in 1973, with an asking price of $46,500.
It's unclear whether they later withdrew the property from the market or it failed to sell.
But when ABC reporter Stuart Littlemore spoke to neighbour Betty Carroll, who was selling the house for the Whitlams, she said the pair no longer had need for it.
"They've got the Lodge, she told me, and Kirribilli House when they come to Sydney, and Cabramatta is such a long way away," Mr Littlemore said in a voiceover to the story.
At the time, Mrs Carroll estimated between $5,000 and $10,000 of the sale price would be due to "the prestige value, or the status value, that the prime minister lived here."
Mr Whitlam died in 2014, aged 98.He led the country through a period of massive social change from 1972 to 1975, introducing sweeping reforms to the nation's economic and cultural affairs.
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