House of the week: Going, going, gone to a good cause

1 month ago 14

The home at 4 Beatrice St, Stuart Park. Picture: Supplied

Tucked away on a private block with harbour views, a unique Darwin home with main residence and two granny flats is going under the hammer for a good cause.

Owners Chris and Golden Whitrod are auctioning their two-storey, pre-cyclone but post-reno home at 4 Beatrice St, Stuart Park, to help pay for gene therapy for their five-year-old daughter.

Their little girl, Tallulah Moon, has a rare neurodegenerative disease called Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Type 56 (SPG56).

Gene therapy could halt the disease and may even help reverse some of the disease’s debilitating impacts.

Mr Whitrod said it wasn’t going to be easy to say goodbye to the home where he and his wife had raised Tallulah and their son Finn, 8.

“The kids have grown up here,” he said.

“Finn calls the shed out the back the memory shed because whenever we go (inside) we find all these old memories.

“And Tallulah was actually born in the lounge room.”

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The home at 4 Beatrice St, Stuart Park, before renovations. Picture: realestate.com.au

Mr Whitrod said it was also “crazy” to sell a home that was an “absolute cash cow” but it needed to be done.

“All you need is two people renting downstairs and the mortgage is paid,” he said.

“We’ll never find property like this again but right now we need every dollar to fund the medicine for our daughter.”

The couple bought the home in 2014 and had grand plans for the place.

“We spent 18 months looking for a home that could provide additional income and give us space to raise a family without feeling like we were sharing it with others,” Mr Whitrod said.

“This brick home, with … solid separation between levels, ticked all the boxes, plus it’s super breezy — a must for a Queenslander like me.”

Mr Whitrod said the home was dark and dated when they got their hands on it but they saw its massive potential.

“The first thing we did was work out how to lighten it up,” he said

“It was dark and closed off with an extra brick wall around the kitchen, and there was a very old circus-like tent as a roof over the veranda — you couldn’t use that outside area as it was super hot.”

Inside the house was dark and drab before renovations. Picture: realestate.com.au

Inside the home is light and bright. Picture: Supplied

Mr Whitrod said being a southerner from Queensland, the renos had to make the home cooler so he could survive the Darwin heat.

“I installed seven fans in the lounge area alone,” he said.

“We knocked out windows in the lounge room to capture the nice breezes and the new roof over the veranda is made out of refrigeration panelling so it’s extra cool.”

The couple also converted the downstairs area, which had been a living room, bedroom, bar and games room, into two self-contained units.

Today, the home has the beautifully renovated main residence upstairs plus the two granny flats.

4 Beatrice St, Stuart Park. Picture: Supplied

The deck has a beautiful view over the treetops. Picture: Supplied

Thanks to clever use of the sloping block, the front door opens into the upstairs area, which features vaulted ceilings and banks of louvres.

The open plan living, dining and kitchen area flows out to the big back deck with bondor roof panelling, bar seating and views over the trees to the harbour.

Back inside, the spacious kitchen has a curved breakfast bar, plenty of cabinetry and benchspace, a walk-in pantry and views through louvre windows.

The main bedroom has a striking feature wall, walk-in robe and a luxurious ensuite with timber benchtop and rain shower.

The second bedroom has a built-in robe and there is also a family bathroom on this level.

“My wife did all the styling — I could never pull that off in my wildest dreams,” Mr Whitrod said.