Bizarre home comforts of Australia’s biggest footy stars AFL’s Lance Franklin and the NRL’s Latrell Mitchell
Our biggest footy stars aren’t without their creature comforts away from the field.
Our biggest footy stars aren’t without their home comforts away from the field.
Lance Franklin and Latrell Mitchell are two of Aussie sport’s biggest names, and sit centre of our footy worlds at the moment as both vie for the AFL and NRL’s holy grail – a premiership.
Despite their superstar status, away from footy they like their creature comfort, some a bit unusual, some boring, and some in between.
Since moving from Melbourne to Sydney to take up his massive nine-year $10m deal with the Swans in 2014, Franklin and wife Jesinta have opted to call the exclusive eastern suburbs home.
RELATED: Lance and Jesinta Franklin’s ‘quiet’ $5m move
After all it’s the kind of place you can get a great home for $10m and it’s only a short drive from the Swans home ground and training base at the SCG.
The couple’s first purchase in September 2014 for $2.35m in a highly sought-after area almost equidistant between the ocean and the harbour was a somewhat curious purchase and something of a doer-upper as the somewhat outdated ‘jet spa tub’ in the backyard attests to.
However by the time the Franklins sold in November 2020 for $3.8m, the spa was long gone, replaced by a much more contemporary and stylish pool and wooden deck.
The Franklins are often spotted out and about in the eastern suburbs and by all accounts are a very amicable pair but they appeared to upset their well-heeled neighbours when they dared to paint their home ‘a striking shade of charcoal’.
‘What were they thinking? Buddy Franklin and Jesinta give Rose Bay home a controversial facelift’ – the headline screamed.
The semi was originally a cream colour with white trimmings but is now a dark grey colour from pavement to roof.
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Interior stylist and designer Juliet Love said it was a bold move that wasn’t entirely well executed
“I do see what they were trying to do, it’s made it look more modern,” Ms Love said.
“Painting it just that one colour was not a great idea. From a design perspective it needs just a little bit more colour on the details to create contrast.”
“When I saw the photos I thought ‘I wish they wished they’d left some of the trims in a contrasting colour’, it would have had more impact,” she said.
If the couple are planning to list the home, they may want to reconsider the look.
“I think the general rule when you’re selling is to choose safe options, that way you’re appealing to the broadest market, I think it’s a good idea to be fairly safe with your colour,” Ms Love said.
After selling up almost two years ago, the Franklins ‘quietly’ moved nearby to a $5m penthouse, where the unusual brickwork on the building and the herringbone timber floors were among the biggest attractions according to the marketing collateral at the ‘superior sanctuary’, not to mention ‘the comings and goings of the yachts and seaplanes’.
South Sydney superstar Latrell Mitchell set himself up well for the future in August when he bought a new $4.3m record-breaking home in south Sydney.
The home set a new suburb price record.
Mitchell posted the sale to his Instagram, with an image of his wife, Brielle Mercy and his two children in front of the sold sign with the caption “making moves”.
The post was quickly deleted, though not before teammate Cody Walker jestingly offered to move in.
RELATED: Latrell Mitchell’s new $4.3m record-breaking home
The contemporary home was built in 2018 at a cost of over $700,000.
There are five bedrooms, with the master complete with bespoke joinery and an ensuite. There’s a cinema room off the main open plan stone kitchen, living and dining space.
It features a number of skylights.
The 25-year-old could hone his golf skills as there’s a putting green on the near 900 sqm holding, along with a gas heated swimming pool, barbecue kitchen and a sauna.
In 2020 he spent $600,000 to buy his Taree-district retreat, in Biripi country, a 222ha cattle farm at Caffreys Flat, with a ramshackle stone and timber shack which burnt down in bushfires.
It was followed up last year when he bought 19ha nearby for $1,815,000 as a home for his parents Matt and Trish.
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Originally published as Bizarre home comforts of Australia’s biggest footy stars AFL’s Lance Franklin and the NRL’s Latrell Mitchell