28 years later: tropical home transformed into Bali-style family retreat

Local carpenter and builder Peter Van Wyk bought his Darwin home 28 years ago, and spent that time turning it from a humble family home into a true tropical retreat. The five-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 5 Norcock Pl, Rapid Creek, was originally a three-bedroom, one-bathroom property for Mr Van Wyk and his son. Over the years, the owner spent his free time working on the property, adding features such as a saltwater pool, Bali-style outdoor bathroom and an entire separate studio. The five-bedroom home at 5 Norcock Pl, Rapid Creek, is up for sale nearly three decades after its owner began turning it into a tropical family retreat. “I found it in the NT News, as a matter of fact,” Mr Van Wyk said, having spotted an ad in the now defunct Flagstaff Real Estate paper. “I fell in love with it because it was your typical elevated Rapid Creek home, surrounded by gardens and close to the beach … over the following decades I renovated it steadily while we lived here, and made it into a much bigger house.” The two-storey house is nestled within 1,010 sqm of land, hidden by tropical gardens in a cul-de-sac near the Rapid Creek Markets and local walking paths. Carpenter and builder Peter Van ...