From rags to riches: Renovated Preston home hits the market after $750k makeover

• Owners: Builder James Foster and clinical trials co-ordinator Sharnel Foster
• Project timeline: October 2022-October 2025
• Architect: Jake Barrow Architecture
• Builder: JF Homes and Extensions
• Budget: Roughly $750,000
• Most expensive cost: The extensive custom cabinetry came in at $90,000
• Where we saved the most: Salvaging the original weatherboards
• Most unexpected cost: “The concrete slab was just under double what I would have budgeted for before COVID.”
• What we’d do differently: “We’ve had plenty of conversations around never living in a place we’re renovating again!”

Buying a derelict heritage house, moving in during a major renovation and then bringing a new baby home a month later might be considered brave. Having lived it, James Foster is inclined to say it’s more likely “a bit silly” and “very naive”.

On the hunt for a new project in 2022, the builder and his wife, Sharnel, bought their Californian bungalow in Preston at auction a little unexpectedly.

Prices had soared post-COVID-19, and they had tipped that the house would sell for more than their budget would allow. But with lots going for it, including a pretty heritage facade, a leafy street, and a great primary school around the corner, it was worth a try.

“We ended up picking it up,” James says. “And then we went back through after we’d bought it and we were like, ‘This needs a lot more work than we originally thought’.”

Owned by the same family for 100 years, the house was empty prior to sale. Picture this: a retro pink kitchen, old teal bathroom, patchy lino floors and stained, peeling wallpaper. The roof leaked, and mice and termites had claimed squatters’ rights. Friends and family of the pair weren’t convinced.

Nevertheless, the Fosters were undaunted – with James’ skillset, and home renos under the couple’s belt, they were up for the challenge, even with the pending arrival of their first child. Once the place had been restumped, they moved in and lived out of the original part of the house while a large extension at the back took shape.

“We had a lot of issues,” James shares with a laugh. “There was a stove in the spot under the old chimney where the wood fire had once been, and we’d be cooking and, if it started raining, your pan would be full of water.”

Panel heaters moved from room to room to keep the family warm would trip the old wiring “constantly”, and then there was the challenge of juggling the job alongside his clients’ projects.

“My plumber would say, ‘OK, I’m coming to yours’,” James says. “And I’d have to say, ‘No go back, I need you there!’ It just takes so long to get your own job done because it’s never the priority.”

Still, the old outhouse and lean-to extension were demolished, and a concrete slab was poured to add two new bedrooms, a home office, laundry and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space with an adjoining deck. A soaring raked ceiling was installed, with blackbutt timber floors laid below, and large windows and sliding glass doors soaking up the northern light.

The couple splurged on custom joinery by Cressida Cabinets throughout, from the kitchen cupboards, butler’s pantry and laundry to the office space and built-in barbecue. “I feel like it makes a massive difference compared to fitting in modular stuff or just having wardrobes built by a builder,” says James of the $90,000 decision.

While some costs blew the budget – for one, the concrete slabs (another was laid for a double-car garage with laneway access at the back) – there were some happy surprises.

The bungalow’s exterior weatherboards had been covered in plastic duplicates years earlier. A peek underneath hadn’t confirmed whether that decision had been made to safeguard the originals, James says, or because decay had already set in. Once the cladding was removed, he was thrilled to find the old boards were still in good nick, saving him an estimated $40,000 to $50,000.

“We pulled them back and almost all of them just needed to be sanded and painted so that was a massive win.”

While the back of the house speaks to modern comforts and contemporary materials, with a focus on entertaining, the front rooms have retained the essence of the old bungalow. Sitting there, with the original fireplace glowing with life again and the garden beyond the window, James says he can picture the same scene a century earlier.

“It’s just a house with a really nice feel to it; you feel good when you’re here,” he says.

The Fosters, with Chloe, now three, and 14-month-old Max in tow, had renovated with a mind to living here long term, but now hope to return to Rutherglen, where James spent his childhood.

The house at 18 Latona Street is listed for $2.2 million to $2.4 million and will be auctioned at noon on Saturday, March 28.

SOLD - Price Withheld

18 Latona Avenue, Preston VIC 3072

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