Infamous Murder Mystery Cottage For Sale in Million-dollar Suburb
A humble worker’s cottage where a mother and her daughters vanished in one of Queensland’s longest running murder mysteries has come up for sale for $1.4m in original condition.
Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11, disappeared from their home at 6 Dorchester Street in South Brisbane on or around January 16, 1974. It was during the heyday of Brisbane’s violent underbelly, a time when restaurants and nightclubs were firebombed including the infamous Whiskey-A-Go-Go where 15 people died. The McCulkins disappeared just over a month after Mrs McCulkin reportedly told friends that she had dirt on her husband Billy allegedly linked to that tragedy.
Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki and Leanne disappeared in 1974 from this home.in a mystery that took 43 years before a conviction was delivered.
Agent Angus Commins, principal of Space Property South Brisbane, has listed the property for sale for $1.4m off market, with the low-key approach already generating strong interest given the home’s location in one of the hottest markets in Queensland.
“We’ve got it listed at $1.4m,” he said. “We’ve had people inspect it already and there’s a tremendous amount of interest in it. It’s in the Brisbane State High catchment, and the West End State School catchment, Somerville House is at the end of the street.”
Mr Commins, who has been in the South Brisbane area for 30-odd years, said the history of the property had not put buyers off.
“The market is manically strong, I’ve never seen it like this. It’s stronger than it was pre-GFC.”
Backyard images of 6 Dorchester Street, South Brisbane, from when the home was last listed for sale in 2014. Picture: Realestate.com.au
Given the cottage was built pre-war it cannot be demolished, but renovation potential is strong, with the home code assessible. The house history shows it has four bedrooms and one bathroom with no garage on a 404sq m block. Realestate.com.au has its value in the high range at around the $1.39m mark.
The only public information put out about the listing was a Space Property post on Instagram stating it offered “inner city living with potential city views conveniently located in the BSHS catchment”. All inspections are by private appointment.
A 2014 listing picture inside 6 Dorchester Street, South Brisbane. Picture: Realestate.com.au
City views from the back of 6 Dorchester Street, South Brisbane, in 2014 when it last listed. The hottest market on record should see this home easily deliver over a $1m-plus this time around. Picture: Realestate.com.au
The home, which has remained largely unchanged since it was built in 1925, is for sale for the first time since two men faced trial in 2014 over the McCulkins’ disappearance. The men Vincent O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois were convicted of murder three years later – in what family members said was a “43-year wait for justice”. The bodies of the mum and daughters have never been found.
How the home appeared inside after Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki and Leanne disappeared in 1974.
The current owner bought the property just two weeks after it was listed for sale when the fresh trial started. He got it at a $61,500 discount on the $899,000 asking price, and with the real estate market at its highest peak in history should easily fetch the $1.4m price he is asking for it seven years later.
While he stands to make just over $560,000 on the home, the previous listed owner had paid just $57,000 for the murder mystery cottage in 1987, according to CoreLogic records – giving her over $780,000 for the property when she sold in 2014.
