A classic at heart

Long before Nana Huchy reached its current success, it was simply a dream of two sisters.

‘We didn’t have any goals,’ Lucy says, laughing. ‘People talk about business plans, but there was none of that, which is kind of cool.’

Their venture into business started with the handbags Lucy’s sister, Hannah, found in Vietnam. Then it developed into embroidered linen pieces. Then a couple of vintage-style dolls that ‘just went absolutely berserk’. The toys took hold, and Lucy followed the momentum.

Which, if you know Lucy, isn’t surprising.

‘I’ve always loved toys, because I love kids,’ she says. ‘People joke that I should have been a maternity nurse!’

Her family, especially, had always recognised that passion.

‘Whenever my grandma went overseas, she would bring me back a doll from each country,’ Lucy remembers. In Year 12, Lucy even wrote a play about toys coming to life. ‘Toy Story copied me,’ she quips.

And then there’s her love of styles that last.

‘I just love old things. I love the patina in something that’s old,’ she says. ‘If they’ve stood the test of time, then they’re obviously good.’

Classic. Tactile. Timeless. It’s a philosophy that extends well beyond the toys she makes.

Love at first sight

When Lucy’s husband, Craig, first cut the listing for 334 Orrong Road out of the newspaper, she wasn’t convinced.

‘He said, “Can you go and see this tomorrow? I think it’s our house.” And I was like, “Oh, really? We literally just finished a house; can we have a minute to enjoy it?”’

But they went anyway. And walked into what was, at the time, a rambling boarding house.

‘You couldn’t get into it properly due to the amount of stuff they had everywhere. It was purple and pink walls, shag pile carpets and crazy floral wallpaper,’ she remembers. ‘It was a Gary Peer listing, with the subject line renovate or detonate.

‘But it had good bones.’

Three boarders lived out the back. The kitchen was loud in every possible way. The fence was falling apart. But Lucy could see it.

‘I’d grown up in a house like this, so I could visualise what it was going to be like once we worked our magic,’ she says. ‘And I couldn’t imagine a better place for us to raise our family.’

They bought it the following weekend.

 

 

The long renovation

If you think the transformation happened overnight, think again.

‘We went to our limit on the finances,’ Lucy says. ‘So we had to live here with the 70s wallpaper, no heating and no oven for two years. Did you know you can cook a birthday cake in a barbecue?’

They tackled it in stages – what she calls a ‘deluxe reno’ first, simply to make it liveable. The bigger structural changes came later.

And it was a full family affair. Craig took six months off work to do the grunt work. Lucy managed the build and ordered all the materials. There are even photos of their two young boys, Jack and Albie, hammers in hand, helping out as well.

‘The guy at Home Hardware talked about us to his friends at the pub – this girl came in and asked how to re-stump her house, and now she and her husband are just doing it!’ she recites, laughing. ‘And I was like, yep, that’s us.’

They lived in the house before redesigning it. Watched how the light moved. Noticed where they naturally gathered. And gradually, they made the place their own – while still honouring its traditional features.

‘When we finally finished the work and looked at the clean, white walls, bright, open space and the calmness we’d created, we couldn’t believe we had been living in chaos for so long.’

 

 

Where the business grew

Nana Huchy’s growth has been a steady climb since its inception. Which Lucy would credit, in part, to her ‘office’.

‘I started the business to have children,’ she says. ‘I wanted to work from home well before working from home was a thing.’

And at 334 Orrong, she could.

Unlike many makeshift work-from-home setups, Lucy has a proper office – north-facing and sun-drenched.

‘I sit at my desk just bathed in warm sun,’ she says. ‘Being here gives me the focus that I need.’

From this house, she can work uninterrupted for hours. Then pick it back up after dinner. Or once the boys are asleep.

‘In fact, many of Nana Huchy’s ideas were mapped out on the kitchen island between me, Craig and a bottle of wine,’ Lucy admits.

A home with soul

Step inside 334 Orrong, and you feel Lucy’s aesthetic instantly.

The cabinetry is real timber. The ensuite vanity was once a sideboard, now thoughtfully repurposed. Vintage rugs sit beneath feet that have run through these rooms for 15 years.

And then there are the blue gates.

‘I bought those before we even had this house,’ Lucy smiles. ‘I just thought, wow, these gates are amazing, I have to have them.’

Light shifts through the house all day. North-facing living in the morning. Afternoon glow in the bedrooms. Western sun spilling dramatically through the front of the home.

‘I’m a big lover of light,’ Lucy says. ‘Light makes me happy.’

Outside, there’s the pool, and the Moroccan-inspired bench seat her husband built beneath the apple tree for family and friends to lie on during a hot summer’s day.

‘When we gather around the pool, people always say they feel like they’re on holiday,’ she says. ‘Once you get beyond the gate, it’s like a compound. It’s hard to leave.’

 

 

Life on Orrong Road

Some of Lucy’s most significant life moments happened here. But one of the biggest?

‘Discovering I was pregnant with my second son, Albie,’ she says.

After a long IVF journey, she took a test in the kitchen – the heart of the home.

‘I thought it hadn’t worked,’ she recalls. ‘And Craig said, “Hang on – there’s a really, really faint line.”’

And so, Jack (their eldest) grew up here with his little brother among toy samples and renovation dust. Celebrating birthdays by the pool. Hosting Christmases under the grapevine. Jumping into piles of plush animals like a mosh pit.

And finding family in the homes just down the road.

‘Our neighbour’s amazing – she’s a really lovely lady,’ Lucy says. ‘And there’s a beautiful woman down the street who we love stopping to chat to, as well.’

The shops are just steps away. ‘You can send the kids down if you’ve run out of something at dinnertime. There’s Steve the bootmaker. The local bakery my husband visits for fresh bread in the mornings.’

To put it simply? ‘It’s a really nice community here,’ Lucy states. ‘I’m going to miss it.’

 

 

Why it’s time to step away

Now, the beach is calling.

‘We’re leaving to be closer to our kids’ friends from school,’ Lucy explains. ‘We’ve bought a house right by the beach – and we are very much beach people.’

There’s another renovation ahead. Another classic home waiting for their special touch.

But 334 Orrong is ready for its next chapter.

‘I think it’ll attract a young family,’ Lucy says. ‘Someone who loves entertaining.’

There’s nothing that needs doing – it works beautifully as it is. And yet, there’s still room to grow.

‘They could easily go up if they wanted more space,’ she notes. ‘But they can also just move in and enjoy it.’

Most of all, she hopes the next owners feel what she’s always felt here.

‘This home will give them happy days,’ she says. ‘I’m sure of that.’

 

 

Ready for a home with soul? This is your invitation. Check out 334 Orrong Road today, or browse our other current listings.