ONE of Bendigo's most uniquely built homes is up for sale.
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When Gavin Pavey and his partner bought their Bailes Street property in 1995, they set about removing the old cottage and built a new one using upcycled materials.
The home includes four bedrooms and two bathrooms and is for sale through Waller Reality.
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"The design has basically evolved out of necessity and opportunity," he said.
"We wanted a place that you could not plaster something that could take young boys growing up with all their friends that were going to have a robust time.
"The influence was stuff like Wuthering Heights, The Outlaw Josey Wales and even The Three Little Pigs.
"We wanted a grand manor feel but at the same time cozy cottage. People have asked us what style it is. It's just a grab of all sorts of stuff."
Mr Pavey said the design took several years to do as he and his partner Jill figured out how to place the building amid the large garden on the property.
"The design took a while because we had to marry in amongst a footprint of trees and then to be big enough to suit what we wanted," he said.
"There was a lot of there was a lot of building things out of shoe boxes that I would cut up and make little models with.
"Everyone who walks past or everyone who delivers pizza or (comes in) for any reason usually ends up with some form or tour."
Now, more than 20 years after its completion, Mr Pavey is preparing to farwell the family home.
"I'm the only one here. This house should have six kids running around it," he said. "My partner Jill passed away in 2016 and the kids had grown up and moved out and got their own places.
"It was designed to be a house full of life and fun and enjoyment, you know.
"Friday or Saturday nights and multiple other nights there was always anywhere up to 20 or 30 people here because the boys had all had their friends here.
"But now it's just me and the dog. It's essentially selfish, especially in today's world with housing shortages for one bloke to be taking up this much room."
With a price tag between $1.7 million and $1.8 million, along with it's unique design, Mr Pavey knows it won't suit everyone.
"It attracts attention. I call it the Mona Lisa. It's not what everyone might consider the best picture in the gallery but it's own particular type of artwork," he said.
"To an extent it's part of my identity. But Bob Dylan's got a line in a song of 'I'm an artist, I don't look back.' You move on to the next thing.
"Because of the uniqueness of the property and the the price point, there's only going to be a certain amount of people. There's been there's been a few through."
Mr Pavey is already looking ahead to a new project.
"I'm on to my next project, which I have already got and am going to look at working on," he said. "I'm going to live in it for a little bit to get a feel for it because it's an old weatherboard.
"What I'd really like to do is put a bulldozer through that as well and build a place out of formed concrete - not just gray - I want to mix a red in so it's got a rustic color and make it all environmentally right."