Maitland mansion 'Cintra' sells for $3.2m, owners plan to welcome public visitors

The 1879-built mansion 'Cintra' at 34 Regent Street had been owned by just two families when it was put on the market late last year.

Despite attracting interest as a gallery, a restaurant and a guest house, the 5500 square metre property sold for $3.2 million to buyers who plan to retire in the home.

Prominent business and property owners Catherine and Kevin Blanch will make the 30-plus-room mansion their main residence, and return it to its former glory in the process.

"There are definitely great things on the horizon for Cintra that are going to move her [towards] the 22nd century with lots of style," Mrs Blanch said.

"There'll be lots of interesting things you'll hear about with her."

Chief among their plans is restoring the property to allow for public visiting days.

Their vision requires both practical alterations, like the addition of a working downstairs bathroom, and meticulous maintenance spanning timberwork, ventilation, and gardening.

Not to mention plenty of hands on deck, including household staff, volunteers, gardeners and tradespeople with experience in heritage restoration.

"A property of that size and scale is a lifetime of investment - it's not dissimilar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in that it has to be maintained on an ongoing basis," Mrs Blanch said.

"We will be reinvigorating the servants' quarters, the scullery, the coach house and the groomsmen's quarters ... all those will be put back to their original use in the original place in the house.

"We'd like to welcome volunteers and visitors to the home to experience the house in the way that it was meant to be."

Cintra boasts a mammoth 965 square metre floor plan - more than four times an average house - but the Blanches are no strangers to grand homes.

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For three decades they have been restoring the 1887 Victorian mansion in Albert Street, Islington, which was damaged in the 1989 earthquake.

They plan to eventually rent out the 10-bedroom home, which was formerly owned by painter Margaret Olley, to move into Cintra.

Mrs Blanch said she was excited to return to Maitland, where her family connection spans five generations.

For many years Mrs Blanch ran the Maitland Markets, which were established by her late mother Gwen Murphy about 40 years ago.

"It was always a wish of ours to go back to Maitland," she said.

"We were absolutely delighted and very honoured to be given the responsibility of acting the caretakers for this property for another generation, at which time it will be handed onto another generation.

"A property of this scale - you're just a caretaker."

Cintra was built for the Levy and Cohen families, and was owned by four generations of the Long family between 1917 and 2022.

It retains its original stables, several outdoor buildings, and attained heritage listing in 2012.

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