We bought the house!! :)

Hey Nek... I havent gotten out a tape measure but its maybe 6 or 7 metres.
To the south of the garage is a driveway for a house on another street and they don't use it. They could be willing to sell it but the neighbour to the south of me said the land owner wanted a bomb (i.e. in the crazy sum of money sense) for it and that was 23 or 24 years ago! Yes... and neither of them have moved... people seem to not sell... once they buy they stay. Would be nuts to give up this location without good reason.

The vendors we are buying from were there for about 19 years and are only selling as they will retire down to the country as all their kids have moved out.

Anyway, just planning to enjoy the home for now. Partner unfortunately is not so into development. But it's nice to have the potential. But the other thing is that with the council changes that it will go into another council area. Which may or may not be as generous. Our window to develop may be narrow....

 

You should get in touch with serge and see if any opportunity to convert the garage into a granny flat.

Double the airbnb rentals

 

So you snagged it, well done But that does not get you an auto out of the meet up....lol

 

I'll go to Wenty in Jan!

 

If it was my place, I'd look at doing the following:

• Move the bathroom into the sitting room in the middle of the house. I like @Westminster's suggestion of making it into a large en suite and walk-in-robe. However it could be split roughly 60 / 40 to provide a decent sized main bathroom and a shower room en suite. That might be tricky with the fireplace though.
• Dig out the cellar rooms to increase their ceiling height. OK, that's probably going to involve removing bedrock, but it would add quite a bit of space. One of these would be directly below the new bathroom, which would make it really easy to plumb in. Just don't go the full Iceberg House route.
• Consider getting an architect in to look at the general flow of the house. It's a quirky, interesting design, but I think that a few tweaks might get the space to work better.
• Figure out some way of separating the upstairs and downstairs area with a lockable door. That would allow the property to be divided if you want to rent the lower level as a self-contained unit.
• Replace the garage block with one that's got a similar footprint, with an apartment above, or convert it into a dwelling.
• Square off the end of the extension, and have it open up entirely with bi-fold doors. Whilst you're at it, add stairs down to the garden.

I'd possibly consider rebuilding the eighties extension from scratch. And probably add a metric tonne of insulation to the house in the process along with double or triple glazing.

 

If it was my place, I'd look at doing the following:

• Move the bathroom into the sitting room in the middle of the house. I like @Westminster's suggestion of making it into a large en suite and walk-in-robe. However it could be split roughly 60 / 40 to provide a decent sized main bathroom and a shower room en suite. That might be tricky with the fireplace though.
• The wall between the bedroom and the sitting room is sandstone I believe! If it was gyprock or brick I'd have no hesitation in putting a doorway in it but I don't think I want to compromise a sandstone wall. Admittedly that living room is a bit of a dead space though.
• Dig out the cellar rooms to increase their ceiling height. OK, that's probably going to involve removing bedrock, but it would add quite a bit of space. One of these would be directly below the new bathroom, which would make it really easy to plumb in. Just don't go the full Iceberg House route.
• Nope, not for me. Yes I'd have to remove a LOT of solid rock. I'd rather leave as is, I don't want a huge house, it would be just too much to look after. I do like them however as 2 storage rooms.
• Consider getting an architect in to look at the general flow of the house. It's a quirky, interesting design, but I think that a few tweaks might get the space to work better. Can consider
• Figure out some way of separating the upstairs and downstairs area with a lockable door. That would allow the property to be divided if you want to rent the lower level as a self-contained unit.
• Can look at however I don't have an issue with the interconnectedness because if renting Airbnb style or to uni students then its ok to have connected. If renting long term to another party/ies (eg. Adult/s plus kid) then separating makes more sense but we are less likely to do that - I'd still want access to my storage rooms and it is first and foremost our ppor. Extra income is a bonus but I don't want to give up control of a part of my home to another party/ies. It's not the main goal of buying this place.
• Replace the garage block with one that's got a similar footprint, with an apartment above, or convert it into a dwelling.
• I was thinking that too re having a dwelling where the garage is. For tool storage I suppose I could make the under house space usable by taking out some stone or add a shed for lawnmower and whatnot... The images of apartments above the garages are cute - love the designs however it will also change what we see from our back balconies. I admit, the current garage roof is not a sexy thing to see from the balconies, but i'm inclined to keep what ever there as low rise so to not impede the bush outlook from the back balconies. Yes... I love a view. Note.... maximising income well and truly not the aim here. Enjoyment of the home is the goal. Even if we subdivided, the rear house would stay low rise as I don't want to block my views!
• Square off the end of the extension, and have it open up entirely with bi-fold doors. ?Confused on this! Whilst you're at it, add stairs down to the garden. Are you still talking the ppor? The best way to do that at the moment is by using the internal stairs, you end up at the lower level and this gets you to the garden. Not keen on adding external stairs from the house.

