An 18-month long renovation at 165 Cubitt St, Richmond, totally overhauled the house, which sold this weekend.
A mother and son who extensively renovated a formerly rundown Richmond house are reaping the rewards after it sold for $1.38m on Saturday.
Interior designer Gail Lee, who owns the Edwardian-era home with her son Alex, said that she could tell the abode had “good bones” when she first saw it about 15 years ago.
This was despite the front veranda falling down, the window frames rotting and a “dodgy” lean-to which had been added out the back.
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“It was in an extremely dilapidated state,” Ms Lee said.
However, she was won over by the single-fronted residence’s inner city location at 165 Cubitt St and the pressed metal ceilings throughout.
Ms Lee served as project manager on the two-bedroom house’s 18-month long reno with the aim of retaining the address’ historic character.
“My vision was to have a jewel box of a house,” she said.
“It was a very big undertaking, we had to fix up 100 years of decline”.
A “before” photo of the house …
… and inside, post-renovation. The kitchen is fitted with bespoke cabinets, slimline stone benchtops and an island bench.
The courtyard has hosted weddings and Christmas parties.
Overhauling the pad involved relining the walls with insulation, new electrics and plumbing, relocating a bathroom from the lean-to and reinstalling a wall the previous owned had removed.
A wall of custom-made, steel-framed windows and bi-fold doors which open up to the garden were added too.
Alex, a horticulturalist and landscape designer, helped transform the rear courtyard into a green haven which has since hosted weddings and Christmas parties.
Ms Lee’s interior designer’s touch can be seen throughout the house.
The abode has two bathrooms, including the main one with a bathtub and timber vanity.
Following the renovation, a friend of Ms Lee’s visited the house and compared it “to walking through the pages of Architectural Digest”.
“We will be very, very sad to see it go but we’re very, very proud of what we have achieved here,” Ms Lee said.
“It will hopefully see another 100 years looking as grand and beautiful as it does now.”
Original fireplaces and coloured glass windows were retained in the renovation.
BigginScott Richmond director Edward Hobbs said a crowd of about 50 people turned out for the weekend’s auction, including neighbours, after the home was listed with a $1.25m-$1.35m range.
“There were three bidders and it started at $1.25m,” Mr Hobbs said.
The successful purchaser’s brother, who was bidding on behalf of his sister, ended up securing the home at $1.38m.
Exposed brick adds an industrial edge to the interior.
Mr Hobbs added that the purchaser had missed out on a Fitzroy property at an auction last weekend, but said it was “meant to be” as she liked the Richmond home even more.
“She was over the moon,” the agency director said.
Mr Hobbs said he was encouraging vendors not to have fixed reserve prices at auctions, especially in the current market.
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