Unlived in for 20–25 years… no one could be quite sure.
A grand circa 1940s Melbourne mansion, and I imagine quite beautiful in its day.
Today, a new investment property for an RMCo client.
The brief… make it liveable, make it rentable, and don't overspend!
Simple enough… or so it sounded!
800m² of gardens, overgrown or dead, twisted and fallen, and so thick in places that the pathways had disappeared.
The swimming pool… now a metre of sludge and muck.
Once-beautiful sandstone walkways, blackened by years of neglect.
Hedges so wide you could barely pass.
Trees growing over the house.
And then there was the house itself…
Four enormous entertaining rooms, seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a grand staircase, a back staircase, a large kitchen and family area, a butler's kitchen and a study.
A substantial old home, solid as a rock, and I could see what it must have been like in its day… and what it could be again.
It needed a fresh coat of paint, a thorough scrub, a few new chandeliers, some floors repolished, curtains dry-cleaned, ugly fittings replaced… and some love!
Nothing particularly extraordinary on its own, just an enormous amount to bring together.
This was going to be a real House Reset… part garden restoration, part house refurbishment, and a whole lot of hands-on project management.
And with no working power or water… the reset began.
Five weeks.
Three enormous skips.
Every trade imaginable from my network.
And endless phone calls, quotes, checking up, following through, turning up, handling excuses and ticking jobs off the list.
But the real challenge, and the part I particularly enjoy, was bringing all those trades together as one. The trade coordination, working out what had to happen first, who could work alongside whom, what couldn't start until something else was finished… and making sure everyone actually turned up and did what they said they would!
Some days it all came together beautifully. Other days… well, that's where the phone calls, patience and persistence came in.
And all the while, the brief remained the same… don't overspend.
This wasn't about creating a showpiece or reinventing the house. It was about recognising what was already there, making the right decisions, spending where it mattered and getting the place back to where it deserved to be.
Five weeks later, we handed the keys to the real estate agent to find a tenant.
Four weeks after that, it was rented at high market expectations.
And I loved it!
I loved seeing what could be, the shell and its potential, looking beyond the neglect and imagining the finished result.
I loved lining up the trades as one, working through the order of things, making the calls, finding solutions, handling the excuses, chasing the detail and finally seeing those lists being checked off.
There is something enormously satisfying about taking a property that has been forgotten for decades, seeing its potential and bringing it back to life.
Not by throwing money at it, but by thinking, planning, organising, doing… and following through.
For me, that's the real value of House Management. Whether it's a neglected investment property needing a complete reset or a private residence requiring ongoing care, it's about recognising what's needed and making it happen.
A beautiful old house with a new chapter ahead of it. A terrific commercial outcome. A very happy client… and a very happy RMCo.
For me, that's what a real House Reset is all about.
And it's exactly the sort of challenge I love.
Gregg Currie | Founder, RMCo