River beckons as family prepares to farewell their ‘ultimate home’

When the Thomas family bought their regal Queenslander it was in need of expansion to accommodate all five members. Now, they’re ready to move on.

Mike Thomas and son Dylan at the family home. Picture: Eros Photography

When the Thomas family purchased their home in Brisbane's inner-east almost a decade ago, they knew they wanted to create the ultimate family home.

So they did.

Mike and Sharon Thomas had just missed out on a property along Bulimba’s prized Duke St at an auction back in 2013.

When the neighbours saw how much it sold for, the couple successfully managed to broker a deal with them off-market.

The land was on a block of more than 1000sq m but the home itself was far too small for the family of five.

The property at 36 Duke Street, Bulimba. Picture: Brock Beazley

Mr Thomas, who is the chief executive officer of fibre optics company Optical Solutions Australia, engaged Brisbane architect Shaun Lockyer to draw up designs and quickly realised they needed to increase their budget to do it right.

“When Shaun did the initial drawings and we were all fitting to a budget I was a bit of a tight arse and said ‘I’m only going to spend X amount and he drew to X’,” he said.

“Then we realised we need to make it bigger to do the block justice, which I think he’s got right. There is plenty of land, the pool has got this massive area and, with three kids, we wanted these separate zones.”

Pointing to the “butler’s pantry” decked out in Miele appliances, Mr Thomas conceded that this was one part of the house in which he had no say.

“Sharon’s a good cook, she had a lot of influence with Shaun on this,” he said. “It was a big must have.”

Some of the living space inside. Picture: Brock Beazley

Keeping the wrought iron balustrade and wraparound porch front facade of the Queenslander was a no-brainer.

Stained glass window panels on both levels surrounding the exterior doors are authentic to the original 1890s build, and the floral plastering in the entry was kept the same.

The back of the home is ultra-modern, built with a family in mind. The large open-plan living space can be broken up by doors hidden in the walls, or everyone can gather together around the kitchen island, or in front of the fireplace.

“Everyone stops and looks at this house,” Mr Thomas said. “I mean, it’s one of the prettier ones in the street. We had to do a lot to make good just to live in it … It was pretty run down.”

“I think we would have had a protest on the streets of Bulimba (if we knocked it down). And we didn’t want to; it’s the quintessential Queenslander.”

A garden view of the extensive additions to the house. Picture: Brock Beazley

Ms Thomas styled the home herself, with little knick-knacks from the family’s extensive travels. A line of little blue-and-white dolls in descending height order, known as the Choir from Kyoto, reminds the family of a trip to Japan; two Canadian Inuksuk statues stand beside them, and the row is capped off by a pair of brightly coloured donkey souvenirs from Positano, in Italy.

But now it is time to sell and Place Bulimba managing director Sarah Hackett is taking the home to auction on October 8.

Mr Thomas estimated that the build would cost double what they paid a few years ago given the current construction market. But, they will eventually do it again.

The family recently purchased a riverfront property in the neighbouring suburb of Hawthorne under the hammer for $10.21m.

Once the trophy home of influential Queensland businessman Jim Kennedy, the Thomases plan on giving the home a fresh coat of paint before knocking it down and rebuilding in the years to come.

“Some of Shaun’s new stuff is really good … kind of concretey,” Mr Thomas said. “They sort of suit probably less wood, more steel, because it’s on the river – a little bit more industrial.”