Will this Medindie house break the record?
This sprawling 1890 estate in Medindie is approximately 2850 square metres and is expected to break the state residential property record of $13.5 million.
When Heather and Dean Kyros purchased their Medindie home almost 20 years ago, they were looking for something spacious with longevity.
What they found was a property almost triple the size of their previous home around the corner.
Sitting on almost 3000 square metres, 11 The Avenue, Medindie, known as ‘Fairlea’, sits at the top of the street, with a demanding street presence and views of the city skyline.
“We were looking for lasting value and the fact that it’s 3000 square metres at the top of The Avenue there, in that little pocket that’s so highly prized [was a major drawcard],” Heather says.
“It was always going to be a long-term, great investment, at the same time as being a really beautiful place to live.
“Everything about the house is very spacious feeling.”
When Heather and her husband Dean, a property developer, purchased Fairlea in 2007, the interiors were extremely dated. Heather describes yellow rooms, blue rooms and green carpet that didn’t look like it had been touched since the 1980s or 1990s.
Although they knew it needed work to bring it into the 21st century, they didn’t rush into an extensive renovation.
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While they gradually modernised parts of the home – updating the kitchen, painting over the coloured walls and replacing the dated carpets with timber parquetry flooring – it wasn’t until a decade after moving in that they had the property completely transformed.
Heather says this time in the house gave them a better perspective on how they could better utilise the space and in 2017 she and Dean engaged Williams Burton Leopardi and Bower Construction and Design to execute their vision.
“We really wanted a luxurious feel and I think I said to Sophia Leopardi that I want to feel like I live in a beautiful hotel,” Heather says.
Adding ensuites to each of the six bedrooms was a priority and Heather says the floorplan made this extremely simple.
“We were so fortunate with the house because the way it was designed, it actually didn’t really require much changing,” she says.
“The bedrooms upstairs all had rooms next to them that were easily able to be adapted into en suites.”
While the home was completely modernised, Fairlea’s 1890 heritage still shines in the original pressed tin ceilings, restored stone exteriors and stained glass windows
“There’s a lot of beautiful history for how long it’s been there,” Heather says.
“It’s only changed hands about four or five times, so they really are generational homes in that area.”
The property is so vast that it only required one small extension of the living and dining area, where glass has been utilised in a way that champions the property’s grounds and ties into its heritage, rather than detracting from it.
“I think it’s very sympathetically done, it’s got beautiful continuity,” Heather says.
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Apart from the original tennis court that Heather and Dean re-turfed Fairlea’s grounds have been completely transformed.
The pool was moved and now features a sunken bar along its side, providing the resort feel Heather and Dean sought.
The original stables were demolished to make way for a generous six car garage, complete with an adjoining gym and a self-contained, two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment upstairs and a pavilion was installed alongside the re-turfed tennis court.
From large-scale functions to pool parties and formal dinners, Heather says Fairlea is extremely versatile in its capacity to entertain.
“There’s lots of different ways you can use the house,” she says.
“It’s so easy to entertain, and there are so many different ways you can entertain – small groups, big groups, outdoors, indoors, and the kitchen lends itself to be used in a lot of different ways.
“With the apartment, it’s been wonderful to host friends to come and stay and they have an entire, self-contained space.”
With so many features and so much space, Heather says it’s impossible to choose a favourite.
“They [Williams Burton Leopardi] really thought of everything,” she says. “They really met the brief for that feeling of opulence.”
Now that their daughter has moved overseas and their son has moved interstate, Heather and Dean are looking to downsize.
“It will be really sad to see it go, but it’s just such a wonderful place for a family,” she says.
“Now that our family is gone, it’s time for another family to enjoy it.”
The sale of 11 The Avenue, Medindie, is being handled by Jamie Brown of Booth Real Estate.
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