Former Holy Grail owner Ian Meldrum and wife Rosemary Zeccola have knocked down their former family home on a corner block in Empire Circuit, Forrest, and built four new double-storey houses in its place.

The couple bought the original house in the early 1980s and raised their family there. Mr Meldrum said the decision to knock down the family home was not a hard one to make, given the increasing cost of living and because he and his wife were empty nesters.

"We didn't want to leave the area, so we thought we'd redevelop the block and put in four townhouses on it," he said.

"By rebuilding on it, it's allowed us to give ourselves a new house and create three others."

Mr Meldrum said neighbours bought the first two properties.

"They were just walking past while the build was on and just bought them before they were completed."

The final home on the 1424 square metre block is now on the market for $2.15 million.

Designed by TT Architecture and built by Plan Build Live, it has triple glazing and garaging for three cars.

Mr Meldrum said the couple had saved the plants from the property and replanted them in the new development.

Mr Meldrum was the owner of the Holy Grail, the Kingston restaurant and bar famous for its post-budget and post-election mop-ups.

It was a favourite for Australia's political leaders as well as parliamentary staffers and journalists who flocked to the institution to soothe their angst or celebrate after a long day on Capital Hill.

The nightspot closed in 2013 after 16 years, with Mr Meldrum telling Fairfax Media then that the government had "made it too difficult and expensive to run a small business in Canberra.

The property can be found at 3/28 Empire Circuit, Forrest, Canberra.