A once dark and dingy villa that sold for $35,000 almost five decades ago is back on the market after being transformed into a light-filled entertainer.
John and Maxine Demetlica bought the Prospect home at 47 Kintore Ave in 1979 for $35,000, when interest rates were 19 per cent.
It was a lot of money back then but they said the home was special – they were attracted by its location and opportunity for a grand transformation.
“It was our first home when we were married, so that’s a long time ago now,” John says.
“It was an old villa owned by a Greek chap who had the whole backyard filled with grape vines and he used to make his own wine, and we’ve still got remnants of that in a grape vine that’s over 100 years old and still producing good grapes.
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The Prospect property at 47 Kintore Ave will go to auction.
The home has been lovingly transformed since it was last sold in 1979.
The property has six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
“We’ve raised our four children here and the house was pretty dark and dingy when we bought it and, being a building designer, I opened it up to make it light and peaceful, with lots of northern light coming in every room.
“It’s a spacious home, and then there’s a self-contained granny flat at the back in which we’ve had both our elderly mothers stay, and we’ve hosted our friend there while she recovered from cancer for about six months and another friend while they went through a tough time, so it’s been put to good use.”
The property, which the couple have renovated throughout, has six bedrooms and a study and large office, with an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area on the ground floor opening to an entertaining terrace with outdoor kitchen.
“We kept the integrity of the structure, and just opened it all up, and we put in a feature stone wall we recovered from a church on Henley Beach Rd,” John says.
“Being Istrian, I had a pond inside with a lion’s head squirting water.
“We got rid of it but the head’s still there.
“We’ve loved this place and quality was really important to us.
“We didn’t cut corners anywhere and it cost us an arm and a leg.
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It’s on a 743sqm block in the heart of Prospect.
It’s modern throughout but character features have been retained.
There are several living areas throughout the home.
“The bones were good and we bought it for $35,000, which was a lot of money then, especially while I was studying at university and my wife was working as a nurse and interest rates were 19 per cent, but it was special.”
John says it would be hard to say goodbye to it and hoped someone else loves it like they have.
“We’ve had weddings, engagement parties, baptism parties and a whole range of celebrations here,” he says.
“We’ve got a lot of wonderful memories tied up in this house, and it’s sad to be leaving, but we’re downsizing and the time is right to say goodbye.
“But because we love the area so much we’ve built a new home in Prospect, so we’re not going far.
“It’s such a friendly area with such a great buzz.”
The property will be auctioned at 10.30am on February 7.
property records show the median house price in Prospect is $1.26m, which is 17.5 per cent higher than the same time last year.
Entertaining in the home will never be a problem.
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