An oasis of tranquillity lies below the steep driveway and beyond the unobtrusive garage doors that keep Sunrise star David Koch's dream home a secret hideaway for his family and friends.

When you finally enter the minimalist yet welcoming property on Sydney's northern beaches, it's like stepping into a tropical paradise, despite the winter chill. Stairs lead down to a long walkway fringed by lush foliage and a small pool. Through the windows there are glimpses of blue - hinting at the view of the Pacific Ocean and a stretch of golden sand that the Koch clan call their backyard.

'Perfect sunny days are magical, but even when big storms are battering the house it has a real enchantment about it,' Kochie, 52, says. 'We just love it.'

Indeed the TV presenter is like a proud father as he gives New Idea a tour of his home, which he and wife Libby moved into last year and which he regards as the fulfilment of a life-long dream.

The perfect family home

The house has a main one-bedroom property and the children's rooms have access outside. It was designed to cater for empty nesters - those whose kids have left home but who return, sometimes with their own offspring, to stay. For Kochie and Libby, it's proved perfect. But it's almost too tempting for their four children.

Right now it's the full-time home of their daughters 25-year-old Brianna, who is engaged to be married, and 19-year-old Georgie, who was thrilled to spot a whale and her calf cavorting in the seas below the house when she returned from backpacking at the end of last year's whale season.

And David and Libby's only son A.J., 22, will spend time there when he returns from studying in Mexico.

To top it all off, their oldest daughter Samantha, 28, is also visiting with her nine-month-old daughter Matilda, David and Libby's first grandchild. Sam returned from Vietnam, where she lives with her husband Toby, to launch Women's Guide to Going it Alone, a financial and life guide for divorced women she co-wrote with her mum.

And although she's only stayed briefly on this visit, she's already nervous that Matilda's besotted grandfather might not be able to say his goodbyes.

'Matilda has totally stolen her grandpa's heart,' Sam says. 'He feeds her, baths her and plays with her - he's just not very good at dressing her and doing up the little buttons.'
Sam jokes that soon after Matilda was born, she had to tell Grandpa she wanted her daughter back.

Kochie bonded deeply with his granddaughter from the day she was born, because his daughter and their new family lived at home for seven months before moving to Vietnam.

'Dad was devastated when we left. But we'll come back every three months or so for a visit - or else Mum and Dad will kill me,' Samantha laughs.

Kochie's the first to tell people he's head over heels in love with little Matilda.

'She is just gorgeous,' he says, admitting that the blonde poppet loves grabbing his glasses. 'It reminds you of what life is all about - family and simple things.'

Kochie's sea change

Simplicity was part of the reason for Kochie and Libby's move to this house. It was love at first sight when Libby found it, perched on a cliff above one of Sydney's most inaccessible and beautiful beaches.

'It had everything we wanted, plus the view and access to the beach - and it wasn't that far from the city,' Libby says.

'And it was small, which we wanted. We're very relaxed, laidback sort of people, and this is a laidback sort of house.'

It may be in a dress circle location, but the dream home retains a simple elegance after Libby's redecoration. Cornices were ripped out and walls replastered. Pendant lights were replaced with concealed lighting and a ‘ghastly' fake fireplace was scrapped.

Throughout the home white walls add to the feeling of space and light.

'We like not-too-fussy,' explains Libby, who loves sharing their home with a family of water dragons that sun themselves in the garden and a sea eagle that nests near the clifftop home. 'This home is all about enjoying yourself.'

Kochie agrees. 'I knew I'd like the move from Sydney's north shore, but I didn't realise just how much. I can't believe what a difference it's made to us. I love sitting on the deck and watching the whales go by,' he says. 'It's basically a sea change.'

By Phillip Koch
Pictures: Cliff Kent