The mullet's back in fashion, even when it comes to property

AFL’s Bailey Smith … NRL’s Ryan Papenhuyzen … golfer Cameron Smith … sprinter Rohan Browning. The mullet is definitely back, baby.

But just as it’s been turning heads on the sporting fields – in a throwback to the hallowed hair days of cricket icon Shane Warne, Jason Donovan in Neighbours, flamboyant AFL pin-up Warwick Capper and overseas music stars Billy Ray Cyrus and David Bowie – it’s being echoed everywhere on the streets of the nation.

So many houses across our cities are small, neat and totally unassuming from the front but expand dramatically to the back to vast light-filled spaces with extra living areas, additional storeys and doors that open to courtyards, decks and jetties.

“It’s all about the way people used to live and the way they choose to live now,” says architect Matt Devine, a lecturer in heritage conservation at the University of Sydney. “In the past, they always wanted a number of small rooms for cooking, eating, relaxing and sleeping, but now they prefer to live in a much more open-plan manner.

“As a result, when people renovate and extend, they have a lot more living areas to the rear, often opening onto courtyards. Particularly when they live in conservation areas, the facades of houses may be more protected and so what they can do is restricted, but that’s less so towards the rear.”

These so-called “mullet houses”, also often squeezed in rows of terraces, are always a journey of discovery for home hunters who often have no idea of the treasures that lay in wait behind the modest front doors. At the same time, they can also be a headache for agents.

For Rick Daniel of Nelson Alexander Fitzroy, Melbourne, for instance, selling the three-bedroom home with hidden dimensions at 39-41 Oxford Street, Collingwood, is a challenge.

After

Before

It offers much more than its small cottage frontage would suggest, courtesy of a fabulous renovation and extension that took place within the last ten years by the owner and occupant, from Robert Nichol & Sons.

“It does look very modest from the outside,” Daniel says of the house for private sale with a guide of $2.95 million. “But he maintained the façade while rebuilding the rest of the house to give it a lot of space and loads of personality, combining heritage appeal with modern-day comfort.

“The living spaces are now on the second floor, there’s a lovely courtyard and there’s also a separate section that is currently leased separately on Airbnb. It’s hard to show how big it is, but technology with videos and photos makes it easier.”

In Sydney, you look at other houses, like 8a William Street, Balmain East, in an area perhaps typical of the city’s topography on a peninsula, which lends itself to mullet homes.

In this case, all you see from the street is a lift and garage … but to the back is a lavish three-storey mansion, complete with a deck and jetty into the harbour. The extension work, which was only done a year ago, has created four bedrooms and massive living zones.

“It only has a land size of 405 square metres, but when you go inside, you can appreciate how much bigger and fantastically built it is,” says Monika Tu of Black Diamondz Property Concierge, who’s auctioning the property on September 21 with a price guide of $12.5 million. “It’s so much larger than it appears from the street.

After

Before

“It is challenging for an agent, though. People pass by or look at the land size and think, ‘That’s too small!’ But we have to persuade people to come and look inside. We specialise in luxury so our clients know it will be something special and our advertising has to reflect that. Then, when buyers do come in, it takes probably an hour to show them properly.”

Melbourne also has plenty of picturesque older homes with smaller frontages that taper out to much larger behinds. For instance, 838 Malvern Road, Armadale, from the street, looks like a most self-effacing home. But it actually has a huge amount of space, with five bedrooms, and was recently sold by Marshall White for $7.06 million.

Similarly, 6 Balmerino Avenue, Toorak, has a narrow face but contains four bedrooms and sold for $3.55 million.

Something completely different is a warehouse conversion in Ascot Vale. “From the front, this home looks very understated,” says agent John Morello of Jellis Craig Kensington, who’s currently selling the three-bedroom townhouse – one of four – at 6 Kirk Street with a guide of $1.75 million.

“One of the challenges is that the outside doesn’t tell the story of the inside at all, so people, once they do go in, are very surprised. There aren’t many warehouse conversions in this area too, so people aren’t used to them, But it is quite unique.”

A vast waterfront house in Sydney is another where you see nothing of the real home. All that can be seen from the street is a lift and car space. But beneath that, cascading down the cliff at 16 River Street, Birchgrove, is the five-bedroom, four-level Fisherman’s House, for sale with a price guide of $16 million.

“The architect has really used the verticality of the site to maximise the space to the back, looking out on the water,” says Elizabeth Rook of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty. “From the outside, you can only see the lift, but as you go down, it expands to this beautiful home with so many beautiful spaces.

“From a marketing perspective, you have to be very creative. You need to show the floor plan, have amazing photography and carefully curate the presentation.”