Our Home - 7 Garden Court, Wheelers Hill, Melbourne - December 2019 / April 2020. Still work to complete but we love it.

It is timely to now look back at the home following the major renovation and partial demolition. The potential has been realised. We are very happy and our life is comfortable in a beautifully presented and comfortable home. It is not over the top, is conservatively finished but is also very much lived in and “us”. It is a proportionally modern contemporary home in a dress circle area of Wheelers Hill. A quiet court with quality contemporary housing each of different style. We are very pleased

Our builder Dean did a very good job. Rob, our Architect has delivered a home that is very much us, with a bold floor plan, comfortable living environment and a pleasant garden requiring little maintenance. Jeanette and our Gardener have worked diligently to bring to life a garden, which was significantly modified and upset during the rebuild programme. It is a pretty garden with differnt flowers and plants highlightedc over the seasons.

We have been in the home almost 4 years , although the first year was still during the major renovations and detailed finishing process.

It is everything that we wished. The size of the rooms is generous, the kitchen and family area is a central living area, comfortable and well fitted out.

The formal lounge and dining room are just that, a totally different formal area, used sparingly but with an inner peace and charm. The decision to extend the back wall, include a gas fire and add windows was a master stroke. The unusual but stunning partial glass wall separating the dining room from the walkway from the front door to the family area has become a central feature of discussion and interest,

The lounge and dining room were updated and cosmetically modernised to give a dramatic area of strong formal connotations, separated from the usual living areas of the home. It has worked very well. We still have a couple of pieces of art work to finish this area.

The office area is again a hub for Ken with all fittings working as planned.

Our architect had planned the Office and the Master Bedroom Suite as the major changes and additions to the existing original layout.. Whilst we accepted these comments, we only had a rudimentary appreciation of the style and warmth which was being included. The en-suite is spacious and well fitted, comfortable with all necessary luxuries. The walk in robe area and wardrobe are cleverly hidden and provide great storage. The bedroom and master suite are warm and pleasant with views out onto the beautiful front garden and lawn area as well as the sandstone entrance to the house. The lawn is a Santa Anna (golf course fairway) type and is quite hardy but looks its best in the spring and summer through to mid autumn period. After mowing it looks like a carpet. But it requires work. You will appreciate that we are delighted with these areas.

It was also an opportunity to reconstruct the powder room, with toilet and ante area for a small bathroom.

The original 4th bedroom ( a good size) had been used as a study, but it required major renovation and a reduction in size to create the internal passageway from the garage into the house. It could still be a small bedroom , but our choice was to set it up as a wine cellar with 2 wine fridges storing about 8 dozen bottles of wine and then racks storing another 12 dozen bottles of good wine. Our cases are also stored here.

The Office and sitting area, which we were initially concerned as perhaps being a little dark is a sophisticated yet wonderful, absorbingly quiet and relaxing area. The furniture built in is excellent with clever hidden storage and the seating and tables and lamps are just right. Ken has a drop down projector and screen to project television and sport. It makes it a wonderful “man-cave” but equally practical as the desk with access to desktop computer and i-pad and phones works very well.

The Kitchen, Butler’s Pantry and family dining area are also a good size, everything works well and is practically fitted. It leads directly to the family room and sitting area, which looks out onto the \back garden and pool area.

You also access the alfresco eating area from this area. This has been created as a central hub to join both our internal family areas and the outside areas with glass fence and gate separating from the pool area. The whole outside area on the Front and around the pool has been paved in a random pattern of stunning sandstone. We wanted a highlight to show off, but not dominate the build and garden. to complement and highlight the work done to renovate the property tidy up the garden and its beautiful array of seasonal plants and shrubs. It has worked well. Ken was dogmatic as to not having a dark pathway or just concrete. It has proven to be a thoughtful and important result. We have recently had all of the sandstone cleaned and resealed.

The pool has been completely resealed and the troublesome skimmer box replaced. This was an unplanned expense due to significant water leaks from the skimmer box over the last summer. The Solar heating of the pool works effectively with the pool at 25-27 degrees celsius and just right, during the summer months. We get a swimming season from 2nd November - 31st March annually (5 months). Having our grand Children swim and enjoy has brought great joy.

We restructured and totally rebuilt the family bathroom, demolished the laundry area and have refitted it with modern cabinets and fittings.

The second and 3rd Bedrooms were refitted with built in robes, changed and updated windows. They are a good size. One is the guest room with a large queen size bed and fit-out. The other is for the 2 grandsons to come and stay..

The other addition was the creation and building of a large shed and storage area in the back area away from all of the outdoor entertaining area. It has been delivered with a great fit out of shelving, storage and gym equipment all framed with a good space.

The rear garden was reshaped to include several iceberg roses. lemon tree etc. It is a totally separate garden area, beyond the pool security fencing and gate.

Back to the house, we also changes all of the electrical wiring throughout and this is now configured into a central electrical hub and rack in the enlarged garage. We improved the Hydronic floor heating through extension of the system, new boiler and improved thermostat control.

To complement the floor heating and after investigations of options, we installed large ducted heating and refrigerated cooling air conditioning units in 2 units over the home. One handles the front of the home being the master bedroom, office and formal lounge and dining areas. The second unit manages the family living areas and back of the home. A great result, quiet but efficient units.

We were also concerned as to our personal security and progressed major enhancements to the security via internal and external security cameras and sensor alarms as well as a modern alarm system with alarms monitored and back to base. These are controlled by computer apps on Ken’s phone, so we can review and observe whilst we are away.

Given our investment and love for the garden we have implemented a fully automated Hydrawise gardening watering system with 2 controllers and 8 watering lines all automatically controlled by wireless using local weather stations. Fully automated and to date trouble free.

To conclude the garden areas we have installed an external lighting system of 12 watt sensor lights with some 26 lights automatically or manually controlled.

This has been a significant investment in time and effort to make this home a joy to live in with many features automatically controlled by computer applications which can be managed and modified whilst we are away. We have also implemented solar panels upon the roof ( a 5 kw system) and a solar battery framework. Our attempt to manage and secure an environmentally friendly response.

The following gallery of photos is presented as a record of the work and love that has gone into this redevelopment. It is a home which we love and which will hopefully give us great joy over many years.