I'd possibly consider rebuilding the eighties extension from scratch. If it burned down or was unsafe... sure. But I like it as it is, I like its charm. Plus... I dont want to be plowing another few hundreds of thousands of dollars into the property. At least not just now! It is a good area, nice houses in the area are worth 2 mill+, so I suppose if we really gave it a wow factor... there maybe a market for it. Or maybe it would be harder to sell....

Note, its in a bush fire prone area according to council so any rebuild would not be cheap because it would have to be built to bushfire code.
And probably add a metric tonne of insulation to the house in the process along with double or triple glazing.
The old house should be very well insulated due to the sandstone. The wooden parts I think will be fine (my weatherboard home suffers from hot and cold to a shocking degree... it can be 30° plus on a hot day and single digit cold on a cold day). At least with 2 levels and the sandstone there should be somewhere in the house that's a nice temperature any time of the year!

The house has some extra nice features - it has some skylights at the rear of the house with blinds that open up by remote control and they have sensors - the owners told the agent over the phone that if they detect rain the skylights close automatically. I'll have to see that!

Anyway Graeme.... pm me if you are planning to visit Sydney.... I'd be happy to have you over! (Same goes for any visiting interstate forumites too). Just some advanced notice required.

 

Hope that applies to us local folks too!

 

Will the listing be much of a hindrance to any proposed renos and redev?

 

Yep locals too but... I might schedule an actual PC housewarming... get it over and done with in one hit for any locals interested!

 

I can't really change the appearance of the front of the house, and I would personally leave all the sandstone exteriors as they are (heritage people would have to guide any changes to the front). The back half that dates from the 1980's should be fine to change, but would need to be materials that are approved for use in a bushfire zone. So a bit more tricky than usual!

 

Lynda, we have not met. Love your enthusiastic and openness. But just be mindful of your privacy.

 

I hesitated on putting up pics. But I did want to let everybody see the front of it!

 

Ditto.

 

I'd only do it more for the downstairs area... its pretty easy. Needs extra cleaning though. And we can decide to accept or reject potential guests, however the vast majority of people are good. For guests you host at your place ideally you price it well so they don't want to stay longer than around 10 days. Enough to visit but not cheap enough to live permanently and get too comfortable. (You can specify stay rules though)

 

@Gockie i meant to say that it's the best looking 80s extension I've ever seen . The 80s was not known for its architectural style. The rooms are spacious and I love that kitchen.

When you live in it and get a feel for it ideas will come.

I think you can get through sandstone walls ok but you'll need to consult a builder to check how hard and where it's load bearing if you want to put a wall into the lounge are for a master ensuite.

 

Thanks @Westminster.... I know, when someone mentioned a 1980's extension I thought it sounded like it could be dodgy too! But I even like the bathroom design (not pictured)... but it has a nice period feel to it and the stained glass you can see in a pic from a balcony, well you see the stained glass from the front entry of the house. It's a well thought through detail. Its beautiful.

 

As long as you have separate areas/own entry you probably be fine. I am too private for this, but hey if you can get ahead with additional income and happy to put in the work why not.
All the best with it.

MTR

 

Yes, the downstairs has its own entry doors so its basically a private space. There's no need for people to come up or through the house to get to the room/s. It even has its own balcony, so I think it's pretty ideal.

 

It's quite perfect for this - even for having family/friends come and stay and be able to have their own space.