Lisa, and her family of five, love living in Bayside Melbourne. To them, their suburb feels like a quiet seaside village with plenty of great restaurants, a running track parallel to the water and a place to take their family pooch for her daily walk.
A few years ago, the family purchased a Californian bungalow with the intention of renovating it to make it their family home. However, after starting the process and getting plans drawn up, it hit them. Renovating was not going to make the most of their block and give them what they wanted from their home.
The existing home was set back so far on the block that there was much wasted, unusable space out the front.
Lisa's completed DualOcc by Metricon project.
“It was a bit ridiculous,” Lisa explained, “it made the block seem short even though it wasn’t, and there was no aspect of backyard living. So, we decided we needed to maximise the space and use the setback to its full potential.”
Lisa decided to get creative, thinking about how she could maximise their land. Having sub-divided once before, Lisa realised that building two homes on the block might even be possible with the right design and placement. After doing her homework, she soon realised that it was by far their best option with the scope to live in one home and rent out the other.
“At first, I found it hard to believe – that having a bigger cash outlay initially would reduce our monthly repayments in the future”, Lisa initially said, however after doing the numbers Lisa concluded that “renting the rear property out made the dual occupancy proposal a more favourable option.”
Once the family had decided that a dual occupancy was the way to go, then came the next challenge: finding designs they were comfortable with and that would work on their corner block. Lisa admits that she can be somewhat ‘determined’ and had something quite specific in mind when it came to the interior and exterior design of the two homes.
“We didn’t want a big, modern façade. We just wanted something relaxed that fits in with the area we live in - something reminiscent of the Hamptons with an Australian spin. We found that many builders just focus on the façade and leave the sides plain, like great sheer faces. We’ve been able to build something that has lots of textures – render, mouldings and wood cladding – which was important as we’re on a corner block.”
“We were able to achieve exactly what we wanted to do and create two aesthetically pleasing homes. Metricon worked hard to ensure the home we live in was perfect for our needs – and that included making changes to the floorplan and design elements.
Now that Lisa and her family have moved into their DualOcc home, Lisa has already scoped out her favourite spaces.
“I love my front room – it’s gorgeous. That’s my room. It’s a space for me to entertain my friends. I have a mid-century velvet couch and have ordered some velvet stools. There’s also the upstairs sitting room where you get some afternoon sun and can see the bay – it’s a lovely spot.”
Lisa and her family are looking forward to many years in the area of Melbourne they have come to love. Maximising their land and building two homes on one block has afforded them more than they first thought was possible. Finishing her chat with us, Lisa said “even when we weren’t living in this area, we’d visit. I wouldn’t leave it for anything, I love it.”
If you want to learn more about DualOcc by Metricon or are interested in building your own dual occupancy, follow this link.
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