Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Modern Australian Bungalow 1971

Well, after a post about houses I didn't win or bid on, here is the house that arrived this week. I won it (for the grand total of $3.25) last year, and went with my sister to pick it up from the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills in October. (She bought it for me!)


It's a bungalow made in 1971 by a master builder, the grandfather of the woman I bought it from. Architecturally, it's quite simple, perhaps influenced by post-war austerity style houses, with a hint of abstract. The roof is metal, and almost flat - sloping wooden beams give it a very slight pitch. The roof opens on hinges at the back, to give access to the inside of the house.


However, Graham and Linda Kimber, who live here, prefer to use the front door. You have met them before, demonstrating different Erna Meyer scales. (I'm not sure how Graham manages the door-knob; he must have very strong arms, I think.)


The interior has been decorated with wallpaper and carpet from the seller's parents' house and her grandparents' house.


To the right of the hallway is the open plan living and dining room, and straight ahead is the kitchen, with the back door opening out of it. (Well, it would if there was a back door, but there isn't one now, just the doorway.)


To the left are the bedrooms - a large master bedroom, and a small children's bedroom - and the bathroom.


The carpet in the living /dining areas and hallway is the same as in my mother's living / dining rooms and hallway, but in a different colourway.


(Here is my mother's cat Sophie
demonstrating how well she matches the carpet in Mum's hallway.)

It looks like all the windows originally had curtains, but apart from the kitchen and bathroom, only one set of curtains remains, in the living room.


As you can see, several wallpaper designs are used in the living areas, and the bedrooms also have different patterns on each wall. The children's bedroom is bright and colourful, but quite small (typical of second bedrooms in real houses of this period).


The master bedroom is much larger, and also has pretty wallpaper:


Linda is contemplating what furniture she could buy for this lovely spacious room. (The business of moving to a new house seems to be causing both Linda and Graham to pull their hair out. I hope they get settled soon, before they lose it all!)

The bathroom and kitchen are quite small. The bathroom has a built-in toilet, bath, basin, mirror and towel-rail, and bright lino on the floor:


The kitchen has very cheery wallpaper, and a hand-painted curtain.


As the bathroom has plastic furnishings (Jean, I think?), I think I'll use moulded plastic furniture in the kitchen too. I've tried out a couple of sets - green Kleeware:


and cream and pale green Blue Box:


I prefer the green - just slightly larger, and more in keeping with the bright wallpaper and curtain, I think.

I have some furniture for this house - I plan to use the dining table and chairs from Oese here - but I think Graham and Linda will need to visit Tim's secondhand shop, and buy some furnishings through catalogues and auctions. We'll keep you posted!

14 comments:

  1. Just adorable. This has to make up for the ones that got away. And oh my but what a great reasonable price. Such a cool little house. I like the curtains in the kitchen and all the vintage wall paper. Have a good time shopping.

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  2. it's a great house, you will have fun with it, and we shall have fun, reading you.
    I love the wallpapers and floors.
    Sophie is a wondeful cat, she looks like my first cat. I hope for your mother, that Sophie has a better character than mine.
    I'm very happy, that Graham and Linda will need to visit Tim's secondhand shop, I was so happy when I have discovered this shop, taht it will be a pleasure to visit it again.

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  3. What a fun, cheery house! And the price is amazing! The wall paintings are charming, as are the floor coverings. I just sold a house of mine that was a vintage ranch with a pull-off roof. I always found it challenging working from above. Do you find this as well?

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  4. I'm glad you all like the wallpapers and floor coverings too! The seller thought, as many do, that it needed updating - but I love it, so much care went in to choosing each piece of wallpaper.

    I was a bit sad for the house that the price was so low, as I think it is worth more. But the seller said it would cover the ebay fees, so she was happy!

