Love It Or List It: Update this retro house or sell it?

Shows like Mad Men may have capitalised on the popularity of mid-century design, but the swinging sixties look isn’t for everyone as Brisbane parents Margie and Grayson Tyndale know all too well.

Four years ago, this Jindalee couple bought a mid-century home with a pool and a view, yet now that they have two young daughters they find their home doesn’t suit their lifestyle.

“It’s got some really strong mid-century bones and it’s just not really cut out for the modern family…it’s still just so brown,” says Margie.

When the house was first built in 1969, it was offered as a prize in a competition in a women’s magazine and Grayson insists the home could still be updated.

“I want to stay in this house, I see it’s potential and I want to realise it,” Grayson says.

Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker hosts of Love It Or List It Australia take a look at the property and offer their advice.

List it: Why now is a good time to sell

Winter says this mid-century home is “an ugly shed’ and he thinks the Tyndales could upgrade to something more modern.

“Small, poky rooms everywhere I look.  I can find them something so much better than this, this was designed for a bygone era,” he says.

The current median price for a three-bedroom home in Jindalee is $532,000 and the Tyndale’s current home is valued at $590,000.

But can Winter find this couple another four bedroom home with two bathrooms, two living areas and a pool that’s still close to the city?

Love it: Updating a retro home

Whitaker says this home has potential and the main issue isn’t even the mid-century design.

“So now I’m thinking it’s not so much the sixties styling that’s the problem here – it’s the floorplan, it really is all over the place,” he says.

Homes built in the 1960s also bring their own challenges and in this case, Whitaker says part of the reno would need to be spent on getting rid of the asbestos that was used to build the home.

“All is not lost.  I mean upstairs you are going to have an immaculate new home with two new bathrooms, a brand new kitchen.  It’s going to feel very different to the way it does now,” he says.

“Streamlining the kitchen so that it flows into one with the dining area, creates a space any cook would be happy in, ” he says.

Whitaker says the home would also be transformed with styling and new features such as wall sconces that create a more modern home yet retain the classic mid-century look and feel.