Hardy and Jacqueline Gitzel are old hands at renovation and restoration.
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The couple is behind the restoration of Verona, the heritage-style home in High Street, Maitland.
In a matter of months they have transformed the haunted-looking building into a mansion, bringing the property back to life.
“We weren’t going to do any more houses,” Mrs Gitzel said.
“But this one was so beautiful.”
The double-storey Victorian home was built in the late 1800s for Lieutenant Colonel William Charles Markwell.
It changed hands and became a soldiers’ club in the 1900s and the Gitzels found the old bar still intact inside the home.
From here the family of race car driver Allan Grice bought the property and since then it has swapped hands several times.
“It is the history of these old houses that I really love,” Mrs Gitzel said.
The Gitzels moved into the house in October last year and in six months have fixed the interior, redone the electrical wiring, revamped the exterior and are now working on the gardens.
The project will be finished in June when the roses arrive for the front garden.
“This site was structurally sound; it was more of a cosmetic renovation,” Mrs Gitzel said.
“That is why we have been able to do so much so quickly.
“We are also fortunate that we have a budget for contractors.”
Restoring a heritage property takes a lot of hard work and a lot of money.
Mrs Gitzel said for a cosmetic restoration as big as Verona the cost was about $150,000 and this could double or even triple if structural issues were uncovered along the way.
“Do your homework,” Mr Gitzel said.
“Work on a fixed price and get three quotes for everything.
“If you don’t and you work on an hourly rate it will blow out your budget.”
The couple worked hard to choose contractors and suppliers carefully to keep the heritage elements of the building intact.
The exterior paint job was selected to highlight the building’s more intricate and slightly Art Deco elements, the lamps and balcony doors were chosen to reflect the era of the property and everything from colour to furniture was chosen carefully.
The flag pole in the garden was kept too because it was installed when the house became a soldiers’ club.
“If you go through line by line what you are going to do you will end up with a good result at the end of the project,” Mr Gitzel said.
