When Pippa and her family moved into their historic Toorak Gardens home three and a half years ago, it had all the makings of a forever home.
With a swimming pool, a tennis court and the home’s character charm, the 1800-square-metre property was ideal for Pippa, her husband and their four sporty daughters.
“It’s a beautiful historic home which appealed to me because I love heritage architecture and features,” says Pippa, who is director of JooJu Coffee and a recruitment advisor at MURRA Partners.
“I love the mix of beautiful heritage architecture with contemporary styling. It just ticked all the boxes for us.”
The character-filled home was designed in 1913 by Frederick Krichauff who lived at the property for about 30 years.
The three subsequent owners who preceded Pippa and her family all lived at the Toorak Gardens property for similar lengths of time.
Pippa and her family had also planned to live in the home for decades, but an upcoming move interstate has changed their plans.
“We thought we were going to be here forever too, so we bought this house with that sort of view in mind … and we’ve renovated it as if we were going to be here forever,” Pippa says.
“I’m quite sad that we won’t be staying.”
The house has come to be known as Treetops, a named coined by the granddaughter of the property’s second owner who could not pronounce the home’s original name, Krichauff.
“It was a funny story because (that same) granddaughter came to babysit my girls … and we had a great chat about all of the interesting and beautiful things about the house and the really fond memories she had,” Pippa says.
“A lot of people we know spent time in the property in that era of the house. Many people have come up to me over the years and said: ‘Pippa, thank goodness your walls can’t talk’.
“It’s been a house that’s had lots of parties, lots of tennis days, lots of laughter and lots of family time since it was built.”
Pippa and her husband started renovating as soon as they moved in. Pippa reshaped the front garden herself, keeping it structured and formal while giving it a contemporary spin.
The kitchen was recently renovated and Pippa’s main focus was to maintain the original charm and character of the space.
“It was a bit tricky because we were working with beautiful old cabinetry and gorgeous character-filled spaces,” Pippa says.
“We didn’t want to change any of those things, but we wanted to turn the home into something more relevant for a 2025 lifestyle, for a family with lots of children and who likes to entertain.”
The newly renovated kitchen is now Pippa’s favourite feature of the home, particularly for the pale pink AGA oven.
Originally invented in Sweden over a century ago, the cast-iron ovens are designed to stay on so they can gently heat the home.
“I really am obsessed with this oven and now I’m always going to have to have one,” Pippa says.
“I think having such a special piece like that in the kitchen really fosters a sense of family time and entertaining.
“It’s my dream kitchen, so hopefully it can be someone else’s dream kitchen too.”
Although their family didn’t get to live at the address as long as they had hoped, Pippa feels lucky to have lived there.
“There really has been a sense of feeling as though we had a responsibility to improve the property while maintaining its integrity,” Pippa says.
“This house will still be standing well into the future, way beyond my lifetime and we were just a part of the journey and the story of this house.”
The sale of 353 Portrush Road, Toorak Gardens, is being handled by Sally Cameron and James Campbell of Toop + Toop.
