An incomplete home has been listed for sale for the first time since it was built in the 1960s, offering buyers the chance to finish the decades-long project.
When construction on the two-bedroom home at 39 Fourth Avenue, Toukley began more than half a century ago, colour television hadn’t been introduced and humans hadn’t landed on the moon.
At the time, the Central Coast was rapidly evolving from a collection of sleepy holiday towns into a commuter hub as the Pacific Motorway began to unlock high-speed travel to and from Sydney.
Cheap land was plentiful and inexpensive houses were popping up almost overnight as owner-builders rushed to grab a slice of the Australian dream.
But before shagpile carpets could be laid and paisley curtains hung in the quaint Toukley home, the project was abandoned and the house has remained an empty shell for six decades.
An unfinished home on the Central Coast has hit the market with a $550,000 to $600,000 price guide. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
It’s now being pitched as a renovation or knock-down rebuild project in a suburb that’s starting to make waves among a new generation of buyers.
Selling agent Luke McComb of Brand Property said the property had originally been owned by a young couple, who started the process of building the home on the 468sqm block in the late 1960s.
“They lived in Sydney and they were looking to start their new life on the Central Coast,” he said. “But before being able to complete it, they unfortunately broke up.”
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The home was built by a couple in the 1960s, but the project was abandoned when the owners split up. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
The unfinished home hit the market this week after its elderly owner decided to finally part ways.
“She held onto a part of the dream for this whole time, but now she’s looking to release it to help her family in purchasing their forever home,” Mr McComb said.
While the home was initially built to the lock-up stage, the interior was never completed, leaving a bare shell with no internal walls.
The home has no kitchen or bathroom and has never been lived in as a permanent home. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Listing photos depict exposed beams, internal framing and unfinished timber floorboards.
The house has no kitchen or bathroom, although there is a concrete slab where one could be installed.
“It’s never been lived in, but the family did come up here and use it as a deluxe sort of cabin for weekends,” Mr McComb said.
A handful of builders have already expressed interest in finishing off the 1960s house. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
While there’s every chance the incomplete house could face the wrecking ball and be replaced with a modern home, Mr Comb said there was still potential to finish the job.
“I’ve had two builders come through prior to launching it,” he said. “One of them said ‘I’d knock it down and rebuild it’ and the other one said he’d be pretty confident to move forward and do the work.”
“A couple of young builders looking for a project to sink their teeth into have reached out and said, ‘hey this is pretty cool’.”
“Theres value in the location if you’ve got the nous to be able to do it.”
The unfinished home occupies a level 486sqm block. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
He said the fibro roof and cladding likely contained asbestos, and would be one of the first jobs on the to-do list.
“You’d probably look at recladding the entirety of it,” he said.
The home is expected to sell at a significant discount to other homes in the street, most of which date to the same era but have been fitted out internally and renovated over the years.
“It’s probably worth between $550,000 to $600,000,” Mr McComb said. “Early feedback has been closer to the $600,000 mark.”
That would make it more than $300,000 cheaper than Toukley’s median house price of $938,000.
Toukley is known for its affordably-priced lakeside homes. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Mr McComb said Toukley had recently become one of the most sought-after pockets of the Central Coast, going as far to label it as “the next Long Jetty”.
“Toukley is having a renaissance in local business,” he said. “You only have to go to a couple of the cafes to see that things have changed here.”
“It’s a good little spot, and it’s still affordable,”
