After I had finished my Archi Masters I was working for an architecture firm who also did a small amount of work for a volume builder. They were actually a pretty good quality builder and at least got the orientation of their 'pre-designed' plans correct. We had the ability to make minor changes to every job and it pained me to see so many simple to implement passive options not being incorporated. Had most of their clients known that they would be saving MONEY over the longterm by making a few minor changes to suit their site, they all would have done it. The problem is unless someone can sell this idea to them as a financial/lifestyle choice, many just think it is about saving the world. It is a no-brainer if you have in interest in it, but for those who don't know, there is no-one there selling it to them, especially on the lower end of the market.

@jazz jazz , Hi , first off from my point of view , I understand you about huntsmen , 46 yo male here and I'm poop scared of them !!! , my mate on the other hand will pick them up and relocate them to tree :) . I understand what you say too about the tram part that your house part is priority first. I was just curious to maybe finding out if you eventually planned to "show" the tram off , either family or friends might be interested in information about the tram that you can talk about , that was my main reason sort of for posting. Any information about it I can gladly pass on. Now about the Real Estate person saying 94 or 96 , if that meant the number then I could narrow it down. Number 294 is in South Aust. still in operative condition where as number 296 was sold off even before I was born so if anything remains of it in any shape I'd be surprised. Above the saloon door in top photo on the top arched frame , hard to see , and I don't know how to pin point it , is black numbering , if your saloon door area is intact , you will locate the car number there. On the front of the apron the number may be located too but your one has been painted on already and one can hardly expect another to scratch off a bit of paint to reveal a silly number :). As I do with everyone I more than respect privacy , but one other way I could possibly check on a number would be the property locale , generalised area as such like Ballarat or Bendigo , don 't like asking that though. I take it that it's in Vic , maybe country vic , if East I have a pic of number 260 at Noojee that was set up with a house in such manner. Other than that my mate likes beer and his ears pricked up when I read your post out to him. Good luck with it all , Green and Cream Color scheme if going for a historic look or Chocolate and Cream as those were the 2 Color schemes W class trams have had. Old Chap.

Well the challenge will be to make it un-boring. My initial thoughts on this were to place the house in such a way that it could have an alternative life in the future with another house on the block, and this looks like what the architects have done with their home. In this instance, if you place it well back on the block the potential is there for it to become a granny flat. Meanwhile you could create a lovely garden/outdoor living area leading to the house that would also give the house an air of mystery from the street. Look on it as creating your own little oasis. You can add soil, even bring in rocks to make the landscape more interesting. Study garden websites and magazines for ideas, check out local nurseries for what will grow best in your area - you are only going to be limited by your imagination. With property prices rising so dramatically in our cities, should you want to sell in the future you will be presenting a property as a blank canvas for a buyer to build their own home and have an income as well, making it a more attractive proposition to a small house plonked in the middle of the block that would need extensions/renovations to suit a family. Sorry, I'm not in Melbourne to help you any further with designers/builders.

Thanks to everyone for your fantastic answers and voting in this poll series. This was a tricky one and we'd like to congratulate Anne! Anne, please look forward to receiving an email shortly from the Houzz team. Don't worry if you missed out on the occasion, stay tuned for more competitions coming up. The Houzz team.