House of the Week: this Seddon renovation is best in the west

3 Sydenham Street, Seddon
$1.1 million-plus
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Auction at noon on Saturday, November 26
Inspect on Saturday from 12.15pm-12.45pm
Village Real Estate, Gerard Hannan 0412 214 843

Over here at House of the Week we like to think we know Melbourne’s residential nooks and crannies pretty well. After all, we’ve been at the caper of noodling through our town’s best spots for awhile now, but it seems like we’ve blinked and all of sudden, Seddon.

Now it’s been good out this way for years – no surprises, it’s a brilliant little village. But when did it get this hip?

The western edge of the suburb, where we find this ripper, seems to be the place to be if re-tooling of the old period housing stock here is any indication.

If there’s one thing this column likes it’s not hiding your light under a bushel. Here the lovely Victorian facade remains and rising up behind, the modish timber-lined first level. Different eras offer different stories and the juxtaposition is often exhilarating, as it is here.

The wide hall takes the eye down to the rear open plan but before that there are two excellent bedrooms on either side of the passage. Both of these have full-length robes and lovely shuttered windows over the street.

Beyond here there’s the powder room/laundry that maximises its linear footprint and still manages a luxe feel with a marble benchtop and splash.

Across the way that luxe feel gets amped up a notch or two in the fine central bathroom – more marble here on the floating vanity, beautiful tiling and terrazzo floors make this a brilliant space.

Out back in the open plan there’s light and air aplenty courtesy of some fabulous oversized windows – the living room pane a deeply lovely postcard bringing green views in.

The kitchen is a picture too with its handsome and clever marble top island with breakfast bar seating at one end. The cabinetry is very sharp – a textured dark surface that helps to delineate and anchor the airy space.

The dining area opens out and onto the excellent full width deck via black framed glass stacker doors, providing a terrific entertaining area. A cool little firepit looks the goods; its bluestone surrounds a neat little doff of the cap to history.

Upstairs it’s the glorious main bedroom – an urbane, sophisticated sanctuary with a terrific walk-in robe and splendid en suite with double glass shower, marble vanity and stand-alone bath.

There’s another little plum up here, the study opens onto a fabulous balcony – the carpet of the west rolls towards the docks, beyond to the city and across to the West Gate affording cracking views. We knew Seddon was good, and it’s only getting better.

Room for improvement: Lose a section of the right-angle desk in the upstairs study to double as a languid parent’s retreat.

Need to know: Facade built circa 1890, renovated in 2016. Last traded for $462,000 in May 2013. Highest recorded house price for Seddon (past 12 months) was $1.78 million for 19 Bell Street, June 2016. Recent sales: $1.33 million for 58 Station Road, November 2016; $1,292,500 for 18 Henry Street, November 2016, and $1.05 million for 1 North Street, October 2016.