Uphill battles
It created quite the challenge for Alex.
he owners, who are friends of his,
bought the house in 2012, and lived in it
for a few years before contacting him.
‘hey renovated the bathroom and
reitted parts of the kitchen, but realised
that they needed to undertake a more
substantial renovation,’ Alex says.
he owners had already underpinned
the front part of the house – the original
footings had only been taken down
to the soil level and not the rock. But
additional work needed to be done to
ix the loor plan.
‘It was that classic period style of lots
of rooms at the front of the house, with
bedrooms on one side and living space
on the other, leading to a kitchen at the
back,’ says Alex.
‘here was a sunroom at the back,
too, of the dining room, but there was
just a single door as the access point to
the garden, which is quite large.
‘So the idea was to really open up that
back space so you can walk from the
living space straight into the garden. You
want the freshness, and the openness.’Keeping the old up-front
On the plus side, the home’s facade
needed very little work at all. he
stunning-looking bungalow is
double-fronted and situated on
a block that is slightly deeper than
the surrounding homes, giving Alex
plenty of space to work with.
‘Originally the owners wanted to
build up to a second storey, but that wasgoing to be too expensive,’ says Alex.
‘So we looked at accommodating
what they required in a single-loor
renovation instead, which meant
opening up the space and adding an
extension at the rear.’
Alex retiled the front verandah
but left the front two bedrooms and
the renovated bathroom on the south
side of the house untouched. On the
northern side, he combined the old
master bedroom and living area into
one large master with an ensuite and
a walk-in robe.
European oak loors were laid in
the old section of the house, which,
Alex notes, replaced a particularly
unattractive green and white carpet.he old kitchen, dining room and
sunroom were knocked down and
a games room, which also works as
a guest bedroom, was added behind
the master bedroom.
‘he family ideally wanted a fourth
bedroom, so the games room was added
with a cavity sliding door so it could be
closed of as needed,’ Alex says.
‘Opposite the games room, a laundry
and a study were added in the old
section of the house, and the parents
now use the study for work, while the
two teenagers will often complete their
homework in there.’ ▶The old living room became the
master bedroom ensuite.Cavity sliding doors turn a games
room into a fourth bedroom.16 JULY 2018 Australian Handyman