McGrath auctioneer David Cortous calls for bids as a dog walker passes along Albert St during an auction in April.
Keen renovators who turned a classic Geelong West weatherboard home into a sleek modern entertainer with a super-sized garage have found a buyer after an extended campaign.
The eventual purchasers emerged from interstate to secure the three-bedroom residence at 29 Albert St for $1.75m.
The 635sq m property near Pakington St had been passed in at an auction in April for $1.8m after no bids were forthcoming from a sizeable crowd.
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The Edwardian era house has been completely made over by the keen renovators, who demolished the back section, paving the way for a new main bedroom suite and a showstopping living zone and enclosed deck.
High ceilings create a sense of space in the main living area.
And the garage, with space for up for four vehicles, which is a rare luxury in Geelong West, was another key feature, including the wider rear section that’s insulated and has services provided so it could be used as a studio or home office.
A recycled brick feature wall that extends from the lounge to the outdoor entertainment area and dark streamlined kitchen cabinetry lend an industrial edge to the light-filled extension completed in 2020.
The outdoor entertainment area can be fully enclosed.
The renovators had paid $730,000 for the property in 2018, after spotting it was going to auction during Pako Festa, Geelong West’s multicultural festival.
But there’s still a strong sense of heritage behind the immaculate facade, with brick fireplaces and decorative plasterwork retained in the front rooms where original timber windows have been replaced with more efficient double glazed replicas.
The insulated garage to the left could become a studio or home office.
Engineered timber floorboards are a modern-day nod to their predecessors, so too the decorative tiles that now grace the veranda and often garner compliments from passers-by.
McGrath, Geelong agent Carl Hammond said the buyers had been watching the property but came forward after the auction in April.
“They’re interstate buyers who wanted something high quality close to Pakington St,” Mr Hammond said.
The bathrooms have custom timber cabinetry.
“It offered somewhere where they could work from home if they need to and it was everything that opens the shuts essentially.
“The quality certainly stood out and the fact it had so many usable zones.”
Mr Hammond said the buyers had family in Geelong.