In the sometimes cut-throat world of real estate, one Sunshine property might have hedged out the competition.
Its owner has combined his love of gardening and zoo animals to create one of the suburb’s most eye-catching front yards.
And the property goes to auction this Saturday.
An Nguyen says her father Phuong’s hobby of lovingly trimming hedges into animals great and small is an effective stress reliever.
His home of the past two years, in Barnett Street, boasts a giraffe, elephant, emu and kangaroo out front, using different species of bonsai trees.
He’s created more than 70 different topiary animals in the past two decades, both in Sunshine and back in his native Vietnam.
“Hopefully, the new owner will love the garden that my parents have created,” Ms Nguyen said.
Phuong’s love of the outdoors began in his teenage years after he visited a family friend’s Vietnamese villa and its beautiful yards.
“From this inspiration, my father wanted his own garden with the combination of nature and wildlife,” Ms Nguyen said.
She reckons her dad is “not an artistic person … just an enthusiastic gardener and a zoo animal lover”.
Their previous home of 16 years, in Sunshine West, also left behind plenty of creations for its new owners, including a giant dinosaur in the front yard, a sitting giraffe, a kangaroo and an emu.
The Nguyens moved to Sunshine in 1995 after arriving as Vietnamese refugees.
