Her name’s Ugly but that’s a pretty price
GREG Dean’s 1960s fibro shack hasn’t changed in almost six decades but the value sure has.
The home at 16 Gardenia Grove, Burleigh Heads, is a blast from the past with shagpile carpets, lime-green walls and a matching lime bath tub.
Mr Dean has carried out extensive renovations but you’d be hard-pressed spotting some of them. He redid the kitchen to look exactly how it was and has given the home several licks of paint.
“This house has got almost 60 years on it and has been through everything, even cyclones,” he said.
“The windows were the hardest to upgrade because nobody knows how to make that old style anymore.”
Mr Dean said the strength of the home came down to its fibro shell. “I originally bought it with my parents as my first home when I was 20,” he said. “They don’t make them like this anymore.”
Mr Dean recently sold his home for just shy of a million dollars and said he was happy with the sale price. He and his family bought it in 1996 for $145,000.
Mr Dean said the home attracted a lot of attention when it first went on the market, especially from the Cavanagh family who originally built it.
“The family who used to own it approached me after the for sale sign went up,” he said.
“I was in the front garden when they came up to me and said their grandmother built the house.
“They were blown away by how original the home had stayed over the years.”
Mr Dean said they came back the next day with an old photo of the house.
“It was amazing how similar the photos were.”
The house was named Ollyoak, which according to Mr Dean means “Ugly Woman”.
“They wanted the old sign to give to their grandmother as a memento,” he said.
Realty Blue principal Mick Brace helped seal the deal for $966,000 and said the new owners planned to use it as an investment.
The 539sq m block comes with six bedrooms and two bathrooms.
“The home is made up of two flats but it has only been used as a single residence,” Mr Brace said.
“The property was in great condition. The backyard is packed with fruit trees that have been there since the house was built.”