This is a property with a two-pronged focus: the land of about 2400 square metres ripe for development, or a house in completely original 1950s condition that throws down the gauntlet to a creative renovator.
With the exception of a later extension, added probably around the early 1970s, the house retains archetypal light fittings, including wall sconces, an untouched bathroom with pedestal basin, sash windows and a kitchen fit-out with curved cupboard ends and slanted drawer faces. It is truly a step back in time.
The land size means a contemporary rear extension is eminently doable and the gardens have a lot going for them.
A weeping cherry twisted with age, and trees such as oak, ash and maple are enviable bones around which to build a new garden, and there’s a daffodil bed, orange trees and pergolas heavily laden with wisteria, banksia rose and a delicate lemon creeper. Brick-paved walkways and stone retaining walls are other elements to fire imagination.
The house has, in the original section, an entry foyer, three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a lounge-dining room with fireplace. A step down from the kitchen leads to a laundry, and a timber-lined sunroom with exposed ceiling beams, built-in shelves and sliding doors to a brick-paved sitting area. There are several outbuildings, fairly dilapidated, but they’re helpful in marking out the scale of the yard and suggestive of what could be achieved. The property’s location is another big drawcard. From the front, it has views of market gardens, it’s a moment’s walk from Bacchus Marsh Primary School, a couple of minutes’ stroll from the town centre and, as the icing on the cake, has easy access to the Avenue of Honour to counter traffic snarls.
