Snakes, pigeons and books cleared from Wynnum house

Set along Wynnum’s coveted Golf Course Avenues, 66 Boxgrove Avenue, Wynnum, the three-bedroom deceased estate is a raw 405sqm canvas for builders and renovators ready to start from scratch.

Ray White Bulimba sales agent and auctioneer Zoe O’Connor said the property is set to go under the hammer on 14 November at 9am.

The sale is part of the Ray White Collective in-room auction event to be held at The Calile Hotel.

Behind the post-war facade lies a story as eccentric as it is extraordinary, Ms O’Connor said.

“The home belonged to an independent, highly talented musician and librarian who lived without children and surrounded herself with an astonishing personal library,” Ms O’Connor said.

“She was an incredibly gifted, fascinating lady. The house was quite literally packed floor to ceiling with many, many thousands of books.”

After the owner went into care, nature began moving in alongside the collection, Ms O’Connor said.

“To say it was chock-a-block is an understatement - it was on another level,” Ms O’Connor said.

“Between the wasps, pigeons nesting in the ceiling cavity, and a few snakes in the yard that had made themselves right at home, it took multiple teams just to clear the space.

“Many books, vinyl records and CDs were salvaged and donated to the University of Queensland or sent overseas, but much of the home had been reclaimed by the elements.” 

Ms O’Connor said while the existing three-bedroom, one-bathroom post-war home is widely seen as a complete knockdown, its underlying value sits in the earth beneath it.