Justin and Amanda Sires’ pursuit of a lighter side to life
The pro-athlete Sires are selling their Brisbane home in order to caravan around Australia with their children. Take a look inside.
It has been just over 12 months since the Sires family moved into their Brisbane home after performing an Olympic-sized renovation which turned their humble Queenslander into a contemporary home.
While Justin and Amanda – who were elite in their respective sports of rowing and swimming – love their slice of the world in the southside river-hugging suburb of Hawthorne, they are on to their next adventure.
The couple has decided to hit the road and explore as much of the country in a caravan as possible with their two children, Tiana, 10, and Jett, 4, after health problems made them re-evaluate what matters most.
“It will be nice to have some quality family time, which is what we’re focusing on now,” Ms Sires said.
After several years spent in London, the family returned to Australia during the pandemic. They instantly knew they wanted their home to be light filled and open to the outdoors.
“The main part of the design was light, space and indoor/outdoor living,” Ms Sires said.
“Basically, the opposite of what we’d been experiencing living in dark, small, London quarters.”
Designed by architect DAHA, the home combines the original 1930s Queenslander that stood on the 959 sqm block at 35 Katoomba Ave, with a luxurious modern design to create the ultimate family home.
With five bedrooms, three bathrooms and several dedicated work and study areas, the property maximises on indoor and outdoor living areas for entertaining.
Mr Sires said the home was designed with quality and low-maintenance living front of mind.
“It’s obviously a big house and yard, but we wanted to make it low maintenance as far as all the flooring, and screens being aluminium,” he said.
“All those just add to the high-quality build because we haven’t built the home to flick. It’s all been very considered.”
The Hawthorne property will be auctioned onsite on July 22. The campaign is being led by Ray White Collective principal Matt Lancashire and agent Scott Darwon.
Walking though the unassuming front door, guests are greeted by a full-sized window at the end of the hall which captures the scale of the property and yard beyond. The “hero” of the view is an established bottle tree, which was hand picked from Toowoomba and planted as the build began.
A landscape designer crafted the space around it with seats for the perfect afternoon retreat.
Mr Sires is a keen cyclist and used that passion to fuel his entrepreneurial pursuits, founding his own company called Five At Heart, specialising in bike parking and changerooms around the world.
Some of these elements are evident in his own home, where the garage and mudroom have high-quality storage solutions.
Mr Sires and the children often head down to the nearby Hawthorne Park on their bikes, while the whole family frequents the nearby restaurant precinct.
Another lesser thought-off element Ms Sires knew was a must-have was storage. Having originally envisioned the family living in the home for many years, every possible opportunity to hang or stash items has been used.
The property has a heated pool filtered by an ozone system, with a seating area and shower, while the upstairs patio features an outdoor kitchen and overlooks the established vegie garden.
Inside, the oversized kitchen is complemented by a butler’s pantry and bar area.
A CityCat ferry terminal is nearby, as well as the bustling Oxford St in the neighbouring suburb of Bulimba.
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