St Marys Bay: Added value St marys bay

27 Dedwood Tce, St Marys Bay.

Mary Eyre smiles when she recalls the day she and her husband Stuart bought their St Marys Bay home.

"We signed the papers 15 minutes before I was due to be at National Women's to be induced for the birth of our first child, who we knew was going to be a girl. Stuart said, 'This is going to be the most expensive day of my life'."

He was right. While bringing up children is costly - the couple now have a son, Brodie, aged 2, as well as their daughter Kirsty, 4, - so is taking on a "do-up."

Mary says she doesn't know exactly how much money she and Stuart have spent transforming their 110-year-old villa but it's definitely had an "extreme makeover".

"We chose top quality materials throughout the house," she says. "We wanted to do the job properly. And it certainly needed a lot of work."

The house had been rented out for 10 years and was in a sad state. Previous owners had done things like adding unattractive cupboards, painting interior walls pink and carpeting up the side of the bath. But Stuart and Mary could see that the house had good bones. It also had big rooms, beautiful pressed steel ceilings and leadlight windows and, best of all, fabulous views. There's a particularly scenic vista from the upstairs deck of the Harbour Bridge round to the Sky Tower.

The couple hired an architect, interior designer, kitchen designer and builder to carry out the necessary refurbishment.

"Renovations are not my area of expertise, and I can highly recommend getting professionals in," says Mary. "I now think interior designers are absolute magicians. Ours would come up with ideas we probably would never have thought of."

The kitchen and family room underwent the most dramatic changes. Two walls and a pole in the middle of the family room were taken out, creating a large, light open-plan area. Meanwhile, the ceiling, which had been lowered, was removed, revealing an original high ceiling partially clad with kauri. Their builder covered the rest of the ceiling with kauri. "He was very meticulous - he did a fantastic job."

In fact, their builder ended up spending about a year working on the house and got on so well with Stuart and Mary that they attended his recent wedding.

Other changes included re-fitting the bathrooms, removing cupboards from three bedrooms, putting in skylights in the upstairs bathroom and redecorating throughout.

The master bedroom upstairs has a walk-in wardrobe that was enlarged by raising the sloping roof. It's now so spacious there was room in there for Brodie's cot when he was a baby.

Outside, a deck was added to the front of the house to take advantage of the late afternoon sun and views of the harbour. At the back, some of the decking was removed and lawn laid so the children have a grassy area to play on.

The extensive renovations have resulted in a house that has all the graciousness and elegance of a bygone era yet is a comfortable and stylish 21st century home.

But for Stuart and Mary, it is time for a change, and they've fallen in love with another house. "We'll miss this place though - it's been wonderful living here," says Mary.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 516sq m, house 240sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected over $1.5 million. Set sale date August 24.

CONTACT: Jan George, Ray White Ponsonby, ph 376 2186 bus, 0274 784 119 mob.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 11.30am-12.30pm.

FEATURES: Beautifully restored Victorian villa, formal living room, formal dining room, designer kitchen, family room, office, basement workshop, extensive decking upstairs and down, two original fireplaces, chandelier, two single garages and off-street parking for three more cars.