Bringing Old Back to Bespoke: A Look Inside the Renovation Revival at Lindenow Street

Stuart Capital Constructions (SCC) is departing from its tried-and-true new home development strategy, moving instead to an entirely different form of housing construction.

/EIN News/ -- Melbourne, May 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For many years now, under the leadership of Jack Stuart, SCC has focused solely on new housing as its staple.  The perks of this have been the relatively fast turnover and standardisation of processes, but due to the simplicity and regularity of designs based around cookie cutter principles, the firm has struggled with a lack of creativity in its ventures.  This has led SCC to housing renovations, and in so doing, it has moved a considerable amount of investment there, too. 

Preceding this strategic shift, Stuart faced a conundrum over many years – should the firm build from scratch or rebuild existing homes?  The abundance of home renovation shows on television has led people to believe that renovating is the simpler option.  Renovating implies a meeker alternative, but actually, in Stuart’s opinion, renovating is much more than renewing – it’s rebuilding.  As any auto enthusiast would know, restoring every single nut and bolt on a car is much harder than buying a new model off the showroom floor.  The same could be said of homes. But every homeowner wants that certain wow factor, not frivolous extravagance necessarily but enough pride of place to make people look twice and appreciate the design, detail, and work involved. And just how bespoke can a new house be if every builder works off the same design, minus a facia colour scheme or door style?

To showcase SCC’s latest move into the renovation space in Melbourne, a residence at 54 Lindenow Street, Reservoir was put forth in the spotlight. An unassuming brick, three-bedroom home was completely stripped and then rebuilt from the ground up, literally. Elements such as the timber façade across the garage door, together with the polished concrete and timber screening on the porch ceiling, give it another dimension of depth.  A stunning modern kitchen with marble benches and an impressive bathroom capture modernism at its sequential best.  The focal point of the magnificent house, however, is a chic one-bedroom unit with a statement bathroom boasting polished concrete floors, rendered walls, and exposed brick in pure New York Loft fashion.  Cleverly realising the market’s lack of affordable and safe options for parents and the elderly – precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic – SCC created the one-bedroom unit to suit buyers’ changing needs. The unit also lends itself to a dual rental opportunity in a location where demand is already high.

When somebody raises the idea of a perfect renovation, it conjures up ideas of bringing back the house’s original state, essentially recapturing the magic of yesteryear.  But what if, instead of renovating to rejuvenate, the goal was to create an entirely new house from the old?  What we see frequently with renovations is that one element might hit the mark, be it the bath, the floors, or the lighting. But rarely do we see a renovation project where every component hits the mark together to create perfect synergy.

The question remains as to how this is comparable to a new house build. The money the owner invested in 54 Lindenow Street totalled $250,000, whereas a new home build for a single three-bedroom home also comes in at $250,000.  However, the price tag of the latter home doesn’t include the one-bedroom unit and the fully landscaped gardens.  What it also doesn’t include is an individual work of art that’s original, bespoke, and marked by unrivalled desirability. 

For SCC, this departure from the everyday humdrum of new house builds won’t be without its challenges.  However, the company endeavours to target its marketing campaigns at first-time homebuyers who are eager to enter the market but have been priced out to far-flung outer suburbs.  It will be interesting to witness the potential growth renovations may yield once this market truly opens up.   

stuartcconstructions@gmail.com