Marathon reno honours inner city Geelong cottage’s original heritage

50 Mundy St, Geelong, is on the market for $1.25m to $1.35m.

A tired inner city miner’s cottage has shrugged off its ugly aluminium siding after a painstaking four-year renovation which left only the original fireplace standing.

The transformation of 50 Mundy St, Geelong, has been a labour of love for vendor Aaron Lothian who was determined to honour the 170-year-old home’s heritage.

He said he originally hoped to work with his tradie brothers to restore the circa 1856 dwelling but once the cladding came down it was became clear almost all of it was beyond salvation.

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The open-plan living room flows out to a back deck for outdoor entertaining.

The original brick fireplace was saved.

“The only original thing in it is the fireplace, everything else is brand new,” Mr Lothian said.

“Many people tried to convince me to knock it down and build a new one but I was ‘no, we’ve just got to keep it’. Everything was built around that and when we did the demo there was like five layers that we peeled off it.”

After a marathon effort to finish the renovation, completed by LJ Building Co, he’s just listed the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house for sale.

Geelong Real Estate Co. agent Ricky Forte has set a price guide of $1.25m to $1.35m, more than double what the property last sold for in 2021.

The restored fireplace is now the centrepiece of the home’s front loungeroom, which is joined by a new rear open-plan living zone set under a vaulted ceiling.

The house was clad in aluminium when it last sold in 2021.

The previous kitchen had served its time.

The new central bathroom is a big improvement.

Mr Lothian said he fought hard to include an exposed double brick feature wall in the extension and it’s now one of his favourite features.

“We wanted to keep the look of the house, that was a big part of the renovation. I didn’t want just a new box on the back … I wanted it to look like it was old all the way through,” he said.

“We wanted to make it look original as much as we could but still have those modern amenities and multiple bathrooms, the nice kitchen.”

He even salvaged old newspapers from London from the 1850s and 1860s that were used to line the original walls.

Uncovered during the renovation, they’re now on display in the hallway.

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