Award-winning builder adds $2m to Blairgowrie home in six years
34 Ridley Street, Blairgowrie, has sold for $2m more than it last did six years ago.
A 1970s fibro beach shack bought for $362,000 about six years ago has gained more than $2m after a lavish makeover.
Hansen Living boss Scott Hansen and his interior designer wife Kirsten bought 34 Ridley Street, Blairgowrie, in 2015 and have spent the intervening years “pulling it back to the frames”.
The award-winning builder said he had been hoping it might edge past the $2m mark, but despite a “perfect storm” of COVID-19 driving Victorians to buy a second home within the state, as international and even interstate holidays prove tricky, he did not expect it to reach the sale price of $2.541m at its Sunday afternoon auction.
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RT Edgar’s Clayton Smith said 180 people inspected the home over the past two weeks and about 200 turned out for the auction.
Among them were four bidders, who kicked the sale off with a $1.9m opening offer and quickly surpassed Mr Hansen’s hopes of a sale a bit beyond $2m.
“It was pretty close to $500,000 over expectations,” Mr Smith said.
Scott and Kirsten Hansen with their daughter, Londyn, 4, at the Blairgowrie home. Picture: David Caird
How the home looked before it was transformed.
Inside the home before the renovation was completed.
A buyer’s advocate bidding on behalf of a buyer in Melbourne won the keys.
While most of the bidders were aged in their 60s and appreciated the home’s single-level floorplan and low-maintenance gardens, he noted there was wide demand for the area.
“There is a groundswell of demand from people wanting something with a really relaxed coastal feel as well as all the luxuries, like a self-cleaning pool,” Mr Smith said.
“There is a post-COVID-19 ‘get me out of Melbourne’ mentality.”
He advised those thinking of selling to consider an update, if they could find a builder, but otherwise to capitalise on the market strength at the moment.
The house has a lavish pool area for warm weather.
Windows throughout the home are aligned to take in tranquil gardens.
The home’s new-look interior reimagines beachside living.
Mr Hansen said the result had his family thrilled, considering the home had been in bad shape when they bought it.
“It had those terrible windows you had in portable class rooms,” Mr Hansen said.
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“I stripped it back, pulled the roof off and pulled it all back to its frames.”
With a few “Brighton influences” the four-bedroom home was rebuilt as their family’s perfect coastal home.
In addition to a self-cleaning pool, the house features open-plan living spaces at the rear of the floorplan and a media room with a bar.
Brighton-based architect Nicholas Murray offered a few tips to Mr Smith, who he has worked on a number of builds, and ensured windows were positioned to make the most of gardens and natural light.
A wood-burning fire adds character to the living zone.
Hints of Brighton give the home the luxury edge that might be expected in Melbourne.
Four bidders felt it was the perfect place for them to wake up to.
The family’s next project will be a slightly larger home in Blairgowrie he intends to transform into a New York Hampton- style abode.
Mr Hansen has collected accolades including Master Builders Victoria Best Custom Home in 2014, for a Heath Street, Port Melbourne, home.
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