To date, Kookaburra Cottage is by far one of our favourite renovation projects. Although this may have been one of the biggest challenges at the time, it was also the biggest transformation we had ever achieved. We had the pleasure of renovating this tired old heritage house for Subiaco Executive Terraces and transforming it into a stunningly modern holiday retreat.
This property went on the market back in 2012 and b have been demolished; however, the admirable property developer Jim Halliday from Subiaco Executive Terraces decided to restore this treasure. The property had been left vacant for many years and was stripped of anything valuable. All the copper pipes, doors, and even the fireplaces were gone. The house had a terrible musty smell and the most retro carpets and wallpaper we had ever seen.
The house had been renovated we suspected in the early '70s and the original sash windows replaced with what at the time was probably very modern. Jim wanted to restore the original character and charm of this heritage property. We sourced some old sash windows at auction and put them back in the front of the house which changed the look dramatically.
Everything was painted white externally, the roof repaired and resprayed and some character posts put in to support the awning, which added some additional charm. The front door was replaced with a more character style door and painted in a beautiful fresh mint colour. The curb appeal was completed with a charming white picket fence.
Internally all the carpets and wall paper were stripped back and removed. When the carpets were lifted, beautiful Australian Jarrah floor boards were discovered. With a little TLC they could be brought back to life.
The entire back of the property needed to removed and rebuilt as it was gone way beyond repair, and was literally falling apart. This gave us the flexibility to rebuild the back of the house to fit some beautiful bi-fold door, sourced at auction. The back of the house was covered in corrugated panelling when completed to give a feel of the Australian outback, as Jim spent many of his younger years working in the bush as one of WA's top sheep shearer.
The dividing wall between the kitchen and the dining area was removed to open out the entertaining area. The wall between the bathroom and the linen cupboard was also transferred to make a larger bathroom/laundry area.
The bathroom was completely gutted and tiled from floor to ceiling in high gloss white tiles, with a stone colour tile selected for the floor tiles. The shower was left open to give the property the feel of a luxury hotel. The look was pulled together with a gorgeous his and hers floating vanity.
The back of the property was landscaped entirely to create the perfect entertaining area, with decking flowing out back from the dining area to connect the two spaces. As you can see from the before and after photos, it was an overgrown jungle.
There was a sash window at the back of the living room which was removed to open up the area and create an archway into the dining which joined the two rooms together.
All the walls in the interior were patched up and prepped for a clean white pepper colour scheme throughout, with white ceilings, cornices and the original skirting boards were all restored and painted white. Where any ceiling roses were damaged, we sorced and replaced with newly casted ones.
The kitchen had an old Australian cooker which we restored for character purposes and the kitchen designed around it. The walls were all tiled from floor to ceiling in the kitchen. We used high gloss white cabinets to match the wall tiles and give the room a more spacious feel. In order to add some contrast the kitchen was finished off with a charcoal coloured stone bench-top. All the original jarrah floor boards were repaired, sanded back and painted in a high gloss varnish throughout. The mix of old and new gives this house a real Shabby Chic style.
The original Australian cooker, pronounced "Kooka" gave the owner the idea for the property's unique name "Kookaburra Cottage". The new name adds to the charm of this property and gives it a memorable identity.
Externally the property was completely landscaped to create a beautiful relaxing space. This property is now a beautiful holiday retreat and can be leased short term through Subiaco Executive Terraces.
This property won an award at the Local History Awards to help preserve Subiaco's past:
Tom Stannage house history category
First prize: Susan Wann, Kookaburra Cottage
http://www.subiaco.wa.gov.au/Your-council/News-and-media/Media-releases/2017/10-October/Local-History-Award-winners-help-preserve-Subiaco.aspx
Check out the gallery of all the completed photos from this project, and we think its absolutely charming.
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