Dream homes: See inside these stunning celeb properties

Australia has plenty of celebrity-owned homes. Take a look inside two Aussie stunners here, and find out why Real Estate Editor Tom Bowden is not having a bar of one of them.

Homes owned by celebrities. Gotta love ’em. Or do you?

152 Donnelly Road, Kyneton, Vic

I’ve been a big fan of Aussie actor Margot Robbie for a while now – I thought she was great in The Wolf of Wall St, captivating in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and a lot of fun in Suicide Squad.

I never got around to seeing her acclaimed performance in I, Tonya, which is a bummer, because, being a huge fan of Bert Newton’s Good Morning Australia back in the day, and regularly watching Healthy, Wealthy and Wise with my mum and Nanna (don’t you judge me, don’t you dare judge me!) I used to enjoy catching up on what the nation’s queen of craft Tonya Todman had been up to that week.

Self-described Australia’s Queen of Craft Tonia Todman, at home making a quilt – something I’m sure we’ve all done.

Wait up. Sorry, I’ve got my wires crossed. Turns out I, Tonya tells the story of American figure skater Tonya Harding, who was banned from the sport for life in 1994 after becoming embroiled in controversy when her ex-husband orchestrated an attack on her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. Harding pleaded guilty to attempting to hinder his prosecution and, as a result, was forbidden from competing professionally until she either dies or pegs it, whichever comes first.

The film has nothing to do with Todman at all, whose name, as it turns out, is actually spelt Tonia. I should really pay more attention to these things.

Pretty as a picture. I mean, obviously I’d pull out all those trees and put in a dirt bike track. Obviously …

Who is sitting in those hallway chairs to read a book?

That rug really ties the room together.

Not sure I’m entirely sold on those chair coverings. I mean, part of me likes them, and then part of me is like: “Yikes!”

Sweet kitchen, but given this home’s isolation, you’d probably want double the wine storage …

Anyway, Todman owns this 152 Donnelly Rd, Kyneton home, and, if I’m honest, it’s altogether quite lovely. As you’d kind of expect, given its owner’s credentials. I mean, you don’t get known as the “queen of craft” by being terrible at it.

Although, maybe you do. I went to school with a girl who had the nickname “Stobie” because one day she rode her bike into a pole, so maybe Todman’s not as great as she seems. No, Tom, that’s crazy talk. She’s the real deal.

That’s a lot of brown.

Check out Todman’s YouTube channel to find out how you can create that striking flower arrangement at home. And then do yourself a favour and check out one of the most amazing soundtrack songs of all time. Click here to hear the sweet track

Yeah, I’m 198cm tall, so, looking at the foot of that bed, here’s to insomnia, I guess …

What’s that bench for? Do people sit there waiting for me to get out so they can have their turn in the shower? Do I even know these people? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that. I mean, it’s not an immediate “no”, but it’s not an immediate yes either. I might need some time to think about this one.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, this place is sweet. Set on a sprawling 4.05ha estate, the elegantly reimagined 1910 Edwardian home has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, formal and informal living spaces, a library and a studio, which, I assume, is where she penned her contributions to Australian Vogue and Australian Women’s Weekly over the years.

Whichever way you look at it, you can’t deny it’s an impressive resume.

It’s just a shame she threw that all away by getting mixed up in that business with her ex-husband and isn’t allowed to skate anymore. Oh hang on, I’m getting confused again.

Anyway, while you look at these pretty pictures, I’m going to kick back with a glass of scotch and watch Margot Robbie continue her winning streak in I, Tonia, in which she electrifyingly decoupages a river rock, shows you eight ways to hack an ice-cube tray, and upcycles a lampshade. Giddy up.

– $2.9m to $3.1m

Seeing as you made it this far (and bless you for that!) here’s a Dream Home from the vault:

96 Crohamhurst Rd, Crohamhurst, Queensland

I made a discovery the other day. Each Saturday, a group of women do yoga in the park over my back fence. Now I’m not going to dwell on that for too long in these pages lest people think I’m a pervert, but it was great to see these women out there using the park for fitness and pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

The downside to that is that I had to find somewhere else to crack my bull whip. If you’ve never cracked one, you should. It’s a lot of fun and it’s fantastic cardio. But you do need a bit of space for it, and you find fairly quickly it’s an activity a bunch of lycrad-up women stretching on colourful mats get in the way of. And that’s the precise reason I’m not having a bar of this place.

Owned by swimming legend Lisa Curry, this place has been not only her family home, but run as a prominent wellness retreat. And that, for me, presents a problem. Because with these sorts of things, as much as you can try to let everyone know that your business has closed or moved, there are always some who don’t get the memo.

No wonder Lisa Curry crushed it in the pool, she’s secretly a crustacean. Actually scratch that, turns out she just played one on The Masked Singer. Easy mistake to make.

Public birthing classes – hard pass.

Curry: “I don’t know what’s going on. You’ve been using the weights room unsupervised for 24 weeks now and I see no gains whatsoever. I’m just not seeing any improvement.”
Me: “No improvement, huh? Grab a table tennis paddle and prepare to be dazzled.”

Any livestock with half a brain would just go through that bit where a gate should be. Either that or, you know, just go around it. Who the hell built this fence?

Were the clouds edited out of the sky or edited into the pool? Question everything. Wake up sheeple.

I’m not sure if this is a cubby house, a garden shed or a granny flat. Either way it’s better than my whole house.

That happened to me once. A clothing shop I used to visit infrequently closed down and I hadn’t been made aware of this. So I rock up one day, walk in and the shop assistant immediately asks if she can help me (pet peeve of mine – don’t greet me the second I walk in the door, let me get comfortable first …) and I say “Oh no, thanks very much, but I’m just here for a look.” To which she replied: “I’m sorry, but this is a female-only fitness centre, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

So yeah, great property, but a risky move for me to buy it. I enjoy my privacy. I don’t want to be sitting back, Springsteen on the turntable, glass of Lagavulin in hand one minute, and then the next having to get on the hose to shoo away a bunch of CWA ladies rolling out yoga mats because they forgot to check their spam folder.

Price not disclosed