From alcoholic mum to building her dream home

A GOLD Coast woman who once had an alcohol addiction has turned her life around to ultimately build her “dream home”.

Burleigh Waters mum-of-two Justine Whitchurch hit rock bottom in 2011 — she was living in Melbourne at the time and relied heavily on alcohol.

“I couldn’t see three feet in front of me,” she said.

“At one point I had an emergency trip to the hospital and I was non-responsive.

“All of the assessments were ‘if you keep going you’ve got months to live’.”

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20 Curlew Crescent, Burleigh Waters.

Her parents intervened and she was put into rehabilitation back on the Gold Coast.

Fast forward to 2019 and Ms Whitchurch took ownership of her parents’ Burleigh Waters investment property. It was also her childhood home.

“The Gold Coast holds a lot of emotional significance for me because I moved back to be with family and to go into rehab,” she said.

“Burleigh in itself was an integral part of my healing journey and key to getting well.”

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20 Curlew Crescent, Burleigh Waters.

Now a fitness coach, author, speaker and panellist, Ms Whitchurch advocates for health and fitness and in particular sobriety.

She mentors women nationally and designs programs to help them gain control of their lives.

“My aim is to show people the path out of alcohol addiction and living without alcohol based on a healthy and fit lifestyle,” she said.

In August, 2021, Ms Whitchurch knocked down her childhood home to make way for a new four-bedroom four-bathroom house.

“I have really fond memories of being a kid and being in that part of Burleigh and having my own dream home on that block in the same location is a pinch me moment,” she said.

The two-storey residence at 20 Curlew Cres, Burleigh Waters was completed in September, 2022 and offers a string of living zones, pool, entertaining area, office and butler’s pantry.

It has high ceilings and features white and grey tones paired with dark timber floors and sleek black finishes.

“I was used to living in period style homes in Melbourne and I wanted something traditional,” she said.

“This build has basically got a touch of Melbourne on the Gold Coast.”

“The house itself is full of light and space but at the same time it’s really warm with the floorboards and the colours,” she said.

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20 Curlew Crescent, Burleigh Waters.

Ms Whitchurch has decided to take the property to auction next month.

“If there is anything that can be said to where I am now is you can turn things around,” she said.

“For me that was clearly removing alcohol completely from my life.

“That gave me capacity to be able to build on my career, build on myself, and ultimately build my dream home.”

The property goes under the hammer on June 2 through Kollosche Broadbeach’s Rob Lamb.

According to the latest PropTrack Home Price Index, national home prices continued to stabilise in April after rising for the fourth consecutive month, rising 0.14 per cent.

The cumulative increase in 2023 is now 0.75 per cent.

Strong migration, tight rental markets and limited supply are offsetting the impact of rapid interest rate rises.

Article source: Queensland Property Investor