Queensland's smelliest house undergoes multi-million dollar transformation

It was the house most residents tried to forget, but now there’s no ignoring one Paddington residence – the renovated gem in central Brisbane that went from a hoarders utopia to a multi-million dollar family home.

Builder brothers Rob and Andrew Gray purchased the 600sqm Paddington property on 38 Plunkett Street for $838,000 and in just seven months transformed it into a striking modern dwelling, with an added value of at least $2 million.

But it wasn’t an easy feat.

The purchase price of the property, nicknamed “Hoarder House” by residents, included the masses of “junk” that had been piling up for years.

“I was shocked when I first walked inside – I could barely get through the door with all the rubbish in the way,” Rob Gray said.

It took the removal of the wall lining to finally kill the “unbearable” smell.

“The smell lingered for about the first two months, but after we got the skin of the place out, it disappeared that same day,” he said.

The Gray Construction siblings said they never doubted the “potential” of the house, even amid the rotting walls and broken windows.

“I have worked on a few places similar in the past – and this house always looked to me like it had some potential,” he said.

“Building a new house [from scratch] is a good feeling. But being what it was [Hoarder House] and changing it, is probably better."

Today, it boasts 3.6 metre high ceilings, a lap pool and sprawling views of the city – the quintessential modern-day Queenslander.

“There wasn’t a day that we weren’t busy working on the place, but it’s all worth it and we are happy with the result,” he said.

The once dilapidated house has now earned itself a much more befitting moniker - the “Hillview House”.