\nPsychotherapist Liz McIlhagger created her ideal eco-sanctuary in the most surprising of places<\/p>\n
Not many investors searching for a home on the northern shore of Penang Island would recognise the potential in a neglected mid-1980s shop house wedged in a row of equally uninspiring commercial and industrial three-storey buildings.
\nBut in 2009, when an online search led psychotherapist Liz McIlhagger to photographs of the property that would become her second home, she and her husband Des Ng, a Malaysian architect specialising in eco-sustainable design, saw a diamond in the rough.
\nThe photographs showed a dark, dingy building that had housed a carpentry workshop on the ground floor, and a travel agency on the first and second storeys, broken into office partitions. Undeterred and buoyed by a Google Maps search that showed the property to be close to a beach. Des and Liz purchased it in 2010, and after nine months of design work and renovations, moved into Oiduts House a year later.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a natural habitat for tree monkeys, iguanas, birds and butterflies, all of which we can see from our kitchen and dining spaces\u201d
\nWhen the couple decided to look for a property in Malaysia, Penang was at the top of their list. \u201cWe were looking for somewhere with sun, sand, sea, food and culture, and Penang ticked all the boxes,\u201d says Des.
\nTurned off by Kuala Lumpur\u2019s \u201cmega-structure\u201d raised rail lines and elevated freeways, they were drawn to Penang\u2019s human-scale public transport \u2013 a bus system threads throughout the island, which is also serviced by taxis and car share services Grab and Uber.<\/p>\n
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\nIn recent years, Penang property has become a magnet for foreign investors.
\nMost plump for sea-view condos, heritage shop houses in George Town, or sprawling villas in gated communities. They saw disadvantages in all, however. With condos, says Liz, \u201cthere\u2019s a problem of maintenance when there are too few owner-occupiers,\u201d a factor over which the buyer has no control. Des grew up in a Chinese shop house in Malacca, and he dislikes that kind of dwelling\u2019s proximity to the street. Because they wanted a home that would hew to their eco-sustainable ethos, an aesthetics-driven villa was also out of the question.<\/p>\n
After the purchase the couple flew to Penang to assess the state of the property and to take measurements. They found a view of the Andaman Sea from the second floor of the house, which is a five-minute walk to a small beach, and a green hill directly behind. \u201cIt\u2019s a natural habitat for tree monkeys, iguanas, birds and butterflies, all of which we can see from our kitchen and dining spaces \u2013 a great bonus!\u201d says Des.
\nThe couple started drawing up plans by introducing a large air well into the centre of the Penang property for maximum ventilation and light and air. A rain-sensor horizontal shutter allows the air well to be open to the sky most of the time. Taking a cue from the layout in Victorian houses, in which lesser rooms are relegated to the ground floor, guests are received in a drawing room on the first floor.
\nGood design is key: \u201cfrom that everything else will flow naturally\u201d
\nDes and Liz placed the living room, dining room and kitchen on the the top floor to take advantage of the views and cross-breezes. Floor-to-ceiling louvered windows bring in much more air than conventional windows, and have enabled the couple to reduce their electricity costs by 50 to 60 percent.<\/p>\n
The property\u2019s refreshed but sedate fa\u00e7ade gives no hint that a sleek, comfortable home lies within.
\nEntering through a plain door, one\u2019s eye is drawn upward, to where light floods in through the air well. A new open-thread timber staircase leads first to the mezzanine level, added to take advantage of the double-height ground floor and reclaim living space lost to the lair well. Braced by and exposed steel support beam, it houses a glassed-in office and a small library.
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\nOld floor screed was hacked away during the renovation to reveal Vintage terrazzo tiles on the first floor. On this level three bedrooms \u2013 two of which Des and Liz rent out on Airbnb march down a long narrow corridor illuminated by the air well and two glass-brick walls. Two bedrooms boast a wall of louvers opening onto the air well, while the rear master suite looks onto the hill behind the house.<\/p>\n
The second-floor living area flows seamlessly from the living area and open terrace at the front of the house to the open-plan kitchen and dining areas at the back. It is a cool, serene oasis on even the hottest of days and where, Des and Liz, spend most of their time. \u201cOur vision was to have a light and airy home designed for living in and to be enjoyed! We believe we achieved that,\u201d says Liz.
Psychotherapist Liz McIlhagger created her ideal eco-sanctuary in the most surprising of places Not many...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-77B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142410,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/flydubai-launches-flights-to-langkawi-and-penang\/","url_meta":{"origin":27379,"position":0},"title":"Flydubai launches flights to Langkawi and Penang","date":"February 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Flydubai has launched new flights to Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia\r \r Source : arabianbusiness.com\r Read more...Flydubai launches flights to Langkawi and Penang","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/flydubai-langkawi-1000x665-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C665&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":112890,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/hong-kong-property-buyers-fall-in-love-with-malaysias-penang-and-stars-like-aaron-kwok-agree\/","url_meta":{"origin":27379,"position":1},"title":"Hong Kong property buyers fall in love with Malaysia\u2019s Penang and stars like Aaron Kwok agree","date":"December 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Hong Kong house buyers are looking around the Malaysian state of Penang, attracted by lower prices, regular flights and cheaper cost of living. 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\nJudging from Oiduts House, the advantages to thinking outside of the box when it comes to considering properties as a potential home can be great. Good design is key, says Des, for \u201cfrom that everything else will flow naturally.\u201d And once the renovation is complete, \u201cyou\u2019ll get a great satisfaction from doing something special and unique.\u201d
\nRead next: Meet the Thai designer making rubbish beautiful
\n
\nSource : property-report.com
\nRead more…How a dilapidated Penang shophouse became a dream second home<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"