A once dark and dingy villa that sold for $35,000 nearly five decades ago is back on the market after being transformed into a light-filled entertainer.
John and Maxine Demetlica bought Prospect’s home at 47 Kintore Ave. in 1979 for $35,000, when interest rates were 19 percent.
It cost a lot of money at the time, but they said the house was special – they were attracted by the location and the opportunity for a grand transformation.
“It was our first house when we got married, so it’s been a long time,” John says.
“It was an old villa owned by a Greek guy who had the whole backyard full of grape vines and he made his own wine, and we still have remnants of that in a vine that is over 100 years old and still produces good grapes.
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The Prospect property at 47 Kintore Ave is being auctioned.
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The house has been lovingly transformed since it was last sold in 1979.
The house has six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
“We raised our four children here and the house was quite dark and dingy when we bought it. As a building designer, I opened it up to make it light and peaceful, with lots of northern light coming into every room.
“It’s a spacious house, and there’s a self-contained granny flat at the back that both our elderly mothers have stayed in. We hosted our friend there while she was recovering from cancer for about six months and another friend when they were going through a tough time, so it’s been put to good use.”
The property, which the couple has completely renovated, has six bedrooms, a study and a large office, with an open-plan kitchen, dining and living room on the ground floor that opens onto a cozy terrace with outdoor kitchen.
“We kept the integrity of the structure and just opened everything up, and put in a stone wall that we recovered from a church on Henley Beach Rd,” says John.
“Being Istrian, I had a pond inside with a lion’s head spouting water.
‘We got rid of it, but the head is still there.
“We enjoyed this place and quality was very important to us.
“We didn’t cut back on anything and it cost us an arm and a leg.
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It is located on a 743 m² block in the heart of Prospect.
It is modern throughout, but the character features have been retained.
There are several living areas throughout the house.
“The bones were good and we bought it for $35,000, which was a lot of money at the time, especially when I was in college and my wife was working as a nurse and the interest rate was 19 percent, but it was special.”
John says it would be hard to say goodbye to it and hoped someone else would love it as much as she did.
“We’ve had weddings, engagement parties, baptisms and a whole host of celebrations here,” he says.
“We have many wonderful memories in this house, and it is sad to have to leave, but we are downsizing and the time is right to say goodbye.
“But because we love the area so much, we built a new house in Prospect, so we’re not going far.
“It’s such a friendly area with such a nice atmosphere.”
The property will be auctioned on February 7 at 10:30 am.
Real estate data shows the average home price in Prospect is $1.26 million, which is 17.5 percent higher than the same period last year.
Entertaining at home will never be a problem.
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