Downsizing couple's new home must have room for a piano

Renovating a heritage house almost from the ground up hasn’t quelled Phil and Jenny Bond’s thirst to put their stamp on their next property.

The couple, who bought their home in Melbourne’s Middle Park 12 years ago and rebuilt everything except for the facade and front rooms, are looking forward to moving to a smaller property. But when they do, they’ll likely be taking a jackhammer and a builder with them. 

“We really enjoyed taking something and making it our own,” says Phil. The couple bought their now five-bedroom, two-bathroom home, which they are now selling through Marshall White Albert Park, 12 years ago. 

They took a year to strip back and rebuild the property as a home for their four children. Phil says while having to retain the exterior and original rooms added a lot of cost to the renovation it made the home unique. 

“That character that you get in an old home, you can’t really duplicate it,” he says.

The Bonds added a second floor for their teenage children but now the kids have grown up, the couple no longer need such a large property. “Now we never ever go into the top half of the house,” Phil says. “We are starting to get on in years now and we thought ‘well the time has come’.”

When they do leave 76 Canterbury Road, Middle Park, which is up for auction on September 26, they won’t go far. “We will definitely stay in the area because we love it,” says Phil. “Once you’ve lived in those inner bayside suburbs very few people would ever move out of them again – we certainly wouldn’t.”

They will look in Middle Park, Albert Park, Port Melbourne and South Melbourne.

“It’s a very, very convenient place to live. There’s always something available to do and see,” says Phil. “My wife often walks into the city and we like concerts. We often go to the Recital Centre or into the arts complex.”

The family own four engineering businesses – three in Melbourne and one in Brisbane  – and Phil says being able to easily commute to work at Laverton is also important. “When I come to work I’m going against the traffic and when I go home I’m going against the traffic so it only takes me about 17 minutes to get to work,” he says.  “I don’t want to move further away.”

Despite their home being scheduled to go under the hammer this month the couple haven’t yet started to look for another property. “We want to do one thing at a time,” says Phil. “Once we’ve sold if we find somewhere straight away we can move straight away. If not, we’re happy to rent somewhere for six months or 12 months. The next property will probably be our last one. We’ll probably move from the next one to the cemetery.”

It’s no wonder then that the couple are planning for their later years. If they can’t find a single-storey home that ticks their boxes – including being low-maintenance without much of a garden to tend – the couple will look for a property that has or could have a lift. 

“It’s OK now with stairs but as we get older it becomes more and more of an issue,” says Phil.

There is one other must-have – room for a piano. “We’ve got four grandchildren and they’re all learning piano and other instruments. When the kids all come around, we all sit around and we always have a family concert. Wherever we go we want to have room for that because that’s a huge part of our lives.”