Historical South Australian surf shack hits market with revived retro soul

• Owners: Tim and Casey Cosh
• The property: A renovated surf shack with retro soul
• Address: 8 Seaview Avenue, Middleton, South Australia
• Price: $1.395 million-$1.445 million

When Tim Cosh came upon 8 Seaview Avenue in Middleton, he knew it was no ordinary, run-down shack.

A keen surfer and a property developer, he very quickly requested a contract when the tired old home in the South Australian beach town hit the market in 2021.

Four years on, after an extensive renovation, the now bright and breezy property – the founding base of one of the country’s oldest boardriders clubs – is for sale again.

Cosh reacted rapidly to the old listing because he understood how important the property was to the town’s history and surfing culture.

“I saw it, went to Middleton quickly and told the agent to bring a contract, because if we could agree on a price we could sign it then and there,” Cosh says. “I sort of rushed into it, but it turned out to be a good way to go about it.

“It is an iconic little surf shack and I had a good feeling about it.”

Until the Cosh family came along, there was a danger the once-asbestos-addled house would be demolished.

“In time, we fell in love with it and knocking it down was not an option,” Cosh says.

After a period of contemplation and much-needed upgrades, Cosh and his wife Casey knew they would commit to a restoration.

“When we first bought it, I ripped out the old mould and the stuff that had been let go,” he says. “There were holes in the roof, so I started patching it up, and then we put the decks in and did the outside first.

“It is not how I would advise to do it but it enabled us to use the space a lot more over those three years.

“Then we decided we were half in, half out. We knew we had to fix this up.”

They wanted to maintain the three-bedder’s aesthetic, and so the question was how far should they go?

Some structural changes were needed, involving the removal of a rear sunroom wall. The sunroom’s windows were reused in the seating area at the back deck and in a bedroom, to retain character.

“That meant we could really open up that kitchen and laundry to the deck, and give this connection through the house from the front to the back,” Cosh says.

“You can see the kids playing out the back when you are sitting on the front deck, and it has great light transfer throughout the whole house.”

Tim’s sister Katrina Cosh, interior designer at Adelaide-based studio Colindale Design, lent her eye to the project.

The sea foam-green exterior speaks to its retro origins.

Whitewashed floors fit the cool, crisp interior palette, punctuated by classic VJ panel walls.

Rosewater-pink kitchen tiles lend gentle contrast, and the same shape of tiling is echoed in the bathroom, but in a tranquil, eucalyptus green.

As parents to three boys, the couple also had practical ideas.

An outdoor shower sits at the front of the property, not the back, to wash sandy feet before entering.

“It stops sand going in the kids’ beds,” Cosh says. “The floorboards can be swept out, and that is how shacks should be.

“The design is all about coming back from the beach.”

The Cosh clan is now based in Byron Bay.

“Our time at the shack has been memorable,” Cosh says. “It is on to someone else to have their time in that place.

“I feel good about the fact that we have been able to save it, because it was on its knees and would have been knocked over.”

The buyer will discover a village atmosphere in Middleton, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and less hubbub than neighbouring towns.

“Middleton has a cool little vibe and a lot of families,” Cosh says. “There are a few other shacks, coincidentally, that have been renovated in that area.

“You have bunny rabbits eating veggies in the backyard, and it feels a lot more country than Port Elliot, which is a bit more built up.”

Agent Tania Vriends of Ray White says the property has received more enquiries than anything she has listed in the past two years.

“The renovation is very high end – it is a magazine-style end product, so there is nothing you would need to do at that property,” she says.

$1,395,000 - $1,445,000

8 Seaview Avenue, Middleton SA 5213

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