Sydney’s rich listers: Summer renovations revealed
We all like our home to be looking at its best during summer. But this is taking things to the next level. These are the summer renovation plans of Sydney’s rich and famous.
Wentworth Courier
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A new year calls for a fresh look but while most of us are considering some new throw cushions or a lick of paint, Sydney’s rich listers have something slightly different in mind.
Take a glimpse at how the other half lives in this round up of the renovation plans of some of Sydney’s wealthiest.
ANTHONY HALAS
When your father is the founder of iconic swimwear brand Seafolly, of course the pool is a big priority.
Anthony Halas has lodged a $3.2 million development application with Woollahra Council to remodel and add to his sprawling Watsons Bay home on the exclusive Pacific Street.
The application also calls to reshape the swimming pool and undertake landscaping works.
Mr Halas was CEO and the major shareholder of the brand for two decades.
His holocaust survivor father Peter founded Seafolly in 1975.
Mr Halas bought the Watsons Bay home from NutriBullet founder Colin Sapire.
The renovations have been designed by one the east’s most respected architects, Luigi Rosselli.
JOHN AND LARA NESTEL
With six gorgeous kids it’s no wonder the Nestels need to expand the nest.
John, a partner at internationally renowned law and professional services firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and his wife Lara have submitted plans to Northern Beaches Council for a $1.72 million renovation of their family home.
The proposal for the beachfront home on Monash Crescent in Clontarf includes the relocations of a number of walls and windows as well as demolishing the roof level to accommodate a new storey.
Neighbours will be happy to hear the remodelled five bedroom home will still be well within the area’s 8.5m height limit standing at just 7.3m.
“The new building envelope is unlikely to cause significant overshadowing or loss of privacy to nearby properties. The proposal is also unlikely to significantly affect outlook or views from surrounding properties and the public domain,” the documents before council read.
BRAD LANCKEN
Over on Australia’s wealthiest street, where many of the neighbours measure their wealth in billions rather than millions, the renovation requests are coming in thick and fast.
Former Seven executive Brad Lancken, who purchased the home from Seven’s Bruce McWilliam for $9 million last year, wants to shell out $267,000 for a new pool at his enviable Wolseley Road address.
“Materials have been selected for their natural properties with limestone as the proposed pool coping entertainment and resuscitation areas, to compliment the house and enhance the amenity of the property and surrounding softscapes,” the documents before Woollahra Council read.
“The swimming pool will be a magnesium mineral based system which has been recommended and selected as it is more sympathetic to the environment.”
In addition to the 5.3m x 2.8m pool, the proposal also calls to replace windows and doors to the home and re-landscape the yard.
JAMES MAYO
Still on billionaires’ row, home to the likes of Westfield’s Frank Lowy and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, why would you slum it with simply one sauna when you can have two?
Mayo Hardware director James Mayo has lodged $507,000 plans with council which encompass not only the two steam rooms (one in the house and the other in the boat shed) as well as a new spa, multiple fireplaces, an alfresco kitchen, a skylight as well as a general remodel.
With enviable views over Lady Martin’s Beach, no one can blame the Mayo clan for wanting to make the most of the outdoor spaces of their $36 million home.
While the home itself is not heritage listed, the site spills onto the beach which is considered to be a heritage item and this is taken into account in the extensive plans.
According to the documents before council, the glamorous refurb: “contributes to the social welfare of particular members of the community by providing a more liveable dwelling environment”.
DONELLA AND QUINTIN FREEMAN
Elsewhere in Point Piper on Wyuna Road, preparations are underway for another remodel starring a wine cellar.
Mr Quintin, the managing director of corporate advisory and private investment firm Freeman Capital, has spared no expense with a generous $678,000 renovation designed by Tanner Kibble Denton Architects.
Highlights include converting the laundry into the wine cellar, a new art room, building an extension complete with additional bedroom and ensuite which opens onto the garden with French doors and an outdoor bathroom adjoining the pool.
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