Could you pass up the opportunity to live in an elegant period cottage, just a stroll from a vibrant little village?

1906: Poseidon wins the Melbourne Cup, King Edward VII is our monarch and the world’s first lifesaving club is established at Bondi. Meanwhile on Edenholme Road, an Italian builder, Emanuel Silva builds a row of six Federation cottages as display homes…

Welcome to Lillebo. Step over the threshold and you are in no doubt that this is a very special home. Your first impressions are how bright and airy it is. Sunlight pours down the wide hallway, illuminating the honey-coloured boards of Baltic pine and the timber filigree archway. The hallway leads through to a generous living room with traditional cast iron fireplace; a perfect place to curl up with a book and a red wine.

You’ll spend many evenings relaxing in the large period bathroom, with Brunswick green marble vanity. Lie back in the enormous clawfoot bath and watch the moonlight gleaming through gumnut blossoms in the original leadlight windows.

The owner is a Scandinavian-design addict and this is evident in the spacious kitchen and dining area, flooded with natural light. The sympathetic upgrade includes Brush Box hardwood flooring, and a blond timber kitchen with granite benchtops.

The attention to detail is exemplary, right down to the one off hand-made bespoke leadlight windows, featuring colours and patterns in keeping with the period.

And there’s still plenty of scope to make your mark, with possibly a third bedroom upstairs, or a car space out the front (STCA).

Lillebo Cottage is close to excellent public transport and just a one-minute stroll to a charming shopping village, with restaurants, delicatessens, and vibrant caf life.