Jamie Durie considers selling luxury Avalon mansion after unexpected offer

Celebrity landscaper and TV host Jamie Durie could be open to selling his luxurious Avalon mansion. But at what price would he give up the ‘dream home’ that was the subject of a docu-series.

Jamie Durie pictured at the BYD Event. Picture: Christian Gilies

It is a lifelong dream that took almost a decade to realise, yet Jamie Durie is already considering offloading his luxury waterside mansion.

The celebrity landscape designer and television host confirmed to The Daily Telegraph he had been offered more than $30 million for the Avalon property but wasn't actively seeking a buyer.

Durie has made headlines many times over recent years regarding the lavish multi-level mansion that looks like something out of the Hollywood Hills.

“We’ve spent 10 years planning and building our family home and we love it,” Durie said.

“We received an unexpected offer in the mid $30 million and are now warming to the idea of spending some time on our hobby farm with the kids while they are young.

“We have not listed or advertised the home but have asked McGrath to manage any off-market offers moving forward and we remain open minded either way, as we love living here.”

TV presenter and landscape designer Jamie Durie on the Sunshine Coast.

Durie, partner Ameka Jane and their two children, moved into the home in November after years of construction.

The $3 million design saw Durie pull down the original 1960s four-bedroom cottage and replace it with a six-bedroom home with a pool, gym and media room that he has described as “innovative, sympathetic and responsive to the topography of the site”.

He’d bought the 1010sqm building block in 2015 for $2.275m.

Durie secured his Byron Bay hinterland ‘hobby farm’ in 2023 for $3.625 million.

The highest local sale price has been $12.9m back in 2017, with several nearby vendors trying without success to achieve record prices.

Dial-A-Dump founder Ian Malouf paid the highest northern beaches price, when Anakela at Palm Beach was bought for $40m in 2022.

The road to moving into the mansion wasn’t easy for TV veteran Durie and his young family, who suffered many setbacks along the way.

Jamie Durie’s Avalon home on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Picture: Instagram

In December 2021, Durie was forced to downsize his plans after local opposition that included 50 objections from community members.

He called for major changes to the DA process at the time.

“I am not sure this system works,” he said.

“They are not professionals in the building industry or the environmental sector and they are allowed to publish and amplify their voice regardless of the authority behind the statement.”

Durie initially came under fire when his original plans, which included the removal of trees, were made public.

Then, Durie said there had been “a gross misunderstanding” due to a missing arborist’s report, which he said showed that some of the trees were weeds.

Jamie Durie’s Avalon home on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Picture: Instagram

Jamie Durie’s Avalon home on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Picture: Instagram

“Our objective was to create the most environmentally sound development in the area,” he said. “All rooftops are planted out with native vegetation and over 60 solar panels are to go on the building which will give the home the ability to be off the grid.”

He also hit a stumbling block when his local Northern Beaches Council disputed claims by the ecologist retained by the landscaper that his six-storey home would not impact shallow caves where colonies of endangered micro bats can roost.

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Originally published as Jamie Durie considers selling luxury Avalon mansion after unexpected offer