Packer’s ex’s dramatic $4.1m lifestyle change
Swimwear mogul Jodhi Meares is making a massive $4.1m change to her envious lifestyle.
Swimwear mogul Jodhi Meares seems set to be making a tree-change, trading Sydney Harbour for life in the hinterland Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.
The founder of Tigerlily, who is currently trying to sell her Watsons Bay fisherman’s cottage, has emerged as a $4.1m cash buyer at Brooklet, inland between Ballina and Byron.
Her four-bedroom, three-bathroom purchase, 15 minutes from the beach, was sold by bushfire consultant and builder Matt Toghill and his wife Taylah Toghill, who had sought $4.25m.
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The modernist-inspired home with a Z-shaped floor plan was designed by Seven Mile Architects. Replete with an avocado, citrus, banana and papaw orchard, the property also has an art studio.
With a chalky limewash paint coating, the house appeared in the blog The Design Files earlier this year, which noted that the home “references mid-century homes from around the globe, mostly prominently the 1959 house of artist Pierre Soulages on Mont Saint-Clair”.
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“Instead of the Mediterranean, the design of Brooklet House embraces its surrounding wide open spaces with openings to the outdoors from almost every room.”
The brief for the home was to create a “simple, special and functional” home after the Toghills bought the 3.78-hectare block for $899,000 in 2016.
It had been a four-bedroom homestead on the property known as Richmond Valley Stud.
The Ballina district has increasingly enjoyed the spillover from the Byron Bay hinterland buyer market for the last few years.
Brooklet, with a population of just over 250 people, has fewer than 100 houses.
It is home to Gaia Retreat and Spa, the luxury wellness retreat co-owed by the late Olivia Newton John before being snapped up by Twiggy and Nicola Forrest’s Tattarang for just over $25m in 2021.
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Brooklet’s priciest listing is Yverlyn Farm, on Rishworths Lane, which has been listed at $12m. The estate combines a residence with equestrian facilities overlooking the Nightcap Ranges.
Meares, who was married to expatriat tycoon James Packer between 1999 and 2002, is looking for a buyer for her two-bedroom Watsons Bay cottage with $5.5m price guidance.
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Originally published as Packer’s ex’s dramatic $4.1m lifestyle change
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