The Sell: Liam Hemsworth’s building project for Byron Bay home
Hot on the heels of Chris Hemsworth’s massive multimillion-dollar home renovation project in Byron Bay, little brother Liam also has building plans in the area — but on a more modest scale.
NSW
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Hollywood heart-throb Liam Hemsworth has building plans for his private Byron Bay estate. Nothing as grand as his big brother Chris, but the next task is constructing a yoga studio.
Just 58sqm, but the cabana will sit idyllically beside an artificial dam with day beds and a built-in barbecue on its decking. There will be a wharf that extends over the water, the Harley Graham Architects plan reveals.
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It’s set to cost just $138,000 and should take around two months to construct in a small valley on the 35ha Broken Head property that the family company CHLH Management bought last September for $4.25 million.
The company director remains just Chris Hemsworth, but the company names suggest brother Luke holds an interest.
Council approvals were nearly not required, but its floor space and height are slightly above automated permits. There’s no plans for any grand homestead, but the application does suggest the brothers have been busy constructing a horse arena on the former cattle farm.
The Hemsworth family took to Byron in 2014, when Chris and wife Elsa Pataky spent $7 million on Kooeloah, the Balinese-style trophy home they demolished to make way for their modern mansion. Their project was estimated to have cost $8.8m.
All up the family have spent $17 million buying property around Byron.
Liam and Gabbriella Brooks, who have been dating for seven months, have been resident at Byron through much of the pandemic.
With additional reporting by Joel Robinson
AVIATRIX KENNARD OFFLOADS FAMILY MITTAGONG ESTATE
Gaby Kennard, who became the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world, has sold her longtime Mittagong estate.
There has been an internal family transfer, with son Sam, the managing director of Kennard Storage, and his wife Claire securing the 86ha holding for $5.25 million.
Sam has long owned a neighbouring 13ha which had been sliced off the family estate.
Gabby Kennard spends most of her time at Bangalow, after selling her Woolloomooloo apartment in 2017.
Her epic journey, following Amelia Earhart’s route as much as possible, took 99 days in 1989 in a single-engined Piper Saratoga. Neville Kennard, who transformed the family company, and was married to the famous aviatrix, died in 2012.
CRANSTON ON THE MOVE BUT STAYS IN SHIRE
Former ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston has undertaken a downsize in the Sutherland Shire, with a move from Menai to Gymea.
Cranston and wife Gloria have secured $1.3 million for their long-time Menai abode, where they had been living since the late 1980s.
It was the five-bedroom home where they brought up their children, Adam and Lauren, who were charged in May 2017 with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth.
Michael was cleared of any wrongdoing in the $100 million Plutus Payroll fraud, that continues to hang over the siblings with their defended upcoming court hearings.
The 40-year ATO veteran has spent $732,500 on a garden apartment at Gymea, without any required mortgage financing. The vendors of the 2007 apartment initially sought $750,000 to $825,000.
Cranston joined Waterhouse Lawyers in 2019 as a tax consultant and has since been made a partner.
BAILEY BUYS BACK IN THE HIGHLANDS
Celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey and his champion equestrian partner Michael Christie have quickly found their next Southern Highlands renovation project.
The duo have spent $1.225 million on a 23ha holding at Canyonleigh which features a ramshackle three-bedroom timber cottage.
They plan to redevelop the estate, including a Ralph Lauren-style two-level barn.
It is currently an organic orchard, fed by bore water 3km in from the Hume Motorway, just past the Belango turn-off.
The purchase follows last month’s $3.5 million-plus sale of their 12ha estate at nearby High Range, Wide Acre, which found its next owner in five days through Belle agent Di Dickson. Bailey, who opened a salon in Bowral in 2015, bought Wide Acre for $2.05 million in 2016.
The couple had planned to get married at the property with 200 guests in March, but had to cancel due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
STAR ABODE SHOOTS OFF THE MARKET
Star casino chief Matt Bekier and his wife Melinda snappily sold their seven-bedroom, five-bathroom Vaucluse home mid-week.
It had been listed with a $7.5 million to $8.2 million guide by Raine & Horne agent Samuel Schumann.
It seems it happened so quickly the agency hadn’t quite updated the open for inspection web notifications, so hopeful attendees were still turning up yesterday.
The three-level house last traded in 2012 for $4.05 million when sold by former rugby league player-turned hotelier Steve Bowden.
The home was bought shortly after Bekier departed Tabcorp, where he was CFO.
Fairview’s prior owners include art dealer Marlene Antico.
It now comes with $667,000 approved plans from Weir Phillips Architects that would see a top-floor redesign, accessed by a spiral staircase as well as a lift.
The Bekier’s have owned a beachfront house at Callala Beach on Jervis Bay since 2014 that cost $1.1 million.
REAP THE REWARDS OF CHEF’S MOVE TO THE HIGHLANDS
The commute from Sydney to the Southern Highlands must have become too much for chef Brigid Kennedy and her farmer husband Kevin Nott.
The pair, who have used their Rozelle home as their Sydney base for eight years, have listed it for sale with expectations of $2.1 million.
The couple own The Loch in Berrima, a working farm that offers boutique accommodation and a restaurant for Sunday dining.
Kennedy is the chef and Nott is a farmer and landscaper who manages Loch Farm Stall, the farm gardens for their paddock-to-plate restaurant, The Tasting Room.
Their Roser St home is a two-storey property; the top level is a three-bedroom, three-bathroom place in which they live when they are in Sydney.
The lower level is a separate self-contained one-bedroom apartment with a study that is currently leased for $500 a week, an option agent Lynsey Kemp of Belle Property Balmain hopes will set the home apart.
“(Brigid and Kevin) have been spending more and more time in Berrima so it’s a situation where they don’t need their Sydney base any more,” Kennedy said.
“It’s a beautiful double-fronted home in a central location, but a big feature of it is that it offers the flexibility to keep the lower level leased to provide an income, or convert it into a big family home.”
Kennedy adds this flexible option which allowed them to lease the lower level of their home has been a financial boon over the years.
“Having a stylish self-contained apartment is a financial-drought proofer with either a permanent tenant or a more lucrative Airbnb arrangement,” Kennedy said.
“It’s very appealing, especially so close to town.”
An August 29 auction is planned.
HERE’S A HOUSE WITH PLENTY OF VIEWS
A Balmain property built for entertaining is one of the most viewed homes in NSW this week, according to realestate.com.au.
From outside the High St property looks like a simple cottage, but inside it opens up with living areas that flow out onto an entertaining deck and pool area.
It is for sale through Ray White Balmain with a price guide of $3.5m.
Agent Benjamin Martin said the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house was built two years ago.
“There was an old cottage on the land and the vendor pretty much knocked it down and rebuilt this home from the ground up,” he said.
“They love to entertain so they made sure it was a house designed with that in mind. The kitchen and pool area in particular reflect this.”
Another popular feature of the home is that is was built to maximise the natural light.
Across Sydney in the eastern suburbs a five-bedroom house in Paddington also proved popular on realestate.com.au, attracting around 50 groups to inspect it in one week.
Marion Badeoch, of Richardson and Wrench Double Bay, said the home was a unique find for the Paddington area. “There’s a real lack of four- and five-bedroom homes in that pocket of Paddington so that has attracted a lot of interest,” she said of the home that has drawn interest from expats living in Singapore, Shanghai and Britain.
“It also offers a real flexible living arrangement so appeals to families with older children.”
The Stephen St home will go to auction on August 19 with a price guide of $6m.
Originally published as The Sell: Liam Hemsworth’s building project for Byron Bay home