Lyn WIlliams, the widow of iconic Australian painter Fred Williams, is selling her $12m South Yarra home.
The South Yarra home of the late artist Fred Williams’ widow Lyn has been listed for sale with a $12m asking price.
Acclaimed as one of Australia’s greatest painters, Williams was known for a distinctive style of landscape works with his career taking off after he won the nation’s then richest travelling art scholarship, worth 1000 pounds plus 300 more for travel expenses, in 1963.
He was named an Officer of the order of the British Empire in 1976, won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting in 1966 and 1976 and his works have sold for millions of dollars at times.
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Records show Ms Williams, who has been named a Companion of the Order of Australia, bought the Avoca St home for $2.01m in 1989, about seven years after her husband passed aged 55.
“For a house of this size, it has always had an incredible warmth to it,” Ms Williams said.
“I’ve been very happy here for almost forty years. The house has been full of family, friends and paintings. It’s time for someone else to enjoy it and I hope they love the garden as much as I have.”
![Artist Fred Williams. picAlbert/Tucker P/ arts culture and entertainment](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Artist Fred Williams became one of Australia’s most celebrated painters.
A number of living spaces around the home offer a grand ambience.
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Antoinette Nido is handling the sale of the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 60 Avoca St — which will go to a private auction on October 29.
Its double-storey floorplan includes character-filled living, dining, lounge and sitting spaces on the ground floor, along with an expansive kitchen.
The upper floor hosts the bedrooms, including a main with an ensuite, and two more with access to an east-facing balcony.
Ms Nido said the property on a 760sq m block was exceptionally located, in one of the highest positions on South Yarra Hill with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Toorak Rd shops and eateries and even the MCG all within walking distance.
Lyn Williams at the home. Picture: The Australian / Nadir Kinani.
The home is an expansive canvas for art lovers to make their own.
Period features are still found throughout the home.
“Part of the reason you see homes like this held for so long is that this pocket is very hard to replace,” Ms Nido said.
“You have freestanding period houses, proper gardens and a real sense of space, while still being close to the best lifestyle amenities and the city.”
Noting that 60 Avoca St was a perfect example of this, she added that it was “one of the most admired homes atop South Yarra Hill”.
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