    @ Amy: I love the kitchen curtain too, glad it survived! Mm, I bet Mary will be looking on with interest as Graham and Linda shop ;-)

    @ Bea: I fear that Sophie probably has a similar character to your cat's. She is a one-person cat, spends most of her time on Mum's lap, but can attack when she's being stroked, and chases the other cat sometimes too. Maybe she just wants to play, and doesn't have a playmate!
    Hmm, I wonder what Tim has in stock? He'd better go and see what's in the storage areas, I think!

    @ Callsmall: I think it will be a bit challenging with the lift-up roof, yes. This one doesn't come right off, you have to prop it on a stick. And that means you can't reach straight over the back wall, only from the sides or front. I think decorating and photography will both be a bit tricky (the windows are fixed glass), but I think it will be worth it! I hope so, anyway!

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  5. Wow I love the wall paper with the trees. Like a mural. The linno is great too. I often leave the roofs off to view the houses more easily. Neat house! CM

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  6. Wow, Rebecca what a great find!! I´m absolutely in LOVE with the whole house! Und ich liebe deinen Schreibstil!! Diese leichte Ironie ;D die katze paßt zum teppich und Graham und Linda raufen sich die Haare weil umziehen so anstrengend ist... großartig! Mir gefällt auch die grüne Küche besser und Oeses Eßtisch und Stühle sehen bestimmt fantstisch aus. Haben die beiden denn schon ein Kind? Die Kinderzimmertapete ist einfach klasse! Ich bin gespannt ob ein Kind sich dort mit BIG Humpty Dumpty wohlfühlen wird?!

    LG, Nicola

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  7. What a great bungalow, love the wall papers & carpets, I am with you, the green kitchen looks best. I have always loved these "top opening" properties, they are so realistic. I have a 30's bungalow that I will share on the Thedollshouses diaries blog sometime soon. Lizzie

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  8. I like the wallpapers too, especially the kitchen and I like the darker green kitchen furniture. What a sweet house.

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  9. I love the semi-smile and proud look on Graham's face as he is inviting you in to take pictures! The mural on the wall is so typical of houses of that era and just lovely.I love all the wallpaper and carpets and am so glad that you are not planning to update! Looking forward to their first "open house" !

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  10. Such a bargain! The house is lovely, even though the carpets aren't my cup of tea, but I love the landscape wallpapers!
    Taking photos of a house where only the roof can be removed is challenging but not impossible. My church is like that, but I put the camera inside the house, on top of a chair or something else to get the right height and just clicked the camera from above. I needed lot of pictures to get it right but it worked allright in the end :-) See the photo of the priest by the altar)

    Looking forward to see the gorgeous furniture from Oese in it and wouldn't mind another visit to Tim's secondhand shop either :-)

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  11. I love the way they chose wallpapers to look like murals. I remember when those kinds of murals were in peoples houses. This is such a sweet little home. I can't wait to see more.
    Susan

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  12. Thank you, CM, Nicola, Lizzie, Pan, Florine, Helene and Susan!

    Glad most of you like the green kitchen better - I'll definitely go with that one.

    And thanks for mentioning murals in real houses, Florine and Susan. I don't think I remember any houses like that, so it's great that you do. I must have a look in style books of the period!

    @ Lizzie, I'd love to see your 30s bungalow :-)

    @ Helene: yes, I think I'll have to do something like that to photograph inside. The windows don't open, and I can't photograph much through the front and back doors! So I'll do some experimenting :-)

    @ Nicola: Vielen Dank! Ja, sie haben zwei Kinder, ein Mädchen und ein kleines Kind. Ich hoffe, daß sie die riesige Humpty und Mädchen nicht bedrohlich finden werden!

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  13. Hi Rebecca, Thanks much for stopping by my Marx Tin Toy Shop. You got me thinking... A coffee shop would be great in there. I maybe could set it atop the Stockholm mansion or something. Just wanted you to know I appreciate your idea. It's a good one. Thinking about a ReSale shop now too. So glad to know ya. THANK-YOU!

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  14. I like the cheerful wallpapers and the floral carpets!!

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