Property Imagineers Barry and Karen Plant still chasing creativity

Inspired by Walt Disney and a love of Africa, this iconic waterfront property at Sovereign Islands is on the market as Barry and Karen Plant chase their next opportunity to create.

Karen and Barry Plant with their samoyeds Friday and Tiley at their Gold Coast home. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

The driving force behind Barry and Karen Plant’s success has always been creativity and a desire to help others find and design their perfect home.

Barry’s name is synonymous with selling homes in Melbourne after the couple took the plunge to open their first real estate agency in the northeastern suburb of Templestowe in 1979. Karen built her name as an interior decorator.

They then established their own building company in 1984 to use their creativity to construct bespoke homes.

“I’ve been designing houses since I was 13 and did that in preference to school,” Barry says.

“I’ve been in real estate since I was 18 but I’ve always had an interest in the building industry.

“After we married, we set up our real estate company, Birchbank Homes.”

The Lighthouse, at Sovereign Islands, has a price guide of $12m.

Karen says that passion has continued long after they decided to work at their own pace, with their driving force now a desire to create.

“It’s the creativity factor and the joy to have a vision and together dream up what’s possible, and then actually pull it together and bring people on that journey,” she says.

That creative vision gave the couple a shared fondness for Walt Disney, a man whose dedication created joy for generations of children and adults alike through animation.

“He never lost the joy and fun in his life, that want to make others happy and, at the same time, that perfectionism in every single detail,” Karen says.

“The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco that Diane Disney put together – that is so unbelievably inspirational because you can see the man’s sense of vision and imagination.

“To think that he actually, in his lifetime, could see it come to fruition is very rare on that magnitude.”

In a way, the Plants have become “property imagineers” in their own right. The family relocated to the Gold Coast in 2009. Their two children and their partners moved back and forth between the two cities, with daughter Ayleisha moving home in the past year with her partner.

The painting in the formal dining room is a work by Walt Disney’s son-in-law. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Their home is American in style but Karen wanted to make sure “The Lighthouse” did not get lost among the sea of Hamptons-styled homes that were gaining to popularity as it was being built.

Instead, she drew upon the family’s love of Africa, which grew after a couple of safari trips, using black and white contrasting fabrics and rich red tones through the home.

The couple collect Mickey Mouse memorabilia. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

The Plants not only love what they do but they are good at it.

The statement residence, built by local builders Ben and Alan Marks and designed in consultation with Mi Design, won two Master Builders Association awards upon completion in 2017, including Gold Coast Home of the Year.

But for now, the couple are looking for their next challenge and have designed a new property at Sanctuary Cove for a change of scenery.

They have listed “The Lighthouse”, at Sovereign Islands, through Kollosche’s Stuart Rooke, with a price guide of $12m.

“We’ve had 12 years in two homes living on Sovereign Islands and we’ve enjoyed it immensely,” Barry says.

“I mean, look at that view, we’ve loved it.”

The top floor’s so-called “party pad”.

The four-bedroom home spans four levels and uses curved walls to create intimate spaces to sit and be together.

A spiral staircase up the middle of the house connects the living levels and finishes at the top level – known among family and guests as the couple’s party pad.

Famed for its AFL parties, which only get more fevered when Carlton is on the field, the level has its own bar, two balconies, a pool and a ladder to the rooftop hot tub.

It is also where the majority of the family’s Disney memorabilia is displayed, including a rare patriotic Mickey Mouse.

The house also features a 12-car garage, home to nine vehicles belonging to the whole family.

Barry has had an interest in cars since he was a young boy and recently began collecting number plates. A lift runs the height of the building, which also has its own smart home system.