Added extras to make life easier

CLEVERLY done is the best way to describe this family home in Carrara, which was recently completed by the ownerbuilder. According to marketing agent Grant Stephens of Harcourts Coastal, aside from the quality of the build, it is the added extras that stand the home apart from its peers.

“There are a lot of bits and pieces you don’t often see in a lot of homes,” Mr Stephens said. “For example, the mud room, where kids can throw off their shoes, umbrellas and bags when they get home from school, and the little fireside library room on the waterfront, where you can sit and read or enjoy a games of chess.

“And the butler’s pantry is bigger than most Gold Coast bedrooms.”

A 78sq m waterfront alfresco area, with a kitchenette and barbecue, makes summer entertaining beside the pool a breeze.

Mr Stephen said the owners had intended for the house to be their ultimate home, but the temptation to do another project led them to put it on the market.

The couple have bought another property in Carrara because, Mr Stephens said: “They love the area.”

And they are not alone. Mr Stephens said the suburb was slowly making a name for itself after being undervalued.

“It’s like a best kept secret, but once people move here they never seem to leave,” he said. “This pocket is on the shoulder of Broadbeach Waters and is close to Emmanuel College and Emerald Lakes, so people have everything they need on their doorstep while still being only six minutes’ drive to the beach.

“The area has become very desirable. Even dry blocks are selling for more than $1m, which a few years ago would have been unheard of.”