BODY CORP:
$6198.82 (excl water), 10 per cent off if paid by due date.
CONTACT:
Judi and Michelle Yurak, Ray White City Apartments, 021 412 577 (Michelle), 021 689 821 (Judi).
* Lease park available.
In just over six months Peter and Roz Rust have revamped this corner apartment in the Lister Building, as well as enjoying a taste of inner-city living.
The couple bought the heritage apartment in October last year.
"It caught our eye," says Peter, "because it is such a character building, the total area looked good and it had flexibility on how it could be arranged."
Roz liked the good source of natural light, the large metal-framed windows, high studs and masonry construction of the 1924 building. Named for the British surgeon and medical scientist Sir Joseph Lister, it was designed by Thomas Mullions and intended as offices for doctors and dentists.
Roz says family and friends remember coming to the Lister for dental appointments, and there are still a couple of dentists in the building.
"It is a mix of commercial and apartments," says Peter.
When the couple bought the apartment, the layout was different. The kitchen was much smaller, tucked away off the entrance hall, near the tiny bathroom.
"Really the bathroom was just a one-by-two-metre wet room," says Roz. "That was inadequate for today's standards. It made the DoC huts we have stayed in look sophisticated."
They combined the "pokey" bathroom and kitchen spaces to create a bigger bathroom that includes the toilet and laundry. The kitchen is now off the corner of the main living space, where they took out a wall which had led to a third small bedroom.
Image 1 of 3: 1920s apartment has had complete makeover.
"We had to get approval for that," says Peter. "Basically we have opened up the space as much as we could while retaining two bedrooms. We have a much better living s0pace now."
They get morning sun through the bedroom and kitchen windows on the east side and then the rest of the day it comes in through the living area's windows on the north side.
They have also installed underfloor heating and polished the concrete floors in the living area and hall. The bathroom floor is tiled and the bedrooms carpeted.
The new layout has the hallway as you come in, with the two bedrooms straight ahead on the eastern side looking over Lorne St. The bathroom is off the right of the hall. Turning left from the hallway is the open-plan living space with kitchen and dining and the large windows which, being on the two sides of the corner, offer vantage points to Victoria St East, Lorne and High Sts and up to the greenery of Albert Park.
"Having the park so close has been wonderful," says Roz. They take visiting grandchildren to the park and also enjoy morning walks, which include admiring the heritage buildings of Princes St.
"We have enjoyed the buzz of inner-city life, having everything at your doorstep. All sorts of things ... wonderful restaurants and cafes ... plus we have a lovely park at the top of our street," Peter says.
They have been impressed by the feeling of community in the inner city, particularly when cafe workers find out they live nearby. Plus they like the mix of residents in the Lister Building, some renting, some owner-occupiers and of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
They are now heading back to the suburbs to be closer to family and work commitments.
"But if we were younger and didn't have as many family ties," says Peter, "we may well have stayed."
