Meet the builder turning century-old homes into luxury escapes

Builder Mitch Pocklington and his wife Samantha took on a 130-year-old dilapidated home during the first year of the pandemic and gave it new life as a family showstopper. SEE INSIDE

Samantha and Mitchell Pocklington at their stunning home at Melville Terrace close to the waterfront in Wynnum/Manly. Picture: David Clark

Builder Mitch Pocklington and his wife Samantha took on a 130-year-old dilapidated home during the first year of the pandemic and gave it new life as a family showstopper thanks to their dream of living close to the bay.

“We wanted to move to Manly. This property came up to market and it was quite a distressed property, which, being in building didn’t deter us,” Mr Pocklington said.

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Samantha and Mitchell Pocklington packed a tonne of high end features into the home they created including a see through wine cellar and top of the range appliances. Picture: David Clark

Before: The home was in need of major attention.

After: The couple have ensured the property survives another 100 years.

The couple counted themselves lucky to secure the site for $650,000 at auction given its location a few blocks from the waterfront.

“It was the days before Christmas, rainy, holidays, so there wasn’t much attraction at the auction. We were pretty fortunate,” Mr Pocklington said. “We secured it and were unsure if we’d done something wrong or if the property had something wrong with it, but I’d done all my due diligence and it was a good property, clean services and everything.”

“It was a good time to buy, obviously the pricing on land and property has shifted a fair bit across the state since.”

The temperature in the pool and spa are controlled by an app.

The property is walking distance from the Manly waterfront.

The couple turned the full force of Mr Pocklington’s experience with his firm Mitcon Build to their advantage.

“I’ve got a background in high end, architectural and large scale renovations, particularly with Queenslanders and heritage properties so I was very confident with the property,” he said.

Mrs Pocklington said it took about six months for their approvals to go through on the character property – a time frame that can blow out to over a year for those not used to working in that space.

“We designed it to work with families, particularly ourselves in mind,” Mr Pocklington said. “We’ve designed in laundry chutes that back on to both bathrooms that just makes living in homes a lot easier. The mudroom backs off the garage that runs through the laundry into the butler’s pantry. The circulation of the home is really well thought out and designed. It was designed for us so I think it’d be an awesome home for whoever secures it.”

The laundry/mud room flows from the garage.

The butler’s pantry was kitted out to cater for families and entertaining.

The couple have even taught their three-year-old to tidy up after herself thanks to some of the innovations, including using the laundry chute and putting her items away in the mudroom.

”She knows where to put her shoes away. She has a little shoe drawer in the mudroom,” Mrs Pocklington said.

The home took 10 months to build during 2021, at a time when the building industry was beginning to see a stampede in demand.

Their favourite thing was its functionality, from multiple entertainment spaces to having a skylight with an automated blind in the bedroom so you can see the sky in the morning and suss out the weather.

There are five bedrooms.

An enormous walk in robe in the master leading into the ensuite.

“There’s just so much I love about it,” Mrs Pocklington said. “It’s just the kind of home that you can have family and friends over and it really activates the spaces really well. It feels relaxed. I enjoy the space.”

Mr Pocklington said “we walk down to the Manly Boat Club or down to the shops to grab some milk or bread or whatever if you’ve forgotten from your weekly shop. If you’re at a loss for something to do, you can literally just go for a couple 100m walk and you’re at the markets every weekend.”

Before: How the back of the home looked previously.

After: An outdoor kitchen leads out to the backyard now.

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“It’s a great home with lots of space, especially as it’s a standard small lot block with 400 square meters however it’s about 12m wide so it has the option of someone being able to store a caravan or a boat. So it could appeal to retirees as well. I think it’s a great all round home that presents well to a broad market. So it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. We’re looking forward to it.”

Place Kangaroo Point agents Michael Bacon and Chris Pilkington are running a best offers campaign for the home, closing 5pm on July 31.

Mr Bacon said it’s a very unique property with very high end finishes and design, with one of its biggest drawcards being the location too.

Before: The kitchen space before the major rebuild.

After: The couple maximised their use of the 400sq m lot, packing a lot into the block including side access for a trailer or boat.

“I’ve started seeing a lot of people gravitate towards the bay area at the moment because they didn’t realise how much lifestyle is actually out there by the water.”

Local buyers out of Bulimba, Hawthorne, Cannon Hills were among those interested, looking for a quieter suburb that still has lifestyle features.

The five bedroom, three bathroom, triple car park home sits on a 405sq m block at 150 Melville Terrace, Manly and is packed with features including a heated app-controlled swimming pool and spa, plus rare side access for a third car, boat, jet ski or trailer.

A large void adds a feeling of spaciousness across the home’s main living zone.

High spec fittings, frameless showers and soak tubs add to the luxury feel.

The Pocklingtons have set their sights on their next major home – a heritage property not too far away they plan to renovate.

“We really love the area. We’d probably like to do that one and then potentially a few more over the next couple of years in the area to bring to the market,” Mr Pocklington said.