1070 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, MONTROSE

Mornings here don’t start with traffic. They begin with sunbeams glimmering through the trees, rare gang-gang cockatoos calling somewhere beyond the garden and, if you’re lucky, a wallaby moving quietly through the undergrowth. Above, a family of wedge-tailed eagles soar, while the horizon stretches across the Yarra Valley towards Toolangi, Kinglake, Melba Pass and Mount St Leonard. Set on approximately 1.46 acres at the very edge of Montrose, where the Tourist Road gives way to Kalorama and State Forest becomes your rear neighbour, this is a home that feels less like an address and more like an exhale. Cathartic in every sense, it invites you to slow down, breathe deeper and let nature reset the pace.

North-facing windows draw beautiful natural light across the interiors and frame the treetops beyond, with partial double glazing adding a cocoon of comfort. The open-plan kitchen and meals area has been designed for connection, with a Coonara wood fire, breakfast bench and built-in dining seating creating a relaxed, communal space for unhurried mornings, shared dinners and friends lingering while you cook.