Brad Legge’s clifftop South Coast haven offers world’s ‘best view’

With its craggy escarpment and wild beaches, Coalcliff has long shone bright among the jewels of NSW’s Illawarra region. And Brad Legge reckons his oceanside patch of earth is just about the best there is.

The stunning view of the coast at Coalcliff from 8 Paterson Road, complete with a glimpse at the Coalcliff Rock Pool.

With its craggy escarpment, wild beaches and abundance of aquatic life, Coalcliff has long shone bright among the jewels of NSW’s Illawarra region.

Brad Legge reckons his oceanside patch of earth is just about the best there is.

“I used to surf down here as a kid, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be able to live here,” he says.

Brad Legge at his Coalcliff home that overlooks the ocean.

Growing up in Sydney’s Sylvania, the wild waves of the South Coast called Legge, who says he’s “always been a hippie at heart”. And in 1999, his dream came true when he bought a 566sq m block atop the cliffs.

The then apricot-clad home looked like the vendor would “have a win up at the track and tack another room on”, such was the ramshackle nature of the build.

Legge and his late wife undertook a ‘renovation’ – “we kept a couple of walls”, he laughs and, inspired by the architecture of Santa Fe in New Mexico where they’d spent some time, built their much-loved home.

Inspired by the stylings of Santa Fe in New Mexico, Legge and his late wife all but rebuilt the home at 8 Paterson Road.

They didn’t want the jarring mix of metal and glass so prevalent in beachside locations these days, homes which “look like bus sheds to me”, Legge says. They wanted their residence to blend with the spectacular beauty of the natural environment.

The result: views that make the property look like it’s floating on a sparkling stretch of Pacific Ocean.

“I’ve had friends who’ve travelled the world, and they reckon it’s the best view they’ve ever seen,” Legge says. “You throw a rock, and you hit the water.”

And what a view it is

The three-level residence has four bedrooms, the master suite with its own private balcony and a bath that looks out to the horizon. An open-plan living and dining area leads out to a balcony and there is a covered alfresco on the lower level complete with a lounge and bar.

Legge loves the abundance of nature at his home. Whales and dolphins cavort in the waters out front, and he says a cheeky seal gave him a good scare when he was fishing once. The Coalcliff Rockpools are just at the bottom of his garden and the ocean pool is footsteps away.

Coalcliff is a little town 24km north of Wollongong, just north of the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge, a favourite of day-trippers for its stunning views of ocean and coastline.

’You throw a rock, and you hit the water,’ says Legge of his Coalcliff abode.

Legge has many happy memories from Paterson Road, including his own children’s idyllic childhood playing at the beach or running down the back with their Nippers caps on heading for surf lessons. He hopes the next owners will love the property as much as they all have.

The Agency Wollongong’s Jordan Andonovski is seeking a new owner, with price expectations of about $5.995m.

Coalcliff homes are tightly held but some notable sales include $3.2m exchanged for a beachfront property on nearby Lawrence Hargrave Drive in June this year, and $2.4m for another home on that street, which changed hands in May.