Fitzroy: Author Tony Birch is selling the home where he wrote notable books
Writer Tony Birch has put his house at 159 Leicester St, Fitzroy, on the market. Photos: Tony Gough, Provided.
Multi-award winning author Tony Birch’s Fitzroy house is set for a new chapter after being listed in the $2.45m-$2.55m range.
Birch became the first Indigenous Australian to win the prestigious Patrick White Award for his contribution to Australian literature, in 2017.
Among her many other accolades, Birch’s The White Girl won the 2020 Indigenous Writers Award at the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.
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The novel was also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.
Two years later, Birch’s short story collection Black as the Last Night won the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards’ Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the Queensland Literary Awards’ Steele Rudd Award.
In 2022, Birch was appointed to the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at Melbourne University.
Nelson Alexander’s Charlie Barham said Birch wrote many of his award-winning books while living in a four-bedroom house at 159 Leicester St.
The three-story building, built inside a former water filtration factory in 1930, has a red brick facade partially covered in green.
![159 Leicester St, Fitzroy - for herald sun real estate](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The kitchen is equipped with a Bosch oven, gas cooktop, two cupboards and plenty of cabinetry.
Tony Birch spent ten years as a firefighter before becoming a writer, poet and academic. Photo: Tony Gough.
The accommodation is close to cafes, shops, public transport and parks.
Inside, the first floor has a living and dining area that opens onto a north-facing terrace with a retractable awning and a barbecue.
“It has a nice industrial feel but with all the modern conveniences and a green look that would be hard to find in Fitzroy,” Mr Barham said.
The kitchen is equipped with stone benches, Bosch oven, gas hob and double cupboard, while the master bedroom offers a walk-in wardrobe, balcony and twin ensuite.
A circular staircase leads to a mezzanine landing and study with views across Fitzroy to the Melbourne skyline.
Mr Barham said the spacious residence, with a double garage, was a rarity in Melbourne’s north.
A curved staircase leads to a mezzanine landing and study with views from Fitzroy to the Melbourne CBD skyline.
![Book Covers for Planning are provided](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 768 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The White Girl, by Tony Birch, won the 2020 Indigenous Writers Award at the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.
There are two bathrooms in the house including an ensuite with bath, shower, underfloor heating and Italian tiles.
“A lot of similar industrial buildings are divided into small towns or apartments, so to have a house of this type and scale is difficult to find,” he said.
“Apart from the central location, the house is set back and the owners note how quiet and private it is, despite being smack dab in the middle of Fitzroy.”
The residence is within easy walking distance of Smith St and Brunswick St, Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy Pool and parks, he added.
Mr Barham said the building had been upgraded in the past five years with new oak built-in floors and handmade, built-in shelving.
Enjoy fresh air while reading, writing or working from home.
Exposed brick walls show creativity and a personal touch.
A bedroom that opens to the outside.
Recently, the master bedroom ensuite was renovated to add underfloor heating, Corian benches and terrazzo tiles.
And for creatives, the house offers many places to write, draw or engage in artistic work.
“They (the owners) say that the library accommodation on the ground floor or the third level study facing the street are good places to write,” said Mr Barham.
The house will be sold at 6.30pm on February 19.
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