The Sell: Ben Hunt’s NRL change complete with sale of home; Windfall for Edwina Bartholomew’s $1.57m for Woollahra apartment
Ex-Dragon Ben Hunt has removed his last ties to Sydney after his move back to the Brisbane Broncos, offloading his home in the Shire.
NSW
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Sunrise TV presenter Edwina Bartholomew has secured a windfall gain from her Woollahra investment apartment.
She secured a $1.57m buyer for the top-floor Ocean St apartment which came with $1.35m price guidance.
Bartholomew paid $660,000 in 2009.
The two-bedroom apartment, near Wallis St, recently underwent a cosmetic upgrade, including marble splashback and new bathroom
It had been rented out for between $900 and $1000 per week.
“I’m sad to see it go,” Bartholomew advised on the listing, saying she was selling to invest in a “mammoth” renovation with her husband, Neil Varcoe.
The apartment was where she resided for eight years before moving to a three-bedroom 1870s Dulwich Hill terrace that cost Bartholomew and Varcoe $1.59m in 2017.
The couple who married in 2018 renovated the Dulwich Hill property before selling for another windfall in 2023 at $2.58m.
That renovated 1870s brick house came with initial cautious $2m hopes, which were then raised to $2.1m.
The couple, parents to two children, commissioned Bartholomew’s childhood friend Felicity Slattery from interior design firm Studio Esteta to undertake the extensive makeover.
The Woollahra proceeds will be invested into their boutique hotel project, Saltash Farm at Carcoar, in NSW’s Central West.
Their $1m Carcoar purchase was for some 8500sq m on Naylor St, with a hotel premises dating back to the 1840s.
The Studio Esteta-designed update will be undertaken in stages. They hope it will become a destination hotel, events and accommodation venue, 3½ hours from Sydney.
The couple also run $600-a-night Warramba, a luxury farm stay in Glen Alice, in the Central West.
HUNT’S CHANGEOVER COMPLETE AS SYDNEY HOME IS OFFLOADED
NRL Brisbane Broncos star recruit Ben Hunt and his nutritionist wife Bridget have snappily sold their former Sydney home for $2.35m, having headed back to Queensland.
The couple’s Caringbah South home had been bought for $1.61m in late 2018.
Designed in the Queenslander style, the five-bedroom, two-bathroom home allows parking underneath on its 866sq m block.
The open plan kitchen, living and dining area opens to a covered deck and landscaped yard.
The 2010-built home was sold on Thursday, Easter eve, by MattBlak Property agent Blake Spooner who was initially guiding $2.2m when it was listed in late March.
It was on the market for 22 days, much quicker that the 63 days median time on market, that PropTrack calculates from the 56 house sales of the past 12 months.
PropTrack puts the median house price at $2,298,500, up 3 per cent annually, with rent of $1280 a week reflecting a 3 per cent annual yield.
Hunt’s Bruce Ave cul-de-sac home was briefly listed for rent earlier this year, seeking $1400 a week through Katrina Strodaha of MattBlak Property.
The Rockhampton-born player made the move to the Brisbane Broncos for the 2025 season, where he has played all six games as five-eighth.
His buyers’ agent and former NRL player Matt Srama recently told realestate.com.au that the Hunts have been renting on the southern Gold Coast while looking to purchase.
There has been no recent registered purchase in Queensland, although Hunt does own a property north of the border, at Bridgeman Downs, which was bought in 2013 during his first stint at the Broncos.
Last year the Hunt family secured an acreage in Newrybar, outside of Byron in the Ballina Shire, paying $2.7m.
DESIGNERS CASH IN ON BEAUTY
Design duo Mitch and Mark have sold their newly renovated Newport beach house for $3,702,000. The marketing campaign by Josephine Cowling and Kylie Segedin at LJ Hooker Mona Vale attracted 5915 page views on realestate.com.au.
The North Shore buyers fell in love with the home after two inspections before making their offer on Thursday.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be handing over the keys for this wonderful property,” said Mitch.
GRAND LISTING FOR GRUNDY
The White Horse Inn, the 1830s Berrima premises, has been listed by the executers of the estate of actor Joy Chambers-Grundy and her late husband, media mogul Reg Grundy.
Set on a 5,583sq m parcel, the Market Place property has operated as an inn, a bank, and a residence over time.
It has been listed by Angus Campbell-Jones at Campbell Jones Property in conjunction with Inglis Rural agent Liam Griffiths.
HEFTY SUM FOR CRONULLA GEM
The Cavanagh yacht brokerage family are whispered to be the $22.5m buyers of the Cronulla waterfront home of Allen and Nicole Sammut.
Set on three levels, the 2014-built three-bedroom, four-bathroom Taloombi St house sold pre-auction earlier this month having come with $20m-plus guidance through Highland Property.
There is a boathouse with portholes on its beach.
Got a property news tip? Email jonathan.chancellor@news.com.au
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Originally published as The Sell: Ben Hunt’s NRL change complete with sale of home; Windfall for Edwina Bartholomew’s $1.57m for Woollahra apartment
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