It’s a historic, feature-laden house on nearly half an acre opposite Cook Park; this new Clinton Street offering from Peter Fisher Real Estate is sure to attract plenty of attention.

Built in the early 1900s, the house at 40 Clinton Street would have been a majestic home in its day. With four large bedrooms, a wide well-lit hallway, leadlight bay windows, decorative fireplaces and 11-foot pressed metal ceilings, the property shows signs of no expense being spared during its construction.

“You can see it would have been an expensive house and one of the very best houses in the street in its day,” said selling agent Michael Wright.

The property has been stripped of all later alterations, carpet and fixtures in order to show interested buyers the potential for restoration or renovation.

“It is up really to your imagination,” said Michael. “You can see that despite the age of the house it is still a pretty solid old girl. It is on a bluestone base and the way it is presented you can see it bones and all, you can see exactly what it is.

“And one of the things that impresses me about the house, now that we have it stripped out, is the amount of natural light that comes through even as it is and given you've got the opportunity to do an extension you have ample opportunity to really pick up that northern and Eastern light”

Even without considering the massive amount of land on the block the property has ample room for expansion. The current owners even had plans to install a second level under the current roof-line.

“I have been up in the roof and in the old terms I’d guess it’s approximately ten foot to the centre roof line, so again there is ample opportunity to open up a second story in this home,” said Michael.

“The owner had some plans drawn up for what they wanted to do and we could possibly share those with interested parties, or if they know a good architect, feel free to bring them along and have a look through and I'm more than happy to answer any questions that they might have.”

One of the more notable features on entering the home are the four lion statues that adorn the entry; the history of which, Michael would love to know.

“Locals do affectionately know it as ‘the Lion House’. Now, what the story is behind the lions, I'm not sure but, it would be interesting if any of your readers knew. It would be great to be able to pass that on with the history of the house.”

But, of course, it is the size of the land that truly makes this property exceptional, especially given its prime location and the option to subdivide. The current owner has received approval to split the block in two, which would leave the house on 926 square metres, and a rear block of 863 square metres.

“There is 1789 square metres! It is a size of land you don't see in the newer blocks, let alone here across from Cook Park. Anyone who quite literally wanted to have a tennis court and a pool and still have a good size yard — this has ample opportunity,” said Michael

“You may have parents you want to set up a home for or you might want to use the whole backyard yourself. The possibilities are whatever you want them to be, which is pretty unusual for a prime position in the middle of town.”

The market for CBD properties has been strong, said Michael, who expects this unusual offering to attract a lot of interest from buyers.

“It is hard to buy a house with character and that is what you've got here… And straight opposite Cook Park, there are not too many other better addresses in town.”