One of Coogee’s remaining unrenovated cottages has changed hands after more than three decades, with a builder paying $3.315 million for the original home at 29 Melody Street.
The three-bedroom property was held by the same owner for about 32 years before going to auction on 26 September. Around 50 to 60 people gathered outside the home, while nine bidders competed for the 342 sqm block. Bidding opened at $2.7 million and moved past the $3.2 million reserve before the hammer fell.
A Long-Held Home Leaves Family Ownership
The sale closes a long chapter for the Melody Street property, which last changed hands for $350,000 in 1993. The owner had remained at the address for more than three decades before moving into a nursing home.
Over that time, the house had fallen into considerable disrepair. Listing photographs showed scratched timber floors, marked walls and yellowing skirting boards, while the kitchen retained an older fit-out with blue benchtops and a timber splashback.
The main bedroom opens onto a front sunroom, and the bathroom includes white wall tiles and patterned flooring. At the rear, ageing brick paving, a small grassed section and vegetation around the laundry added to the home’s largely untouched condition. Despite the wear, the cottage still carries the form of an older freestanding Coogee home, with double-brick construction, high ceilings and separate living and dining areas.
Melody Street Block Draws Redevelopment Interest
Ray White Eastern Beaches marketed the property through Angus Gorrie and Nick Wiggan, describing it as one of the last unrenovated homes in the immediate area. The 342 sqm site has a 13.1-metre street frontage, R3 zoning and an east-facing rear garden. The campaign promoted several possible futures for the block, including renovation, rebuilding or extension, all subject to council approval.
The builder who secured the property was reported to be planning to transform the home. Its condition meant a knockdown was also considered likely, placing the focus on what could eventually replace a house that had remained largely unchanged for decades.
The address sits within the Coogee Public School catchment and is within walking distance of Coogee Beach, public transport and local dining. Royal Randwick shops are also nearby, placing the property within a well-established part of the suburb where original homes sit alongside extensively renovated and rebuilt properties.
The September auction brought the Melody Street property back onto the market for the first time since 1993, when it sold for $350,000. Thirty-three years later, the same address sold for $3.315 million.
Published 30-September-2026
