The gardens at 3 Obeah Court, Lysterfield, were designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist Scott Wynd, with the owners estimating they would cost $1m to recreate. A Lysterfield mansion with a gard...
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The gardens at 3 Obeah Court, Lysterfield, were designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist Scott Wynd, with the owners estimating they would cost $1m to recreate.
A Lysterfield mansion with a garden its owner says would cost $1m to recreate has passed in at auction, with negotiations continuing.
The six-bedroom home at 3 Obeah Crt, which had a $3.59m reserve, went under the hammer on Saturday after 16 years in the Koch family.
Ray White Ferntree Gully agent Ben Thomas confirmed the property had passed in and negotiations were under way.
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International Christian speaker and preacher Susanna Koch and her husband Markus, who helped establish Brighton Beach Church, bought the property after learning they were expecting a fourth child.
Mr Koch said they had been raising three teenagers in Rowville when their circumstances changed.
“My wife sat me down and said, ‘We need to talk’,” Mr Koch said.
“We had three kids aged 14, 16 and 18, and we suddenly needed a lot more space.”
The family knew of Carrington Estate but had not seriously considered moving there until they inspected the house.
While the property offered the space they needed, the backyard was unfinished, with three enormous mounds of soil.
But an unexpected connection to their Christian faith caught their attention during the inspection.
A Lysterfield home’s garden would cost $1m to recreate.
At the time, the Kochs attended CityLife Church in Melbourne’s southeast.
The previous owners were also members of the church, something the couple discovered after Mrs Koch recognised several people in photographs displayed around the house.
“And they had a board up with a psalm on it,” Mr Koch said.
The couple bought the property in February 2010 and began considering how to transform its sprawling backyard.
A stonemason spent four weeks assembling feature walls using sandstone quarried from the property itself, adding a distinctive touch to the Lysterfield home.
Melbourne landscape designer Scott Wynd was eventually commissioned to create the garden, following his success at London’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Mr Wynd designed the Trailfinders Australian Garden, which won gold at the prestigious event in 2010.
“We brought in a few landscape architects, but Scott had a vision and a unique way of working with the land,” Mr Koch said.
The landscaping was designed in 2012 and took nine months to complete.
About 700 trees, shrubs and bushes were planted across the 5011sq m block, creating secluded sitting areas, landscaped terraces and a swimming pool.
A large feature tree beside the pool is illuminated at night, while an elevated sitting area overlooks the surrounding estate.
The 64-square residence has four separate living areas, allowing the Koch family’s children to spread out as they grew older.
Mr Koch said the garden took years to reach its present condition.
“It took nine months from design to completion, and then years to look like it does now,” he said.
“You couldn’t replicate it. It would cost $1 million to replace this garden now.”
For the Koch family, however, the grounds have been worth more than their estimated replacement cost.
Over the years, the property has hosted birthdays, family celebrations and church gatherings, with the couple regularly welcoming members of their Christian community.
The Kochs bought the six-bedroom home in 2010 after learning they were expecting a fourth child, seeking more space for their growing family.
Mr Koch said the home had comfortably accommodated as many as 100 guests, with its indoor and outdoor entertaining areas allowing visitors to spread out.
“We’ve had 100 people here and it’s easy, inside and out,” he said.
Inside, the 64-square house features sandstone walls built from rock quarried on the property itself.
A stonemason spent weeks laying the stone by hand, while a self-contained wing with its own entrance and garage provided additional accommodation for the growing family.
The 5011sq m property features several secluded outdoor retreats, with the extensive landscaping taking nine months to complete and years to mature.
But Mr Koch said it was the tranquillity of the grounds he would miss most.
“It’s totally peaceful. All you hear are birds,” he said.
With three of their four children having moved out, the couple spent several years coming to terms with the prospect of leaving.
They now plan to downsize closer to the beach and Brighton Beach Church, which they helped establish.
Markus and Susanna Koch have hosted celebrations and church gatherings of up to 100 people at the Lysterfield property, which they have called home for 16 years.
Mr Koch said he hoped the next owners would enjoy the same sense of peace and belonging that his family had experienced.
“We would love to hand it over to someone that would experience that same peace … and ultimately a connection with God,” he said.
Ray White Ferntree Gully agent Ben Thomas is handling the sale, with the property scheduled for auction at 3.30pm on Saturday, October 24.
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