The dogs on Plateau Drive know the owner of 11 Plateau Drive.
On his daily walks, Lino is excitedly approached by his neighbours four-legged friends, as they pull their owners towards him for a pat.
His neighbours stop to chat and the local kids wave hello, turning Lino’s simple strolls into an unhurried journey through a neighbourhood that he has called home for 42 years.
There are other familiar faces: possums, wallabies, koalas and an echidna whose little nose prints keep appearing in his garden.
When he bought the house in June 1984, Lino purchased books on birds and mammals to identify the wildlife around him.
“I wanted to be in the forest,” he said.
“You come home and it’s like you’re in the country almost. It’s just so peaceful. It’s serene.”
That connection to nature extends beyond his backyard, with the entrance to Springwood Conservation Park about 100m from the house.
“I walk in there every day,” Lino said.
But more than just the wildlife and bushland, the house holds something far more personal and memorable.
“I enjoyed everything about raising my son in this house,” Lino said.
“That’s one of the things that I find I enjoyed here the most — raising my son in this house.”
As a single father, he watched his son grow up surrounded by neighbourhood friends, with afternoons spent swimming in the backyard pool while Lino cooked.
“It was a great area to raise him. Even on my own, I managed,” he said.
“His friends would come over. There’s a pool and I’d cook for them.”
Over four decades, the house has changed almost as much as Springwood itself.
Lino has remodelled it three times, stripping away dated pine interiors and archways, opening up the kitchen and introducing spotted gum timber features crafted by a longtime carpenter friend.
He also combined two smaller bedrooms to create a main bedroom with an ensuite and walk-in wardrobe, before building another bedroom on part of the deck.
Much of the work was undertaken with the help of his carpenter friend, a man he worked alongside for years and who continues to help him around the property.
“We’re friends and we’ll always be friends,” Lino said.
“I help him. He helps me. That’s the way it goes.”
Today, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house includes a sunken lounge, fireplace, high ceilings and an outdoor kitchen overlooking the pool and surrounding greenery.
Selling agent Pragya Ojha from LJ Hooker said the split-level house offered a retreat from suburbia, despite being close to schools, shops and transport.
She likened it to a holiday house where “you don’t feel like checking out”.
Outside, Lino remembers a Springwood before major shopping centres and busy intersections, when roads still had dirt shoulders.
Yet amid all that change, the neighbourhood has retained its warmth and personality.
“I say hello to everybody. Everyone says hello to me,” he said.
“I’m going to miss all of that.”
After undergoing cancer treatment, Lino is preparing for a sea change and a fresh chapter in his life.
But leaving the neighbours, wildlife and the house he spent decades shaping will not be easy.
“I’m sorry to leave this house because I put so much into this house,” he said.
“It was meant to be mine for all these years.
“But now it’s time for somebody else to just enjoy living in this type of an environment that really makes you feel peaceful.”
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