28 May Street DEEPDENE

Comments on 28 May Street DEEPDENE

Provincial family living that actually works, 24 May Street Balwyn

From the street this feels a touch tired. The front landscaping has dropped a little, a few chips on fences and trim take the early shine off, and the facade sits in the slightly above average camp rather than wow. You could easily walk in thinking this is just another nine year old Balwyn build on 718 square metres with not much yard. That first impression would be wrong.

Inside the story improves quickly. The floorplan is where this home really earns its 749 out of 1000 James Rating. The block runs east west, with the main living, dining and kitchen all drawing in north light and opening to alfresco and lap pool. You get pool, sauna and covered outdoor living with just enough yard for a dog or a couple of grandkids rather than a big maintenance job. Upstairs all three secondary bedrooms have their own ensuite and the main suite is genuinely grand, with dressing, bathroom and a separate sitting room that feels like a private apartment.

For me this is a quality, low maintenance provincial style home where the key areas are in the right place with the right feel. If you bought it at the right number, refreshed the front gardens, tidied the chips and gave the timber floors a polish, you would lift it to something close to exceptional. Not usually my style, but I like the effort and the way it has improved a fairly standard Balwyn formula.

Position-wise, May Street sits in one of those Deepdene–Balwyn pockets that families quietly chase for years. You are a short walk to Whitehorse Road trams and Balwyn Village, in the prized Balwyn High School zone, with Balwyn High, Deepdene Primary, Fintona, Carey and Camberwell Grammar all within easy reach. At the end of the street you have parkland and open space, plus nearby reserves such as Gordon Street Reserve, Deepdene Park and Balwyn Park, so even though this home is more pool and alfresco than big backyard you are only a short wander from real grass, trees and a kick of the footy. The surrounding streets are well set with substantial French provincial and contemporary family homes of similar scale, many with their own pools, saunas and theatres, so you are buying into a precinct where this calibre of home is now established rather than over capitalised.