A Sydney family is offering new owners of their 1960s home a $25,000 bonus if they retain its quirky pink bathroom.
The Millers are relocating to Byron Bay, but can’t fathom the thought of their Lane Cove home’s Barbie-style bathroom being ripped up.
They snapped up the home in 2013, with the bathroom’s pink tiling, blue bathtub and sink, and mosaic floor being a major draw.
The Millers are offering the new owners of their 1960’s home a $25,000 bonus if they retain its quirky pink bathroom for five years
And they have vowed to pay its new owners cash in five years time if they honour their wish to keep the beloved bathroom pink.
The three-bedroom home is set to be auctioned on September 23, with a price guide of $2.3 million, the Weekly Times reports.
But Hugh Miller, a cinematographer by trade, will be heartbroken if his treasured palace is stripped of its original charm.
The family are relocating to Byron Bay, but can’t fathom the thought of their Lane Cove home’s barbie-style bathroom being ripped up
They snapped up the home in 2013, with the bathroom’s pink tiling, blue bathtub and sink, and mosaic floor a major draw card
He said he loved the pink tiles and he’s be ‘devastated’ if the bathroom was demolished.
‘We’re hoping that if someone lives with the bathroom for five years they’ll fall in love with it too.’
‘I remember discovering it for the first time. It was like finding something at a yard sale — just beautiful and perfectly preserved.’
They have vowed to pay its new owners cash in five years time if they honour their wish to keep the beloved bathroom pink
The three-bedroom home is set to be auctioned on September 23, with a price guide of $2.3 million
He’s got a pretty big soft spot for 60’s/70’s Australian architecture and expressed his disappointment in so much of it being destroyed in the modern day.
‘It’s rare for home buyers not to tinker with something these days, which is a shame. I don’t think enough quintessential Aussie architecture is being preserved.’
The extravagant offering is the first Architecture Australia director, Peter Georgiev, has heard of, with him labeling it a ‘bizarre stunt’.
Mr Miller says he will be heartbroken if his treasured palace is stripped of its original charm
‘I love the pink tiles. I’d be devastated if the bathroom got demolished,’ Mr Miller said
Mr Georgiev said the 1960s was a particularly adventurous era for Australian architecture, and while it often hadn’t been given the respect it deserved, he thought Mr Miller’s plan was quite drastic.
He was skeptical of how practical it would be for new owners to keep the bathroom in the exact same state for five years, questioning what would happen if plumbing work needed to be done.
Meanwhile, selling agent Simon Harrison revealed how divisive the feminine washroom was among potential buyers.
He’s got a big soft spot for 60’s/70’s Australian architecture and doesn’t like that so much of it has been destroyed
‘It’s rare for home buyers not to tinker with something these days, which is a shame,’ he said
He said half the people who had seen it wanted to change it around, and the other half wanted to keep it the same.
Hughes sister, Cathy, says he has always been drawn towards items of a certain vintage, Nine News reports.
‘He loves vintage cars, he’s got vintage fans you name, it he collects it and he feels really passionately it shouldn’t be knocked down,’ she said.
The bright bathroom has divided potential buys, with half reportedly loving it and the other half hoping to have it changed