The Sell: Wallabies star Michael Hooper upgrades to stunning $6.75m North Curl Curl house
Michael Hooper has paid $6.75 million for a luxury North Curl Curl home overlooking Curl Curl Lagoon, marking a significant property upgrade for the former Wallabies captain.
Retired Wallabies rugby captain Michael Hooper and wife Kate have upgraded homes on the Northern Beaches.
They have sold their Manly home of five years and made the move to something larger at North Curl Curl, paying $6.75m for a home overlooking Curl Curl Lagoon and the ocean.
The four-bedroom home was architecturally designed by ROAR in 2017 with walls of glass.
It is crowned by a clear-span living and entertaining zone across the entire top floor that includes a designer marble island kitchen with a built-in-six-seat dining table, a Smeg induction cooktop, two Miele wall ovens and a Vintec wine fridge.
Its rear sunset deck comes with a built-in barbecue and a park-side deck. Its level rear lawn comes with a heated mineral pool on the 320sq m block.
The median house price in North Curl Curl is $3,732,500, down 1.5 per cent in the last 12 months based off 40 sales, according to PropTrack.
Larger houses, however, have fared much better, with the median four-bedroom house up over 20 per cent annually, based on a tighter 13 sales to $4.4m.
The couple sold their former Manly home off market for $3.9m. They had updated the four-bedroom Federation semi after paying $2,655,000 in 2020.
The buyer has recently put the Carlton St house up for lease for $2500 a week, reflecting a 3.3 per cent yield for its new owner.
Hooper, 34, who was born in Collaroy, was capped 125 times for the Wallabies before retiring from international competition in 2024. In his junior days, he played for the Manly Roos, and at St Pius X College.
The forward started professional rugby at the Brumbies in 2010, before joining the Waratahs two years later.
This year, he played eight games in Japan Rugby League One for Toyota Verblitz.
JINGLE SOME OF THE WAY AS SELLERS TRY TO OFFLOAD
Securing sales of stale listings before Christmas – or soon in the new year – is the seasonal priority of leading stay-at-home estate agents.
The priciest longtime house offering is the Rose Bay foreshore home offered by Lawrence Myers and his wife Sylvia. They sought $90m-plus when the home with 1000sq m internal space was listed in May.
A sale could be close for Myers, given The Sell spotted an indiscrete Instagram posting by buyers’ agent Simon Cohen that fleetingly identified his midweek attendance at the property that remains listed with Bradley Pillinger.
Lawrence Myers, who heads James Packer’s family office Consolidated Press Holdings, is off with Sylvia to the $80m Crown Resorts, Barangaroo penthouse.
The Myers had overpaid when they bought Bayview Hill House from retailer Brett Blundy for $43m in 2018, albeit with vendor financing.
Cohen also posted his same-day attendance at the Seven Shillings Beach, Point Piper, house of the late innerspring mattress pioneer Lionel Warat. It hit the market with $80m-plus hopes in March through estate agent Ben Collier, and sits in second place on the year’s unsold list.
The 1524sq m holding was listed for the first time in six decades.
Venture capitalist Alexandra Jakob recently relisted her Point Piper home with $60m-plus hopes, having hit the market in September last year through Black Diamondz with ambitious $100m guidance.
The five-bedroom, six-bathroom Wolseley Rd house is being offered through Colliers agent Oliver Stillman following Jakob’s late-2024 engagement to Jingle Loans co-founder Michael Burn.
The fourth-placed longtime offering, the nearby Point Piper beachfront home of surgeon Bill Roney and his wife Sara, finally found its buyer late last month at just $37m, down on its $60m hopes.
There are whispers it has been sold to a construction big-wig. The Roneys are off to TopSpring’s much-delayed Ode, Double Bay complex.
The top Sydney house sale so far this year was a Rose Bay waterfront that sold for $82.5m in October. The modern eight-bedroom, 10-bathroom Tivoli Ave house was sold by developers Orazio and Yolanda Camuglia. A five-bedroom, six-bathroom Coolong Rd, Vaucluse home was sold by the Moss family in September for $60m-plus.
The next known priciest was the $59m deceased estate sale in Bellevue Hill by the Nock and Kirby hardware family. It has been bought by neighbour Gretel Packer, who is presumably keen on view preservation, ease of access and avoiding potential neighbourhood overdevelopment.
A Vaucluse Rd, Vaucluse, owned by 98-year-old philanthropist Isaac Wakil, sold for $55m-plus. Its buyer is reputedly a childcare king.
Then there was the hilltop Point Piper mansion of Retail Apparel Group co-founder Stephen Liebowitz and his wife Pam selling for $55m, ahead of their relocation to Ode, Double Bay.
TESOLIN CHALLENGES FAIR TRADING SUSPENSION FOR UNDERQUOTING
NSW Fair Trading has issued former Ray White estate agent Josh Tesolin with a supplementary show-cause notice, while suspending his licence for a further 120 days from Friday.
Tesolin has until late January 2026 to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken.
“NSW Fair Trading has determined that Mr Tesolin may have engaged in incidences of underquoting and breaching the rules of conduct in relation to the offering a commission incentivising scheme,” a NSW Fair Trading department spokesperson said.
