Pharmaceutical specialist Bronwyn Perry and electronics engineer Jeremy Hamlyn purchased the property at 6 Maud Street, Unley almost two decades ago.

The couple was soon to be married and were eager to make it their perfect family home. The house offered something special – a beautifully maintained sandstone facade with a well-planned extension and a huge garden.

When they first moved in, Bronwyn and Jeremy thought the traditional-style yard with its iceberg roses and box hedges was beautiful, but not functional. Thus, their first renovation began.

“We completely changed the back garden, adding a pool and pool pavilion as well as the underground water tank which holds a significant 77,000 litres,” Bronwyn says.

“We removed the traditional door and windows on the back of the home and created a portico with bi-fold doors to bring in the beautiful northern aspect.”

The next stage of the renovation saw the kitchen and dining area transformed. Bronwyn says the extension was structurally fantastic with its maintained ceiling height and optimal space, but the couple wanted to upgrade the open-plan.

“We turned the laundry into a butler’s pantry and redid the back wall again – changing the bi-fold doors into fully retractable glass doors that open the house entirely to the yard.”

The living space now boasts a large kitchen with sleek, stone benchtops and a large breakfast bar, the indoor dining space and a living area before a cosy fireplace – all complemented with warm timber accents.

The portico enhances this area, offering a second dining space, lounge area and fireplace with closer access to the elements.

The final renovation saw the front of the home updated with modern bathrooms, heritage restorations and the addition of a cosy cinema room.

Bronwyn says they were conscious of maintaining the heritage elements of the home when updating the hallway in particular.

“In the middle of the hall was a door with leadlight in it, so we recreated pillars similar to the first one to maintain consistency in the design,” she says.

“So, the first pillar is an original and the others are replicas. When we were doing the renovations, we saw that the first pillar has a date inscribed on it – 1913 – so we know the home is exactly 110 years old.”

Alongside the water tank, Bronwyn and Jeremy have covered the roof with solar panels and installed a Tesla battery to make the house as sustainable as possible.

“It is about being a luxury house – not about being a cheap house to run,” Jeremy says. “It was essentially an experiment of mine to prove that you can have a very nice house that doesn’t need any electricity or water from the mains and has a near-zero footprint.

“We generate more electricity than we use and we use only a tiny amount of gas as a secondary requirement to our hot water system, which is connected to the mains, but runs entirely off the water tank unless there has been a major drought.”

The couple also redid the ceiling insulation, rewired the home and installed double-glazed windows.

Although they adore the home, Bronwyn and Jeremy are now looking for a smaller property, but are happy for the next family who will be able to come and love it as much as they have.

“We have been here for what feels like a long time, but it has only been one-fifth of the home’s entire life. We hope we have left it in the best condition possible and stayed true to it even with the major upgrades – it is something to be proud of,” Jeremy says.

“We will be staying in the Unley area though because we just love it so much.”

The sale is being handled by Georgie Todd and Todd Penrose of Harris Real Estate.