Don’t let the front of this NC home fool you. It’s ‘a wow house’ and up for sale.

Visitors who enter John Garle and Lisa David’s 2,481-square-foot west Charlotte home might think they’re traveling through time.

Traditional in the front, and modern in the back.

“I’ve had other unique houses, but this by far is the most unique home I’ve ever dealt with,” their Realtor, Mickey Gold, told the Observer on Friday.

The Wilmore house is located at 1825 Merriman Ave. and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, Gold said.

Although Garle and David fell in love with their home when they bought it in 2019 for $590,000, the couple is now putting it on the market for someone else to enjoy.

“We bought that house and just really enjoyed it,” Garle told the Observer on Friday.

Interested buyers will have to shell out at least $750,000, a 27% increase from 2019.

The modern style back of John Garle’s and Lisa David’s 2,481-square-foot west Charlotte home, which is selling for $750,000.
The modern style back of John Garle’s and Lisa David’s 2,481-square-foot west Charlotte home, which is selling for $750,000.

Australian architecture

The front of the home blends in with the other neighboring, traditional 1970s-looking houses in historic Wilmore.

The back and inside of the two-story home features Australian art, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, concrete and oak wood floors, a black waterfall island and an overall modern aesthetic.

The previous homeowners hired Australian architect Maria Gigney and Height Design to renovate and expand the back of the house. Because of the foreign architectural influence, Garle, who’s also Australian, said David always referred to their home as the “Australian house.”

“As soon as I walked in the door, I felt that it was very similar to what Europe had been doing,” Garle said. “We’d also been doing this in Australia for over the last 10 to 20 years.”

People in America commonly call this type of house a “mullet house” because of how much the front and back of the home differ. Garle said it’s not called a mullet house in Australia, and instead they’re called “blighted boarding houses.”

“I had a mullet when I lived in Australia, but that’s not the true name,” he said.

The home was built in 1945, but Gold said the back and the interior make it appear as if the home was built in 2018.

When Gold initially toured the home, he said he told Garle and David that he didn’t think they were at the right place because the front didn’t look like a half-million-dollar residence.

“We walked in and it became like a ‘wow house,’ because it’s totally not what you expect,” Gold said.

The living room of John Garle’s and Lisa David’s 2,481-square-foot west Charlotte home, which they’re selling for $750,000 dollars.
The living room of John Garle’s and Lisa David’s 2,481-square-foot west Charlotte home, which they’re selling for $750,000 dollars.

Why live in Wilmore?

Because people are migrating toward uptown Charlotte, Gold said the inexpensive housing in Wilmore has become more desirable.

In 1970, the house sold for $9,500, according to listing records. The sale price went up to $190,000 in 2016.

Garle said David had been looking at houses in Wilmore for years, but they didn’t move there because their daughters didn’t want to live in that area and leave their schools.

A couple years later, after both daughters “left the nest,” the couple decided to move to Wilmore.

“We loved it because we could walk the dogs,” Garle said. “It was a very walkable neighborhood.”

Next: Mountain living

Garle and David have lived in Charlotte for 14 years, but their time in the Queen City will come to an end when they move to their other home in Chimney Rock, about 80 miles west of Charlotte in Rutherford County.

Garle said they had been spending more time in the Chimney Rock area, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic because they could work remotely.

David recently retired from her commercial property management job. Garle will still have to travel to Charlotte one to three days a week to manage his company, Boomerang Signs LLC.

The two used to go to their Chimney Rock home on the weekends, but now they’ll be living there permanently.

“Mountains on the weekend, and city living during the week,” Garle said.