beachy keen

Wade Gillespie knew right off the bat that he wanted the original 1970s mission-brown brick bungalow in Perth’s coastal Karrinyup. He and his wife, Lauren, were in the market for a fixer-upper and saw unparalleled potential in the home’s dated decor and strange, convoluted layout. “I’d had my eye on it for a while, but it was going to auction and that wasn’t until five weeks before the settlement of our other place,” he explains. “I had made an earlier offer, which was rejected, so Lauren was very anxious in the lead-up to auction day!”

It wasn’t just Wade who’d fallen in love with the property. With its retro vibe and charming character features, it had easily won over Lauren, too. “The house