Welcome, it’s Adrian Bo from Ray White, Park Coast, Eastern suburbs. Property expert across the Eastern Beaches and Parkside areas. This week, as part of my local history series I’m on the corner of Arden Street and Alison Road, to talk further about an amazing story I previously covered, that featured the local institution called Wirth’s Circus, due to the overwhelming popularity and fascination of my first episode. Imagine the incredible scenes of the 1880s, when circus elephants would be exercised along beach street in Coogee, in the mornings. The private zoo that was established for the circus animals, at the Wirths’ property behind me, known as “Ocean View”, was legendary, as was their local circus venue, which they built in 1914, known as the Hippodrome Theatre, in the Haymarket area. They constructed a special hydraulic platform at the Hippodrome, to bring the elephants up to the stage from down below, as well as a 40 square metre water tank for the performing seals and polar bears. And apparently the platform still exists under the floor of the modern Capitol Theatre, as it stands today. Amazing to think that elephants were still wandering around here in the 1920s, less than 100 years ago.

But if you can imagine a world where radio, television, and the internet didn’t exist, residents in the eastern suburbs would pack the circus tent out for every performance. It was high entertainment of the era, only rivalled later by the birth of moving pictures in the cinemas. Wirth proved to be a great entrepreneur of the time, establishing another circus and Hippodrome theatre in Melbourne, as well as a roller skating rink, and what was known as a saucer track, which was a velodrome to host cycling racing meetings, upon which gambling was common back then. In 1923, Philip Wirth and his wife, Sarah Jane, went through a high-profile divorce, which became an ongoing saga in the Sydney newspapers, which lapped up every small salacious detail. Sarah Jane was painted as having a large collection of diamonds, a Cadillac car, a very expensive wardrobe of dresses, and a large team of servants, right here at the Ocean View property, Coogee, behind me. Divorces were quite uncommon at that time, especially for wealthy families. In 1928, the circus moved to the corner of Wentworth Avenue and Goulburn Street, where it had originally begun in 1880. The site now is occupied by the Club Wyndham Hotel. A massive tented village was established for the animals and the performers though for many months of the year, they would be touring the world, performing in other Commonwealth countries like South Africa, England, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, as well as other parts of South America and Malaysia.

At the time of Philip Wirth’s death, sadly, in 1937, the local newspapers ran a story that the elephants, who were stationed at the time in Roma, Queensland, whilst on tour there, got extremely restless. Apparently they would normally sleep peacefully throughout the night. But on this particular evening, they trumpeted loudly and wandered restlessly throughout the night, until an abrupt, eerie silence was established. Wirth, who had not travelled with the circus on that occasion, sadly passed away, and the story was that the restlessness of the elephants was because they sensed his particular passing. Wow, I know this to have been instinctively true, actually, given my travels to Tanzania in East Africa with my wife in 2014, where I witnessed firsthand these elephants that were grieving. It was heartbreaking to see. Now back to the modern day, and Coogee property prices have seen another substantial rise over the past year, on the back of a very strong year, in the previous 12 months. The median price for three-bedroom houses grew by 21.7%, to $3,038,000. The median price for four-bedroom houses grew by 11.8%, to $3,215,000. The median price for one-bedroom units in Coogee grew by 9.8%, to $840,000. The median price for two bedroom units in Coogee grew by 7%, to $1.23 million, having grown by 19% the previous year. And the median price for three-bedroom units in Coogee grew by 4.5%, to $1.985 million, having grown by 26.7% the previous year.

I’ve literally sold thousands of properties very close to this location, including many buildings and street records as well. In the last 90 days, I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve some great results for my clients, 6 at 74 Coogee Bay Road, a two-bedroom unit with no parking, I sold for a premium price of $1,440,000. 12 at 67A Bream Street, Coogee, a one-bedroom unit with no parking, I sold for $840,000, 5 at 113 Dolphin Street, an original two-bedroom unit, no parking, I sold for a premium price of $1,430,000. 3 at 74 Bream Street, a two-bedroom unit, no parking, I sold for a premium of $1.2million. And also 4 Pitt Street in Randwick, a two-bedroom semi, I sold for a premium price of $2,665,000. I hope you enjoyed the story of the elephants that once wandered around these streets. I’m very passionate about keeping stories like this alive, about the local community. I have been living and selling real estate in the Coogee-Randwick area, and Maroubra, Clovelly, all around that Eastern coastal belt for over 30 years. I really hope you enjoy the beautiful weather, and always remember, your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.