House of the week: You'll wish you lived here

7 Victor Avenue, Kew
$3 million-plus
4 bedrooms,3 bathrooms, 2 car spaces
Auction 10.30am Saturday, May 28
Inspect on Saturday, 1.15pm-1.45pm
James Tostevin, Marshall White 0417 003 333

Remember watching American TV shows as a kid and thinking, “Wow, wish I could live there!”

Those places always seemed so big, so handsome, so comfortably familial – you thought they were mansions, turns out they were just normal all-American homes.

Okay, so this is Melbourne, not Minneapolis, and this house is stately rather than showy, but you get the picture. It’s that family feel here, that brilliant space and configuration, that puts you in mind of those wonderful homes frozen in the golden glow of television.

What’s so lovely is the elegant, but easy atmosphere of the place. The handsome, elevated 1920s red brick is style always delightfully easy on the eye.

There are three rooms off the superb, substantial foyer, but linger at the entry for a moment and enjoy its sublime dimensions.

A study sits to the left with storage and a pretty window over the garden. Behind here is the intimate TV room – easily another bedroom if you wanted.

Across the way is the very fine formal living room, that sort of doubles as a divine little retreat. Here you get a fireplace, lovely large front windows and the singularly terrific feeling only a room of one’s own can give.

Beyond the stair to level one, we head out through those double doors and into the seriously impressive space of the rear open-plan section.

Out here, like most of the rest of this house, there’s no one outstanding feature. What you get is a consistently good set of rooms, a consistently affable feel and that wonderful languid space. We especially love the family room, with its fireplace and warm light. The kitchen across the way features Caesarstone benches, plenty of storage and preparation space. There’s a well-sited laundry and bathroom just beyond here too.

Beyond the banks of french doors that range both west and north side, you get a long paved area for al fresco entertainment, before a grassy terrace and sparkling swimming pool, all framed by the manicured private garden.

When you head upstairs the house spreads out to accommodate four bedrooms, three on the left and rear of the floor plan are all sizeable and share the large central bathroom as well as a separate powder room.

The main bedroom sitting to the front right here is a glorious room with a fabulous balcony that offers views over the east to the hills. A large walk in wardrobe bends around and ends at the en suite.

This is a terrific house – composed, handsome, family friendly – just like something you’d see on the TV.

Room for improvement: A touch more illumination in the en suite would be perfect. A skylight perhaps?

Need to know: Last traded for $871,000 in October 2004. Highest recorded house price for Kew (last 12 months) $11.65 million for 35 Sackville Street, in May 2015. Recent sales: $2,215,000 for 15 Rimington Avenue, in April 2016; $1.57 million for 74 Pakington Street, in April 2016, and $1,485,000 for 22 Hartington Street in March 2016.