Take a deep breath. This House of the Week in Toorak is a beauty

42 Heyington Place, Toorak
$9 million-plus
4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms 4 car spaces
Expressions of interest closing at 5pm, on November 28
Inspect on Saturday from 11am-11.30am
Kay & Burton, ​Gowan Stubbings 0412 269 999

There are certain parts of Toorak where you can feel as if you might be able to shoehorn yourself into the suburb if you were content to live in a shoebox. Luxury. There are others that are completely, otherworldly unattainable unless you strike Clampett-like reserves of oil beyond the garden rockery.

This truly divine arts and crafts home does not quite reach the rarefied air of the absolute top, top end of town but you’ll still need plenty of oxygen up this high.

The facade, with its timber shingle-clad first floor brings the charm, while the tree trunk-thick entrance beams bring the handsome heft. It might be delightfully pretty, but it’s no fey chocolate box; these beauties were built to last.

The house has a very fine floor plan – these places often do – the family, dining and kitchen wing angling across off the main entry to create an elegant flow. Ducking even sharper right, behind the stairs, you’ll find a powder room that wouldn’t look out of place in an enchanted tree.

This wonderful section boasts some of the most gorgeous oversized bay windows you’re ever likely to see; beautiful, generous panes that provide a perfect frame for the gardens running verdantly beyond.

The urbane kitchen has marble trim and includes a butler’s pantry. Combined with the deeply lovely floors and the light flooding in from those casements, this whole wing, incorporating a fine dining room and large family area, is one of the most appealing we’ve seen all year.

Across to the left of the entry you’ll find superb coffered timber ceilings. These brilliant beauties continue across the top of the formal living room that also offers a splendid fireplace and garden views.

The central sitting room with its sublime window and magenta floral wallpaper might be our favourite. Delightful.

Up the impressive stair you’ll find four bedrooms spreading across the generous footprint. Two on the garden side are split by a shared marble-trim en suite, while another further afield has use of the excellent central bathroom.

Then there’s the main suite at the far end of this level. It’s a super retreat – elegant, light and large, with treetop views and an en suite you might want to camp out in.

When you get back downstairs and plunge out into the garden you’re rewarded with plenty of paving to entertain your lucky guests, a swimming pool and lush lawns framed by perimeter privacy planting. We almost forgot the downstairs study – not so big an oversight – just another glorious room in a glorious house.

The late Stuart Rattle designed the beautiful interiors here. It was his final commission.

Room for improvement: Relocating the laundry from upstairs to down is a no-brainer.

Need to know: Last traded for $1.65 million, May 1994. Highest recorded house price for Toorak (past 12 months) $24,099,999 for 4 Robertson Street, June 2016. Recent sales: $9,020,000 for 12 St Georges Road, in November 2016; $3.18 million for 226 Williams Road, in November 2016, and $2,591,000 for 747 Malvern Road, in October 2016