447 Mont Albert Rd, Box Hill, passed in at a weekend auction but had three offers come in once the hammer came down.
Three buyers made offers on a circa-1940s California Bungalow in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs after it passed in on a $1.54m bid on the weekend.
Buckingham & Company Estate Agents director Stuart Buckingham said the four-bedroom house at 447 Mont Albert Rd, Box Hill, passed in on a vendor bid.
However, after the hammer came down he was approached by three separate purchasers with whom he expects to be in talks with into this week.
RELATED: Inside Melbourne’s ultimate $5.5m luxury bush hideaway
From dilapidated to grand designs in Richmond $1.38m sale
‘Back into the trenches’: Melbourne sellers face a tough winter
Mr Buckingham said he was unsure as to why all the buyers had held back from bidding on Saturday but he encouraged purchasers to put their hands up during an auction, because the highest bidder has the first rights to negotiate on a home which passes in.
“Why sit back? Give it a chance, be the aggressor – bid to buy or bid to negotiate,” he said.
The house features a north-facing backyard, decorative ceilings, ornate cornices and sash windows.
The house is zoned for Box Hill High School and is metres from Surrey Park and Aqualink, and is also walking distance to Box Hill Central, public transport and Kingswood College.
The Maple tree in the backyard, for which the house is named.
Ducted heating. evaporative cooling, multiple split system units and ceiling fans feature throughout the abode.
Named Maples, it showcases a gas log fire in the lounge room, formal dining room, an open-plan living and meals area, study, two bathrooms, an undercover deck and a 20-panel solar array with battery.
Husband and wife David and Sheryl Pither have lived at the house, where they brought up their son and daughter, since the 1980s.
The couple said their treasured memories of the home included hosting events under the back garden’s maple tree.
“We always used to have people over for dinner and have done an enormous amount of entertaining in the house, we’d have had a big barbecue out the back,” Ms Pither said.
Their church fellowship group and youth groups were frequent visitors.
One of the four bedrooms.
Decorative ceilings, ornate cornices, sash windows, timber floors, picture rails and dark-stained skirting boards and doors add to the historic character.
Mr Pither, a semi-retired audiometrist – a healthcare professional who conducts hearing tests and fits patients for hearing aids – said he had walked from the abode to the local train station every day while he worked in Melbourne’s CBD.
In 1997, Mr Pither and a friend, Peter Bartlett, established a charity named Ears Inc which helps train people in countries such as Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Haiti, India, the Philippines and Vietnam to provide their countrymen and women with hearing healthcare.
The downsizing couple are planning to donate $10,000 from the sale of their home to the not-for-profit organisation.
Maples is now listed for private sale with a $1.65m asking range.
Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
MORE: Influencer Jon Wyeth’s inside look at one of Melb’s ‘worst-reviewed’ places to stay
St Kilda Pier’s penguin-friendly redesign wins major awards
Development Victoria starts 400 home estate at ex-pesticide testing site
Help us improve your reading experience
Got a minute? Your feedback will help us build a better experience for you.
Help us improve this page
English (US) · 