FEATURE LISTING: Landmark Beaumont mansion with park-like grounds to match
Driving around Beaumont, it would be hard to miss this iconic villa.
With its prominent tower, this historic dwelling is easily one of the most unique and recognisable properties in Adelaide.
So, when well-known real estate identity Michael Brock put 14 The Common, Beaumont on the market 17 years ago, John Sheahan decided to make an offer.
“We were not living far away – we were living in St Georges. I’ve always been aware of this home because it’s an impressive-looking property and it suddenly came on the market at a time when my wife was looking for a new challenge,” says John, who is an insolvency practitioner.
John says he was attracted to the beautiful architecture and also the location, being close to the city and sought-after schools while providing a sense of privacy and proximity to nature.
“One of the lovely things about it is, it’s right opposite the Beaumont Common – it’s just like living in a park,” he says.
John says although parts of the house looked tired and needed to be brought into the 21st century, it was “amazingly well preserved”.
Being local heritage listed placed restrictions on how the exterior could be altered, although John says he never wanted to change its gorgeous facade.
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The homestead was built in the 1850s, while the distinctive tower was added on in the 1880s.
John says it is one of the last surviving examples of a number of towers that once stood throughout the eastern suburbs, providing views all the way to Semaphore.
“The owner was a trader – a merchant – and as ships were coming north up the gulf towards Port Adelaide, flags would identify which ship was coming, which port it had left, when it was due to arrive at dock in Port Adelaide and what its cargo was,” he says.
“Using a telescope, you could get that information from Beaumont and the merchant owner sent his people down to Port Adelaide to trade.”
Outside, John has repointed the stonework, returned the balustrade back to its original appearance and replaced the verandah’s mini orb with western red cedar.
He also resurfaced the decking with aged jarrah that was recovered from a Kangaroo Island wool store.
Meanwhile, the interior required substantial upgrades. John upgraded the bathrooms and put in a new kitchen with an eight-metre-long Canadian granite bench.
He also installed new wiring, plumbing and air conditioning throughout, while he recently switched to solar, which generates up to about 70 per cent of his power needs.
He also built a two-storey, five-car garage with the top floor as his son’s New York-style loft apartment.
“A lot of thought was put into connecting the new garage and my son’s rooms above that. That New York loft had to be sympathetically joined to the existing house and that flows into the garden through an indoor link with a western red cedar ceiling and lots of natural light, which is another lovely factor of the house.”
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A separate cottage provides the perfect location for a teenager’s retreat, guest bedroom or pottery and painting studio.
John says the tower includes a study on the ground floor, an exercise room on the middle and a holistic studio on the top floor.
“Even up until about the ’80s, the owners used the tower for functions, so there have been a lot of weddings and engagements and debutante balls,” says John.
“We’ve met a number of people who got married in the house and a friend of mine, his mother was crowned Miss Burnside at a function in the house many years ago.”
John says the property has hosted birthday and graduation parties, a Helpmann Academy fundraiser and an Open Gardens SA open day.
“We actually had a dinner of the Prime Minister and most of the cabinet many years ago when Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister – that was a lovely black-tie event,” John tells SALIFE.
Outside, the stunning garden oasis features plants such as liquidambars, Moreton Bay figs, Clara Barton Trees, Silver Birches and ginkgos.
John says the garden is his favourite part of the property – a perfect place for his grandchildren to play hide and seek.
“We’ve had a wonderful gardener who has put in an enormous amount of work over 17 years and transformed the gardens … we were able to get some historical photos and put the garden back as best we could to how it was at the turn of the century,” says John.
Although John loves living in the home, he has decided that the time is right to downsize.
“Whilst the space is lovely, it needs a family. It really does need more than two people and we’ll probably downsize to a spacious apartment,” he says.
“It’s just a beautiful old property and we’re always getting people driving past admiring it. All our friends love the garden and the house, so I’ll miss having such a great place to entertain.”
The sale of 14 The Common, Beaumont is being handled by Sally Cameron from Toop + Toop.
