Welcome

Following the end of World War II Australia went through a major housing boom. The boom, fuelled by a significant population increase and the pursuit of the new Australian dream, to own a home in the suburbs, resulted in considerable pressure being placed on the limited post war building resources. The houses of the day were usually small solid dwellings, they were often constructed out of cream or red brick, and were generally built on large flat blocks of land.

Skip forwards a few decades and my wife and I find ourselves in the position of being the owners of one these small ‘red brick’ Australian icons. Our little ‘red brick’ is a fairly typical example of the post war era. It has one large living area, three smallish bedrooms, a bathroom, as well as a toilet, laundry, and a tiny sun room. With the last of three rooms being added as an afterthought some time between initial construction and our purchase.

When Bridget and I bought the place about eight years ago we did so for the block of land not the house. Large and flat, a rare combination in our suburb, it’s close to the centre of town, and within easy walking distance to the shops, schools and the train station. We always knew that the house was small and would need to be replaced or extended but with the addition of two kids, now seven and five, it's more than small it's tiny, and a major renovation is seriously overdue.

Before deciding upon our current course of action we looked at all the options. We seriously considered knocking the whole place down and starting again with a new project home, and even gave thought to avoiding the problem altogether by just moving to another house. But after many hours of deliberation, countless house inspections and visits to home display sites we've elected to renovate. Let’s hope that at the end of all this we’ve made the right decision.

Liam Saville