“The show-cause notice further alleges that Mr Tesolin was carrying on the business of a real estate agent when his licence was suspended.”
Tesolin, whose suspension started in August, recently put his Bella Vista abode up for $1700 a week rental. “Up to now, I have remained silent, putting my faith in the process and the regulatory system, but yesterday it became clear to me that there will be no fairness for me from NSW Fair Trading,” Tesolin said.
“The constant leaking to the media about me and the aggressive way Fair Trading are dealing with this investigation highlights the animus they display towards me. They have already decided my case … they are just dragging it out to run up my legal costs, so our next step is the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal because I will fight this to the very end.”
Elsewhere, Fair Trading’s crackdown on agent underquoting has led to “please-explain” notices being issued to 25 agencies, with one property showing a 150 per cent difference. Fair Trading also issued 50 caution letters. A further 15 agencies are under investigation as part of Operation Sunlight.
But Tim McKibbin, the boss of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, has accused Fair Trading investigators of acting “inappropriately” and making “unreasonable demands”.
The Minns government is set to increase penalties from $22,000 to $110,000, or three times the agent’s commission.
BRONCOS’ MENTOR BUYS IN BRISBANE
NRL legend Trent Barrett has bought in Brisbane after making the switch to the Broncos’ coaching panel and assisting Michael Maguire in the glamour club’s 2025 premiership win.
Barrett has shelled out for a $1.6m apartment in Milton, an inner riverfront suburb in the sunshine state capital.
His off-market purchase of the three-bedroom apartment in the Coronation Residences, which was developed in 2006, came amid the relocation of his family on the Illawarra coast.
His wife Kylie has sold their former coastal Barrack Point abode for $6.16m and bought inland at Kiama.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom Hamptons-style new-build had been listed in 2023 with $7.5m hopes.
The couple had secured the 757sq m building block in 2021, paying $1,764,000 and then obtaining building approval for a $770,000 dream home. The recent $2.72m Kiama buy secured a seven-bedroom family home.
The 1990s-built residence which sits on 3150sq m was marketed as a “seaside Highlands dream countryside oasis with endless possibilities”.
The couple previously resided on the northern beaches when Barrett was coaching the Sea Eagles. They sold the Freshwater home for $4.25m in 2023, having paid $2.41m in 2015.
Barrett retired as a player after the 2010 NRL season, following a 15-season career with the Illawarra Steelers, St George Illawarra, Wigan in the English Super League and the Cronulla Sharks.
He told SEN 1170 Breakfast post-season that he had desire to be a head coach again, having felt the Manly and Canterbury-Bankstown coaching roles were both “false starts” for him.
ROTHESAY COMPOUND BUYING SPREE
Adani Group chief financial officer “Robbie” Jugeshinder Singh and his wife, hedge-fund operative Marijana Domazet, have added to their expansive Rothesay, Bellevue Hill, compound.
They have quietly secured four of the six apartments in Highbury, the neighbouring battle-axe complex off New South Head Rd.
Costing $12.4m thus far, the most expensive was when Walkley Foundation chief executive Shona Martyn secured $3.34m last month. It had last sold in 2005 for $795,000.
Earlier this year, the low-key couple bought an entire neighbouring apartment block for $11.06m, built on one of the three lots subdivided in the 1930s from the Rothesay tennis court.
Rothesay, the five-bedroom Victorian Italianate villa on 2008sq m, cost $37m in 2022.
The Cranbrook Rd house dates back to the 1880s.
The couple secured approval last year from Woollahra Council for a $27m redevelopment of the home.
The plans, by Smart Design Studio, propose a “restoration of Rothesay to its former grandeur”, removing later additions that “somewhat crowd the original building fabric and detract from a clear reading of the original building form”.
The couple’s plans following the recent neighbouring apartment acquisitions are still not known.
APARTMENT SALE A FINE ART
The vibrant McMahons Point home that remains full of handpainted murals by the late Leo Burnett advertising stalwart, Susie Henry has been sold for $1,151,000 through Raine & Horne.
The one bedroom Blues Point Rd apartment has been a popular Airbnb since vendor Stephanie McMilan bought it in 2022 for $960,000 after Henry’s death in 2021.
The 69 sqm space has balcony views of Berrys Bay.
$6.45M SALE BREAKS RECORD
A $6.45m record price has been set at Bankstown.
The six-bedroom, five-bathroom Fenwick St home on 888sq m of local tradesman Terry Nachabe has gone under offer to a local family.
The four-level home was built around two decades ago with city skyline views.
It has a skylight with a 9.8m tall crystal chandelier.
The previous record was set next door with a $3.55m sale in late 2022.
THE RACE IS ON FOR CIRCUIT
Pheasant Wood Circuit, a Marulan landholding with a Motorsport Australia licensed circuit, has been listed for sale by entrepreneur Steve Shelley, with $10m plus hopes.
The 60ha property includes a 1.6km track, with a race control tower, garages, workshops, administrative offices and a commercial cafeteria.
It was initially the project of Garry and Natalie Willmington in the early 1990s.
Got a property news tip? Email jonathan.chancellor@news.com.au
Originally published as The Sell: Wallabies star Michael Hooper upgrades to stunning $6.75m North Curl Curl house
Ley cancels summer holidays
