Hello and welcome back!  I hope that you had a great Christmas and New Year, ate all of the yummy food and spent time with your loved ones.  You may have noticed that I didn’t post any photographs to Instragram over the break, nor did I update my website.  I really wanted to have a real break and spend some time with my family.  This year we headed up to North Queensland to visit my extended family and we drove (gulp!).  It was an incident free trip but it it took a very long time that I’m pretty sure that next time we go, we will be flying up.  If you have travelled with young children, you can imagine that I was a little worried about how we were going to keep the kids occupied for 10 plus hours.  Enter ipads and downloadable content from Netflix. 

We spent Christmas in either the pool or inside with the air conditioning going.  There were lots of uno games and playstation competitions.  On Christmas Eve we took the kids down to the beach at dusk.  There were running races and searches for ‘sea creatures’.  They found fish and managed to catch a small crab to frighten the adults with.  As the evening turned to night, we searched for constellations in the sky (there’s an app for that) and the kids used torches to search the little pools left by the low tide.  It was truly magical.

And now I’m back and super eager to get into Queenslander Homes again.  I’m always keen to hear what you have to say and what you want to see.  So feel free to drop me a line anytime via email or instagram direct message.

Now, onto today’s Queenslander in Norman Park.  I’ve posted a photo of this house on Instagram before.  It belonged to a friend from many moons ago.  We were work friends and we bought our first homes at the same time.  My husband and I moved out of our old-but-loved-rented-Queenslander and bought a little three bedroom brick and tile home and my friend and her then-husband bought a Queenslander on a block that had been subdivided.  Their house has been picked up and moved across, close to the boundary.  It was a steal at the time because there were no front stairs and no plumbing connected and the house was very original.

Her then-husband was an architect and they spent the next six or so months up to their neck’s in renovation dust and finally had a semi-completed product.  The house was effectively still on one level (the upper level) with future plans to build underneath.  They had planned to put in an office (he worked from home) and a library, along with the existing laundry.  Unfortunately, the marriage broke down and the house was sold.  These are the photographs of the house from that sale.  My friend used to tell me that Norman Park was split into the ‘good side’ and the ‘bad side’ – with the railway track dividing the two.  Have you guys ever heard of this?  Her house was on the supposed bad side of Norman Park.  I guess she must have really believed this because when her and her second husband bought their home, they chose a Queenslander on the right side of the tracks.

Firstly, the exterior.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any before photographs but let’s just say that she was a mess!  They maintained the facade at the front with the classic porch and gable exterior.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

Stepping inside was the front lounge room.  Basically, the front of the house is the original Queenslander and from the kitchen is all brand new.  They kept the separation of old and new pretty obvious.  From memory, all the windows needed to be replaced as they were full of wood rot.  There are two bedrooms at the front of the house along with a bathroom.  The first bedroom was used as an office for the husband’s architecture business and the second bedroom was a guest room.  As you’ll see further along, they added a second level to the home for their bedroom and ensuite.  The interior has been kept very neutral.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

This is the view when entering the house.  The stairs to the left lead up to the master bedroom and the other set of stairs leads down to the kitchen.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

I had actually forgotten about this little balcony to the left – I had always remembered the kitchen coming straight off the back of the lounge room.  I believe that this is where the old house ends and the new house begins as I can remember my friend telling me how the floorboards changed colour to signify that change.  Skylights and the balcony glass doors bring so much light into this space.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

This is the main bedroom.  It has views of the city.  The room hardly needed air conditioning as the windows were designed to open right up and let the breeze barrel through the room.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

Heading back downstairs.  I love the descent into the kitchen.  It’s such a lovely little space.  Part of my love is nostalgia driven.  I sat at those bar stools with our very close friends and shared the news that my husband and I were having a baby!  The light fittings in the kitchen are so great.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

Off the kitchen is another lounge room.  It also leads onto the new deck at the rear of the house.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

Source: www.realestate.com.au

The deck was spectacular.

Source: www.realestate.com.au

Farewell beautiful Norman Park home.

Details

This house is located in Norman Park and is not for sale. It was sold by Paula Pearce of Place – Bulimba in 2012 for $754,000. The real estate link is here.