House 2

House 2 was by far our biggest project. The brief was to fully renovate this fibro coastal cottage, design the outdoor living spaces, the garden, and convert the garage to extra accommodation for visiting family while retaining a seaside fibro cottage character.

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To do this the original footprint of the house was completely retained although lots of asbestos needed to be replaced with non-toxic materials before we could begin - even the beautiful timber floors were covered in asbestos under the 1950s lino . The internal layout was then rejigged to open up the kitchen and dining areas to the north facing rear of the house and the outdoor living spaces. The bathroom remained in the original position. Windows were enlarged and many replaced with timber french doors. Rather than extent we decided to convert the garage to extra accommodation leaving the main house as 2 bedroom and a single bathroom. This proved to be a great idea for holiday families who wanted a degree of separation from teenagers.  

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The property had some quirky original features which complimented a holiday vibe - a blokey brick BBQ which could double as a fire pit and a child made birdbath along with some great internal features that we kept ensuring a 1950s holiday feel even though we gave it modern twist.  The old outdoor toilet was kept and converted into a laundry.

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This home became an immensely popular and successful Airbnb before finally being sold  

in 2021 for 1.3m. The purchase price in 2017 was $545k and the renovation came in around $150k.

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