Swanson: East meets west

Graham Hepburn meets a builder who took on a neglected house with archways and a ballroom.

1240 Scenic Drive, Swanson.

Bruce Morton loves a challenge. And the builder definitely took one on when he bought a half-finished house with exotic architecture on an overgrown section.

The house, which has both Middle Eastern and Asian influences, was started in the 1970s but never completed.

Bruce says the couple who began the project had travelled a lot through Asia and had a love of things Eastern. He says they first built the double garage, with bathroom and kitchenette, and lived there while they worked on the house and landscaped the grounds.

But, Bruce says, during that time the couple, who were keen on horticulture, bought some land up north and lost interest in the Swanson project.

Two years ago Bruce bought the property, which had suffered from neglect.

"It was not finished but liveable. As far as the kitchen and bathrooms went, we basically ripped everything out and started again. They had finished one bathroom but they never used it. They couldn't get water pressure into it because the guy who had plumbed it had put a stop valve in and they didn't know about it.

"My son and I spent the first 12 months working inside the house full time. We worked 80 hours a week and had three days off in the whole year."

The section was another story.

"We had half a dozen guys for six months working on the grounds. The swimming pool out the back was so overgrown we didn't even know it was there. We knew there was a garden shed on the property because it had a permit, but we couldn't find it. We had to ask the council where it was and then get the slashers out to get through to it."

The grounds now look a picture, with mature trees dotted about the gently sloping lawns. The kidney-shaped swimming pool has been restored, and a series of connected ponds provide an air of tranquillity on the bushclad section.

The house, which is down a long driveway, has a modern kitchen and luxury bathrooms. But it is the ballroom that is literally the centrepiece of the house. It sits between and joins the two-storey wings of the house and is painted in a striking red. At either end of the ballroom are ornate entrances and down either side are intricately fashioned French doors and full-height windows with stained glass.

Bruce says it has been almost as challenging trying to sell such a unique property as it was restoring it.

"We've had three Buddhist groups look at it quite seriously," he says.

So why take such a project on?

"It's the challenge. As a builder you work with square shapes and straight lines all the time. In this house there are hardly any flat surfaces. And you get a sense of pride seeing a place like this brought up to standard."

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 5ha, house 410sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: $1.15 million.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1pm-2pm.

CONTACT: Albert Bartlett, Berryman Real Estate Ltd, ph 827 1187 bus, 027 268 0315 mob, 826 1649 a/h.

FEATURES: Exotic four-bedroom home surrounded by landscaped grounds and native bush. Huge ballroom, master bedroom with en suite including spa bath. Swimming pool, outbuildings and self-contained double garage.