Jesinta and Buddy Franklin exiting Sydney’s ‘rat race’ for ‘permanent holiday’ on Gold Coast

It’s their ticket out of Sydney’s “rat race”: Jesinta and Buddy Franklin stumbled on their Gold Coast dream home by accident, with Jesinta revealing their plans to relocate — and for life after the Swans.

As she headlines the biggest campaign of her modelling career, Jesinta Franklin has opened up about finding her ‘dream home’, family – and whether her husband, AFL star Buddy Franklin, will play on past 2023. Picture: Richard Dobson/The Daily Telegraph

Jesinta Franklin and Lance “Buddy” Franklin had been house hunting for a year when they found their dream home, but she calls their $9 million dollar purchase of a Hollywood Hills-style designer mansion on the Gold Coast hinterland as “a bit of an accident”.

“Our idea for the next two years was to buy a knockdown up there, and spend the next year building our dream house,” Franklin said.

“And we literally set one foot inside that house and we were like: This is it. It has everything we want.”

The Miss Universe Australia-turned-model, 31, and Swans athlete, 35, purchased the seven-bedroom property just days after they listed their Rose Bay home in Sydney with a $5 million to $5.5 million guide.

The house is cantilevered out from the hillside, with distinctive arches and uninterrupted views, as well as a parents’ retreat with a vaulted passageway to the ensuite and dressing room, a games room with a bar, swimming pool with a swim-up bar and podium, and a separate two-bedroom residence.

Jesinta and Buddy Franklin's seven-bedroom property easily ranks among the best of its kind on the Gold Coast. Picture: realestate.com.au

The $9 million trophy mansion was designed by Reece Keil Design and earlier this year and won the Gold Coast Master Builder’s Award for House of the Year. Picture: realestate.com.au

“My prerequisite for moving to the Gold Coast was lots of room to host all of our friends and family on the property too. So we can have everyone come stay with us because we really miss our friends, even though we go back and forth,” Franklin continued.

She has made no secret of her desire to return to live in her hometown with their kids Rocky, 1, and Tullulah, 2.

Jesinta Franklin at the launch of the new summer range by Seafolly. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We really want a more laid back lifestyle for the children, and the more we thought about it, Sydney just wasn’t able to provide that ease of living. It is a bit of a rat race here,” Franklin said. “Queensland feels like a permanent holiday”.

Speaking to Confidential at Seafolly’s first day of summer breakfast in Bondi, she added that they’ll retain a Sydney bolthole, and make the 55-minute commute by air for work.

Franklin is the new face of the global swimwear brand, fronting it in the US, through Europe, Asia, and, of course, at home in Australia.

Meanwhile, Buddy has signed on to play one more year for the Sydney Swans, but there are signs that it could well be the AFL star’s last.

Franklin added that she’ll be starting a new business venture with her husband in 2023 as they think about life “post-footy” and their “next chapter”.

The couple is set to enjoy a Christmas break with the entire extended Franklin clan in Perth, before they return for Buddy’s training in January.

“We’re not going to be up there permanently for a little while,” she said.

“But we are very excited to have more of a suburban family life.

“We can dip our feet back into city life in Sydney, because we’ll absolutely keep a base here for work. We’re really privileged to be able to do that.”