Ask homeowner Mike to walk you through 6–8 Hillview Crescent and the tour quickly becomes a map of eight years of family memories.
At the front is the poinciana whose red flowers first caught his and wife Meg’s attention in 2018.
Around the back is the 12m heated pool where their grandchildren spent long summer days, before retreating to the covered in-ground spa to warm up.
Further down, a bush track winds towards the seasonal creek, past the places where wallabies linger, echidnas dig and dozens of children once scattered through the trees in search of hidden treasure.
“It gives you a sense of peace and calm,” Mike said.
The 1.25-acre Bahrs Scrub property has become something of a private resort for the family.
Friends visiting over the years have asked the same question.
“Why would you go on holiday? You’re already on holiday,” Mike said.
For the grandchildren, that resort came with its own traditions.
At 7pm, Mike would sometimes tell them midnight was approaching.
Ten minutes later, with lights glowing beneath the spa water, they would be granted one final “midnight swim”.
“They think it’s midnight,” he said.
Another birthday turned the bushland into a giant treasure hunt for about 40 children, stretching from the creekside camping area to the upper paddock.
“They ran off, disappeared,” Mike said.
“It was all natural. It was all being in the bush and a treasure hunt at the same time.”
Mike and Meg have also extensively renovated the property, replacing flooring, installing plantation shutters, updating the Hampton-style kitchen and bathrooms and completely renovating the detached guest cottage.
That cottage offers space for extended family, adult children or potentially rental accommodation, while two separate living rooms inside the main house give different generations room to retreat.
Despite the acreage setting, Mike said schools, shops, public transport and the M1 remained close.
“We’re very, very central, yet when you’re out my back door … you think you’re far away,” he said.
Now the grandchildren are busier, the children have lives of their own and the sprawling property has become more space than Mike and Meg need.
So, after eight years, they are preparing to hand their collection of pools, paths, paddocks and the poinciana, whose red flowers catch the eye from the end of the street, to a new family to fill with new memories.
“It’s a bit of magic,” Mike said.
“It’s natural habitat. It’s not manufactured.
“I can stay here, but I think it’s time for someone else to enjoy it.”
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