201 Murray Road, Preston VIC 3072

We’ve absolutely loved living here in this beautiful house, right amongst all of the best things that vibrant Preston has to offer. Since moving in almost eight years ago, we’ve put an enormous amount of work and love into turning our home into the wonderful, inviting family sanctuary that it is today.

The house has a range of surprisingly spacious family and quiet spaces, including a nice big bathroom, wide open kitchen, a laundry with loads of storage, and huge living area out the back. The 11ft ceilings throughout the entire house are something of a rarity and really create a lovely open airiness, and a period elegance filled with warm natural light. We have spent countless happy occasions in our rambling home. We love its simple polished floors and timeless white interior.  And there’s always been plenty of room to entertain even large groups of our family and friends. Everyone always seems to feel right at home here.

People often ask what it’s like to live on Murray Road, which can get busy from time to time. To be honest, once the gate of our big front fence is closed, the world outside feels very far away and the traffic noise blends into the background. In fact, building our front fence was one of the best things we ever did – it reduces street sound considerably, and the security it creates has provided us with a second private yard (in addition to our large backyard) for our children to play in and us to enjoy. It makes the house feel even bigger!

When we arrived here, there really wasn’t much of a garden to speak of. Our home now boasts one of the best established gardens in the street, canopied by the soaring Jacaranda out front and framed out back by prolific fragrant rosemary, a passionfruit vine and a huge olive tree. We’ve spent so many breakfasts, bar-be-ques and sunset dinners on our back deck overlooking the yard. It’s one of our great pleasures, and the kids love it.

Preston itself has also come a long way since we first arrived. Obviously, we have been absolutely spoilt by having the Preston Market so close by, with all its energy and colourful characters – popping down to our favourite deli, organic fruit & veg store and Italian cake and coffee shop has become our family’s Saturday ritual. But there’s also the amazingly vibrant strip of Asian restaurants, noodle joints and dumpling bars along High Street – so much to choose from and so cheap! And now there’s a new generation of hip venues – Dexter on High Street, Stray Neighbour and Racoon Bar on Plenty Road, and Pomona on Murray Road – it’s all so close.

And throw in the bus at your doorstep (multiple routes, including the cross-town Smart Bus), tram on Plenty Road in one direction, Preston train station in the other direction, and you realise that this location is so much more convenient than many people realise. We also go for bike rides right along the St Georges Rd bike path into Thornbury, Northcote and Fitzroy, which all feel like a stone’s throw away. And you can catch a movie or go shopping at Northland, pop down to Bunnings, or visit the Homemaker Centre – all under five minutes by car.

Preston feels like it’s booming – our friends say it’s the next Thornbury or Northcote and it certainly feels that way. We’re really going to miss living here, but we’ve created lots of happy memories in our wonderful Murray Road home. It’s been a pleasure living here.