Childhood sweethearts turned champion dancers Maurice and Lorraine Vallaro didn’t just auction a home last weekend, they put a piece of themselves under the hammer.
And while the $1.08m result will help them to right size their lives and they’re thrilled a family will soon be moving in to get the same enjoyment out of it that they have had — they’ve revealed the pain sellers are facing from buyer critiques of much-loved homes.
Melbourne dance champs Maurice and Lorraine Vallaro have sold their Greenvale dream home.
Their 55 Arkley Drive, Greenvale, residence was their dream build with space for their kids and grandkids to spread out in.
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It was created after they’d established a base for themselves in a nearby suburb, but wanted to have something special for their family — and themselves.
“We started off in Gladstone Park, and then we saved hard because we wanted a big house to accommodate our family,” Mr Vallaro said.
They finished building the home and moved into it in 1999 and have had a mix of kids and grandkids through it ever since.
It’s also been home to their own passions, with Mr Vallaro decking out the home office with model cars and an extensive display of Corvette iconography as the kind of space he could go to just be in his own head space when he had work to do – and sometimes when he didn’t.
And in the dining room, right next to the kitchen, there are the trophies.
Maurice and Lorraine Vallaro competing in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019.
The kitchen and dining area also have room for a trophy cabinet or two.
Decades after they fell in love in their teens, Mr Vallaro decided he wanted to learn to dance so he could join his wife.
“We started when I was 50,” he said.
“I always wanted to dance … so I said let’s go get some dancing lessons, as I had never really gone on the dance floor.”
One lesson turned into a $300 pair of dance shoes for Ms Vallaro and in the more than a decade of dancing that followed, they travelled around the world.
They won five Australian championships in Latin, Ballroom and New Vogue, represented Australia at the world championships for over 60s in Japan in 2019 in the Ballroom category and came third in their division at a Hanoi, Vietnam, event they were invited to attend.
But 51 years after they were wed, and three years after they hung up their dance shoes, the pair decided it was time to right-size their life and give another family the chance to enjoy the home that had meant so much to them.
The home’s office has been a private escape for Maurice over the years.
Entertaining options around the home range from day-to-day, to summer, to formal.
“Even though we live the house, it has come time,” Mr Vallaro said.
“Someone else can enjoy as we did … and the house has been fantastic.
“But the thing I will miss the most is my study. I loved having it there, even though I’m retired I can go in there and look at the cars and do whatever work I have to do — and even work I don’t have to do, and enjoy being in there in my own space.
“We also have great neighbours. They come together as a small community and a lot of them are the original owners. You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of people.”
While the sale was worth it, the past few weeks were stressful as other families came through and passed judgement, noting they felt a particular room here or there needed renovation or they didn’t like the colour scheme in another.
“I hope this will fulfil someone else’s hopes and dreams,” Mr Vallaro said.
The pool and day-bed deck in the back yard offer plenty of space to relax in summer.
An outdoor kitchen and entertainment space serves warm-weather events.
Ray White Craigieburn’s Vito Trentadue handled the sale and said it had shown strength at a time when it was hard to anticipate what buyers were thinking and how they would approach a purchase.
There were two bidders for the home as it went under the hammer, and despite a soft start at $950,000 the offers rose in $20,000 and $10,000 increments in what Mr Trentadue described as a “quite serious” pursuit by both parties.
“There were two more registered bidders there who didn’t get to make an offer,” he added.
Eventually the home passed in at $1.05m, but within a few minutes negotiations had boosted the figure by $30,000 and the home sold for $1.08m.
Multiple living areas feature around the home.
There’s even a room for a car enthusiast to install a driving simulator if desired.
“And for this market, that’s a decent result,” Mr Trentadue said.
A family with younger children and looking at the home as a multi-generational residence won the auction.
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