"It's been a very happy family home," says Al. Dudley Rd is near Mission Bay's beach and shops, plus the Bollard girls have enjoyed the pool with their friends. "It was like a bus station at times around here," he reflects.
When the girls were younger they liked to spend a lot of time in a loft above the garage, reached by a trapdoor and a mini-door from one of the bedrooms. It was also "Georgia's fashion studio", says Al proudly, recounting how as a teenager his older daughter would design and sew clothes for family and friends.
Georgia is now a fashion buyer for the Myer department store in Melbourne.
Student Tessa lives at home, where she uses a study near the family living area and granite kitchen, a space she took over from her mother. Al says that when they bought the house he had visions of making this room his own space with a big armchair and TV screen, but it has never come to pass.
At least the house has plenty of other spaces to enjoy. The casual living extension, with its open gas fire, has room for a dining table and outside the terrace leads to a loggia with a wood-burning open fire. Inside, off the entrance foyer, are the "old lounge" and formal dining rooms, both with original bevelled-glass doors.
The home's easy mix of traditional and modern touches is also reflected in the Bollards' art. Throughout the house, there's a variety of styles - some contemporary pieces plus traditional paintings by acclaimed landscape artist W. Allen Bollard (circa 1869-1943), a relative.
Outside, the cricket-pitch front garden of Al's childhood is now an elegant design by landscape expert Robin Shafer. Al's father died before the renovations were complete, but Al thinks he would have approved. "We put a lot of effort into it and it was a real work of love."
Al says it will be a wrench to leave but, with the girls now adults, it's time to downsize.
