Not everyone has the courage to take on a semi in “original condition” (read: in desperate need of a makeover) but Marty and Sarah Gardiner saw the potential of this property in Randwick and are now ready to cash – in on their recently –bought and newly renovated home.

In what was almost a knockdown-rebuild, everything but the front wall of the property was demolished, and the address has been given a makeover with contemporary design ideals.

The 1900s dark-brick, slap on rendered and painted semi- detached home had three bedrooms running down one side and living quarters tacked on the end- even the chimney stood intact with the original tile roof. A carport stood at the back of the property but there was no drive - through from the front street.

In contrast, the new four-bedroom, three-bathroom home, which features a double brick ground floor, brick - veneer first storey with a concrete slab in between, has been given the royal treatment.

“I don’t want to insult the previous owner by saying that it was run-down, but let’s just say it was in original condition. The previous owner, who is quite elderly, came through recently to have a look, and was quite impressed with what we had done – she was pleased,” Mary says.

Cornering the market

Mary and Sarah recruited Domus Homes to manage their semi’s overhaul. They were impressed by the work Domus had done on a similarly sized semi in the area, but what they ended up with was wildly different – in the best possible way.

“We are on a corner block and the architect wanted to take advantage of the northeasterly aspect – they had some pretty amazing ideas of what could be done,” Marty says.

First, the front door was re- positioned from the left to the right- hand side (facing the property) and where the entrance hallway once was now sits the downstairs bathroom. This ingenious move could only be managed because the semi was on a corner block, and this paved the way for the entire home to be redesigned.

“The whole place opened up because we could move the front door,” Marty says. The laundry sits almost squarely on the ground level, behind the boxed-in refrigerator in the kitchen, and acts as a divider. A walk-in pantry behind the staircase is a clever attention to detail.

David Edelstein director of Domus Homes, says incorporating the semi’s front roof area into the modern design, which is based on open-plan German and Japanese architecture , was the biggest challenge.

“Integrating the front roof of the house, which is a traditional semi lean-to roof and which we had to keep because of council regulations, into the contemporary design was the biggest issue. It also had to match the semi next door,” he says.

“We had to keep the lean-to roof at the front, and it made absolute sense to use it as storage. The storage area above the garage is another no-brainer.”

Witch and the wardrobe

Marty, Sarah and daughter Harriet, 6, are thrilled with the result, even more so because the design offered a storage solution, which is of utmost importance in semi’s, which usually lack spare space.

“My daughter calls it the ‘witch and the wardrobe’ room. The wardrobe in the main bedroom upstairs has five doors. Four of them are for the wardrobe, the fifth leads you to an under roof area,” Marty says.

“We have put airconditioning in there as well as flooring . It’s a gable roof, so it does get narrow in parts but a child can easily stand in there. It’s a great space for storage.”

Having moved into the completed home in July, Marty and Sarah have not had much time to enjoy their spanking new abode because they are now getting ready to move.

“We had kept an open mind when we bought it,” Marty says.

“It was not our exclusive intention to sell it staightaway , we would have been pleased to live in it long term and that’s why we put in so many quality inclusions, but after thinking it through we decided it would be better to sell it now while everything is new.”

David expects the renovated semi to easily find new owners, saying its “out-there” design is a show piece.

“I think this home is much more appealing than the traditional semi – it’s funky and very modern.” Catherine Nikas – Boulos

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