Renovation Rescue at 8 High Street - high eight home & living

Renovation Rescue at 8 High Street

Walking the main street of my hometown along High Street Inverleigh one spring morning I never imagined the events that would follow later that afternoon, life was about to change… big time! Inquisitive by nature, I had walked this road many times, always wondering what was behind that overgrown block of trees… “what’s in there” I’d wonder. This day my curiosity got the better of me and I wondered around the back of the block. To my amazement there was an old cottage on the block! As run down as it was, I knew instantly this was the opportunity I had been waiting for! Inverleigh is a gorgeous little town in country Victoria on the Hamilton Highway. Inverleigh has the well known Gladioli Restaurant, Red Door Cafe and the newly refurbished Inverleigh Hotel. I’ve known for some time it was just missing one key element – a homewares and gift store! This overgrown, neglected little Victorian cottage had stood here for over 140 years and the mystery was; who owned it? And most importantly would they be willing to sell it to me? Higheight01 Inverleigh being a small town I had to be careful not to ask too many questions that would revel my intentions too early… Careful not to get my hopes up; I decided to put my ‘investigator’ cap on, or ‘Little Miss Columbo’ as my husband calls me and I found a local old Inverleigh phone book from years ago. I found the listing for 8 High Street after searching through the hundreds of names! And… BINGO! So I poured myself a wine and tried to build up my courage to make the phone call… It took me a while, what would I say? Then I just thought ‘Stuff it, what have I got to lose?!’ so I dialed the number. To my absolute surprise a young female’s voice answered, Hello! I asked if she lived at the residence, explained who I was and shared with her my intentions. She knew the owner and said she would forward my details on to the her and if she was interested in selling she would get in touch with me. Time went by, lots of time, it felt like forever. Every time my phone would ring I would think ‘oh my God, is this her!?’… 6 months later when I was losing all hope and feeling completely deflated about the whole thing – Then… She phoned!!! She was interested in selling! My dream had come true!! After hanging up the phone I was jumping up and down hysterically – in my eyes I had just won tattslotto!! I couldn’t be happier! I will never forget that moment… ‘Good things come to those who wait’.   On September 30th 2012, I became the proud owner of 8 High Street, Inverleigh. I still remember the moment when I was handed the keys and had to crawl down the front path to open the front door. The little cottage was a little overgrown to say the least, it had not been lived in for years except for ‘Mr Possum’ who had left the place in a right old mess. Not that that bothered me, it was nothing that a bit of elbow grease and a lick of paint couldn’t fix. Higheight-before and after This 140 year old girl was about to get a facelift! Revealing what is now known as Higheight Home & Living! A true Renovation Rescue! IMG_3355s-corrected