TRUE ROMANCE

THERE REALLY IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THIS YOUNG FAMILY, WHO HAVE BREATHED GLORIOUS NEW LIFE INTO THEIR MELBOURNE ABODE

- JACKIE BRYGEL

What began as the chance to transform a dilapidated cottage into a dream home to be sold to another family, soon became so much more for Melbourne builder Dale and his wife Gemma. To the couple’s surprise, they found themselves forming a strong emotional connection to their “cute but rundown” century-old weatherboard, tucked away in the city’s leafy south-east. And before Gemma and Dale knew it, their plan to renovate and move on had evolved into something much more personal. “It quickly went from being a home that we were going to house-flip into a home we plan to stay in for a much longer time,” says Dale. “We found ourselves falling in love with both the house and the area.”