Storage central
There’s way more to Chuck and Judy Etherton’s property than the walk-in pantry, walk-in linen cupboard and walk-in wardrobe, but they themselves are pretty special, says Judy.
She says she pretty much designed the house around them — well, you know what you want when you are in your 50s and Judy had lived in enough houses without storage.
She and Chuck bought the section in 2007 and immediately built a three-bay shed (it can take eight cars) in which to live while their brick home was being built.
The shed has bathroom, bedroom and small kitchen and is a Westie’s dream. Chuck, originally from Canada, is a true Westie in that he loves classic cars.
He worked as a flight steward for many years and 20 years ago the couple started a company in Swanson buying parts for classic cars
They lived in the Waterview and Western Springs areas for a long time but there was never enough garaging for Chuck, Judy says.
“It was his dream to have a big garage so we bought the land with that in mind.”
The house, however, is all about storage and space and is large and airy.
“We built a large family home because of the size of the site,” says Judy.
“We built it for on-selling eventually, which is what we’re now doing.”
The house can soak up a lot of people, Judy says. The open-plan family lounge, dining and kitchen area has a formal lounge next to it and this has sliding doors on two sides, meaning the whole space can be closed and snug, or opened completely.
The couple looked around before deciding on Platinum Homes to build the house. Judy says the company’s approach was all about quality, and she points out the rounded corners of all the walls.
They still had to adapt the plans, however, because nothing was quite the right shape for the site. They wanted the entry facing the gate but most of the house facing the sun and the back yard.
And Judy wanted that storage. “There’s nothing worse than living in a house with no storage. I wanted a walk-in pantry … it’s just awesome. You can put things away and close the door.
“We started off with the walk-in cupboards and designed the rest of the house around them.”
She also wanted a separate laundry (also with plenty of storage) near the kitchen. The laundry has a toilet and a door out to the clothesline.
The master bedroom is on this side with doors to outside, and the other bedrooms are in a wing at the other end of the house, where there’s also a study.
Two of the other bedrooms have doors to the patio as well, which is great on a warm evening, says Judy. The concrete patio goes right around the house.
“My husband was insistent you could walk right round the house without taking your slippers off.”
The one-level house is red brick against rural green and the backyard is divided into an upper and lower part by what Chuck calls the weir.
They get a lot of birds, from a family of quails to pheasants and all manner of finches.
The “apartment” end of the shed has been rented out. It would also be great as extra accommodation, Judy says.
The landscaping is designed to be relatively low maintenance. There are plenty of raised garden beds.
There is also an adjacent, fully fenced 4000sq m paddock zoned future urban.
“If you’re younger, that’s your retirement sitting right there,” says Judy.