Inside the transformation of classic Carrington cottage bought as a ‘gamble’

Buying a property sight unseen is a gamble.

However, it paid off for the owners of an early 1900s cottage in Carrington, which is back on the market after undergoing significant renovations and extensions.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 103 Gipps Street is listed with an auction guide of $1.3 million to $1.4 million with Donna Spillane and Patrick Skinner at Spillane Property.

“It was on the market in 2022 with no floorplan and no internal photos because inside was in a bad way,” Mr Skinner said.

“The new owners have done the most incredible job on the renovation with the design choices and the work that has gone into it.

“It has had a lot of eyes on it since we listed it and attracted plenty of interest because it is so well presented.”

The property is scheduled for auction on December 21 at 10.30am.

It is the seventh renovation project for Kate Potter, who purchased the property in 2022 for $770,000.

“There were no photographs and we weren’t allowed in the property, so we had to take a gamble and buy it sight unseen,” Ms Potter said.

She worked with a team of builders and designers to transform the run-down two-bedroom, one-bathroom weatherboard cottage into a light-filled four-bedroom, two-bathroom home.

The floorplan includes a main bedroom with an ensuite at the front of the house, with the remaining three bedrooms serviced by the main bathroom.

A large extension at the rear with black cladding includes an open-plan living room, dining room, and kitchen with high ceilings and north-facing highlight windows to fill the space with natural light.

“We wanted a house with character that we could work with in a city village-type location,” she said.

“I had looked at a different place in Carrington and almost bought it, but then I heard about this one and found it was on a beautiful street with palm trees down the centre.

“Knowing that based on the floorplan, there was scope to extend it and do something with it, it almost didn’t matter that we couldn’t view the house inside.

“Luckily, we didn’t find any nasty surprises inside.

“It had great bones and lovely character at the front, and we could see the outlook at the back could be nice and private, and if we designed it well, the sun would be captured inside the house.”

While almost all of the house is new, including the roof and cladding, original period details such as coloured leadlight windows and ceilings in the two front bedrooms are retained.

The kitchen has an island bench and a bi-fold servery window to the alfresco area.

Two sets of glass sliding doors lead from the living area to the alfresco area and backyard, where the property’s established frangipani tree still stands.

The house was designed with passive solar design principles.

The owner’s favourite features include the flow between indoors and outdoors, cross-ventilation airflow and the curved walls in the main bathroom and hallway.

The bathrooms feature Earp Bros tiles and antique brass finish tapware, and the main includes a fluted bathtub.