Despite having all the right ingredients – proximity to the city and the Yarra, as well as some nice period housing – Spotswood has taken a little longer than other inner-western postcodes to shake off its traditional reputation as an industrial suburb. It's a tiny precinct tucked into a pocket between the Westgate Freeway, the Yarra River and the Sunbury train line, with just over a thousand dwellings and a couple of thousand residents. It is better known as the location of Scienceworks Museum, built on the site of the old Spotswood Pumping Station, and other big industrial facilities, such as the ACI Glass Factory. The 1992 movie Spotswood, starring Ben Mendelson, Toni Colette and Anthony Hopkins, both celebrated and entrenched the industrial character of the suburb. But, along with much of the inner west, the times are now changing for Spotswood. Many of the old factories are coming down to make way for swanky new apartment developments, the original Edwardians and Californian Bungalows are being done up, and the shopping strip along Hudsons Road has become a mecca for café aficionados. It's a shift that Bill McTehan, the former mayor of Hobsons Bay and agent with Barlow McEwan Tribe, is excited about. "The revitalisation of the Hudson Street shopping strip is really showing how the suburb is turning around," he says. Younger professionals are starting to see the value, Mr McTehan says, with median prices $100,000 lower than that of neighbouring Yarraville. "And you've got great proximity to the city via the Westgate Freeway and Spotswood station." Young families also are moving into the good-sized homes on surprisingly quiet streets, despite the presence of the Westgate Bridge and Freeway to the north. McTehan says a new childcare centre will augment the two local schools Spotswood Primary and St Margaret Mary's Catholic Primary School. "The whole place is transforming," he says. "Even the Spotswood Hotel, which was once a strip joint, has become a family hotel." Locals like Spotswood residents are spoiled for choice in the shopping village along Hudsons Road, with a brace of great cafes opening in the strip over the past few years. Mies Coffee Bar serves St Ali coffee, alongside Chase Café, Candied Bakery and long-time favourite Duchess of Spotswood. Best addresses The west side of Melbourne Road is quiet and residential, with Hudsons Road and The Avenue boasting big blocks and some lovely original homes alongside newer townhouse developments. However, there are some residential streets like Robb and Raleigh on the east side in amongst the traditional industrial areas that have a cosy village feel. 43a Reed Street $840,000-$890,000 4 bed 2 bath 2 car This designer property represents the new guard of glossy, modern houses emerging in the transformed Spotswood. With its soaring ceilings, and both a front lounge – just like the floor plans of its more traditional neighbouring Edwardians and California bungalows – and a rear, open-plan living room, the house has the volume and flexibility for a growing family. Multiple living spaces are a hallmark of this three-bedroom townhouse. The house opens straight into a lounge with expanses of Tasmanian-oak floorboards, and the stairs to the upper level, which is dedicated to sleeping. The garage also provides access into the front living area. Upstairs, the main bedroom is to the right of the landing, which also offers another living zone or teen's retreat. The main bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe to an ensuite. Two more bedrooms, each with built-in robes, share a central bathroom on this level. The floorplan allows for a fourth bedroom. The study option – or guest quarters – is tucked on the ground level, just before the open-plan living, kitchen and dining unfolds. This sweeping area unfolds to the undercover entertainment area and landscaped gardens. Plush carpets, video intercom and a 2000-litre water tank rounds off the list of mod-cons. Room for improvement Imagine how an outdoor kitchen would elevate the already appealing undercover entertainment area. 7 Hope Street $540,000 - $580,000 2 bed 1 bath 0 car This is a little gem of a house right in the middle of Spotswood – you could almost make a run for the train as you hear it coming into the station, and Spotswood's increasingly lively Hudsons Road shopping strip is just around the corner. A single-fronted Victorian brick terrace, there's not a whole lot to it – two bedrooms at the front, followed by a central living room, from which runs a bathroom one way and a kitchen and meals area the other, and a small yard at the back. But every space has been used cleverly and tastefully and the home has a warm artistic style – from the beautifully planted front garden, private enough to take breakfast on the front porch, to the nicely-proportioned bedrooms, with built-in-robes either side of the fireplaces, the dark wooden floors, the Victorian detailing, the cosy sitting room and the clawfoot bath in the bathroom. The second bedroom has a particularly lovely aspect over a row of flowering camellias in the side garden. The west-facing backyard, with its covered pergola and vegetation, would be a lovely retreat on a sunny afternoon. This home would suit a young couple or small family who value its location and style. Room for improvement: The kitchen and bathroom could do with some updating, but everything is in good working order and both rooms have a character you wouldn't want to erase completely with shiny new fittings and surfaces. Domain
