Red Hill's Carousel Restaurant up for sale

The two-storey building was opened in 1963 by then minister for the navy John Gordon, who declared it "contributed to graceful living and filled a long-felt need in Canberra" for a fine dining venue.

The Canberra Times declared it was the city's first "dodecagon", or 12-sided building. The unique design was to accommodate the site which had a diameter of 66 feet or 20 metres.

The restaurant was designed by Miles Jakl for Peter and Lidia Vidovic who paid 30,000 pounds for it to be built. The building has remained in the family's ownership for almost 60 years.

Now, it is being sold for the first time, with LJ Hooker Commercial in Canberra accepting expressions of interest until May 27. It's expected to fetch $1.5 million to $2 million.

The Onred restaurant now occupies the top floor and a separate cafe is on the lower level.

Agent Steven Shang said there had been interest so far from local and interstate investors, restaurateurs and members of the Red Hill community.

Back in the day, the Carousel restaurant was the in place for Canberra society, politicians and diplomats.

In 1970, The Canberra Times reported that Mr Vidovic was looking to add on a revolving deck to the upper level, a proposal that never came to fruition.

In 1981, noted architect Enrico Taglietti was commissioned to re-decorate the restaurant, including new windows, and he promised at the time it would be "in the style of the year 2001".

A letter to the editor to The Canberra Times in 1962 from Molly Reid, of Gundaroo, asked if a name had yet been picked for the new, daring restaurant overlooking the national capital.

She had a few suggestions: the Panorama, The Skyway, the Summit, The Scenic, The Spectator.

"I expect this restaurant will feature candle light and string music at night and dancing. It will undoubtedly become one of the famous places for tourists to visit as the years go by," she opined.

In the end, it was called The Carousel. And it certainly ushered in a dazzling new time for Canberra.