Makeover brings 1980s Gowrie classic back into fashion

Charisse and David Ashe have no regrets about buying a house built in a decade that style forgot.

Sure, the couple’s 1980s home in Gowrie came with orange benches, brown walls, vinyl flooring and loads of archways, but the eager buyers were able to look beyond the decor. They bought the house in 2008 with big ideas for their ugly duckling.     

“It was the first house that we bought together. We were on a budget but we could see the potential of opening it all up,” Charisse says. 

 “For us, it was a smart decision to buy a well-built older property and completely renovate it in a suburb relatively close to Woden and the city.”

The Ashes renovated the three-bedroom home in 2011. It has since been rented solidly while they have worked overseas.   

They are busy renovating another property in Macarthur.

No 24 Conway Place, Gowrie will be auctioned on Saturday, April 2 through Peter Blackshaw Real Estate Manuka agents Louise Harget and Dan McAlpine.

Price guide: $450,000+

Inspect: By appointment

EER: 1