Resort-inspired Malvern haven
Karen and Graeme Hayes are selling their luxury Malvern home which they affectionately refer to as Hayes’s Haven for its resort-style features that include a heated swimming pool and a light-filled open-plan living area.
When Karen and Graeme Hayes are asked to describe their Malvern home, words like resort and haven spring to mind.
“You feel like you’re cocooned in this very nice haven; we call our home Hayes’s Haven because that’s how it feels,” explains Karen, who is a non-executive director of SAHMRI and the Adelaide Fringe Foundation.
“When we have people come to stay with us, they say, ‘Oh, I feel like I’m in a resort; I feel like I’m having a holiday.’ So, the house has a beautiful feel about it.”
Karen and Graeme, who is retired, have been living at 2A Dover Street, Malvern for about two years.
They had moved from Melbourne and decided Malvern was the perfect place to buy a home while they waited for their apartment to be built at Eighty Eight O’Connell in North Adelaide.
Karen says she appreciates the abundant natural light coming into the house, its spacious open areas and the sense of privacy it provides.
She also loves its proximity to cafes, bakeries and produce vendors on Duthy Street, as well as the sense of community in Malvern.
You might like
“We’re coffee drinkers and there are some beautiful cafes just up the road, some amazing bakeries, and there’s a real sense of community, which we really enjoy. It’s also within walking distance of four of the top public schools in Adelaide,” says Karen.
Located on about 650 square metres of land, the two-storey dwelling was built in 2015 by Samuel James Homes and has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and space for up to two cars.
An open-plan living area features a built-in speaker system and a Heat Glo Gas Flame Fireplace, while the kitchen has Caesarstone benchtops, frosted-glass splashbacks, top-of-the-line Miele appliances and a walk-in pantry.
The master suite has a spacious walk-in wardrobe and an ensuite, which includes views of the central courtyard, while French doors lead into a study/gym space.
The property also includes dual-living spaces, which Karen says is great when they have guests over.
“Everybody’s got their own space, which is very important for us. That’s not only important for guests, but, for a family with children, it would probably be something that they would really appreciate,” says Karen.
Karen and Graeme decided to carry out some upgrades of their own. This included converting the pool into a heated magnesium pool, installing new light fittings, putting new treatments on the upstairs windows and repainting the entire interior of the house.
Subscribe for updates
Outdoors, they did some landscaping to create a low-maintenance garden, which Karen says is ideal for their busy lifestyles.
“The backyard is very private so that you can’t see anybody from the yard, but it also has a beautiful outdoor kitchen/barbecue area,” says Karen.
“It has a beautiful garden and lawn area out the back, but it’s a low-maintenance garden.
“We wanted to be able to enjoy the outdoors without spending hours and hours having to maintain it.”
Karen says her favourite part of the house is the light-filled living area, which looks out onto the swimming pool.
“I feel a real calmness in the house – it’s almost a Zen feeling that you feel looking out over the water, over the green grass,” says Karen.
“It’s a very calm house and it’s beautiful to relax in. You know, relax and read a book, relax and lie by the pool, relax and sit out in the garden, or relax with friends and have a beautiful barbecue.”
But as Eighty Eight O’Connell nears completion, it’s now time for them to sell up.
Karen says she will miss “sitting out in the garden or by the swimming pool in the cabana reading a book and enjoying the sunshine and watching over the pool”.
The sale of 2A Dover Street, Malvern, is being handled by Jordan Begley of Toop + Toop.
