A CERTAIN CHARM

A young couple enlists the expertise of a savvy team to refresh and expand their original 1930s Brisbane worker's cottage into a light-filled family home.

- Judy Pascoe

Making a move swiftly in the property market is a recurrent theme with successful buyers, and the owners of this Brisbane home are no exception. Having searched fruitlessly for a home around the inner-northern riverside suburbs, in 2015 the couple, Giselle and James, were alerted to an upcoming sale of a worker’s cottage by a small mention in a real estate agent’s email. They immediately contacted the agent and arranged an inspection that very day, signing a contract before the sun went down.

The cottage was basic at best – three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and combined living and dining area. In traditional high-set Queenslander style, a wide verandah adorned the front of the house and rooms opened off a central corridor. Underneath there was space for car parking and storage. Newspapers found behind the panelled walls during the renovation placed the house as likely first built in 1937.