18 hours ago
6
July 20, 2026 — 5:00am
When someone asks where I live and I say Ascot, the standard response is: “Ooh, fancy!” Yet I’m not rich, and I’ve never encountered snobbery here.
Indeed, I’ve been regularly impressed by local shop owners who remember you by name from the first time you chat to them
I have neighbours who are friendly and caring, not in an intrusive way, but genuinely look out for each other – like texting if I’ve accidentally left my garage door open, or picking up a package that’s been left in a weird spot by a delivery guy. On one occasion when I was sick, they’ve even offered to pick up groceries.
There’s really no such thing as a typical Ascot person, just like there’s no such thing as a typical style of home in Ascot.
You know the place: that hilly suburb, landlocked by Albion, Clayfield, Hamilton and Hendra, a stone’s throw from the Brisbane River, the river you can easily see from so many vantage points in Ascot, from the hilltops to Kingsford Smith Drive.
Named, obviously, after Ascot in England, hub of thoroughbred racing, our Ascot has long been a place for the betting on the nags, with Doomben and Eagle Farm Racecourse both taking up real estate here (and Albion Park just over the border). Ascot also has exceptional heritage houses such as Nyrambla, built in 1885.
This one is especially interesting. It was requisitioned by the Allies in 1942 as a top-secret facility and used as a US-Australian intelligence base for codebreakers for three years – a Brisbane Bletchley Park. In the years since there have been several famous inhabitants, including ABC presenter Blair Edmonds, markets operator Jan Power, and beloved Queensland actor Bille Brown.
As well as mansions, Ascot has art deco apartment buildings, Queenslander houses both updated and unrenovated, and daggy, rectangular unit blocks built between the 1960s and 1990s, giving it a very mixed aesthetic. There are big parks with towering trees, and local retail gems, such as the super-convenient IGA Marketplace at Oriel Park and the RSPCA Op Shop, full of quality finds, plus a variety of restaurants and cafes.
Inhabitants benefit from close access to great neighbours: Hamilton’s Eat Street Northshore, New Farm’s Powerhouse and James Street precinct, Newstead’s Bunnings, the Valley’s Homemaker, Albion’s Fonzie Abbott, Thai Ways and Bathhouse, and Clayfield’s convenient shops along Sandgate Road. We are also close to the airport, but I’ve never once heard a plane fly over.
I’m a Sydneysider who lived in Cairns for a decade before moving to Brisbane in 2017. I had been renting across the inner south, inner east and inner west of Brisbane for six years when, as a middle-aged empty-nester happily enjoying my career and social life, I decided Brisbane was the best city in Australia to live in permanently, and was ready to purchase a property.
This personal decision coincided with Brisbane’s COVID-induced property boom, and I was seeing prices increase steeply and steadily over the six months I was hunting. I was looking in the lower end of Brisbane’s price range, but wanted to be within a five-kilometre radius of the city. My biggest wishlist item was a private courtyard for my dogs and plants.
To my surprise I just happened to find that in an Ascot unit. It was the second-cheapest one-bedroom unit I could find for sale in Brisbane when I bought it in mid-2023, and though it’s doubled in value in three years, it’s still one of the cheapest properties, and a very good investment. For that, I am grateful.
Though I moved to Ascot for the entry price and leafy courtyard, I quickly realised how lucky I was to live in such a pleasant and convenient suburb where it takes me no more than 15 minutes to get to the airport, the Valley, the city, two major hospitals, Westfield Chermside and even South Brisbane areas where I spend a lot of time socially.
Despite my preference for living close to town, I value having green spaces and nature close by. In my courtyard and neighbouring yards, I see owls, possums, lizards, pythons, bush turkeys and other birds, and did I mention lots of big trees?
If I’m seeking an even quieter reprieve, just 20 minutes up the freeway I can relax at Sandgate and Brighton’s beautiful foreshore strips.
Are we posh? Maybe some of the local schools are, and whoever’s living inside those grand mansions. But we’re a diverse suburb, with a warm, welcoming and safe community vibe.
