The Sell: Luke Hemsworth’s plans to renovate his Byron Bay home
The Hemsworth clan’s Byron Bay residential building spree continues, but the most recently lodged plans are for a relatively modest renovation.
The Hemsworth clan’s Byron Bay residential building spree continues. But the recently lodged plans from Luke and his wife Samantha are decidedly ordinary for their Suffolk Park beachfront home.
Unlike his extravagant brothers, Chris and Liam, this renovation will cost just $300,000.
Luke and Samantha want to add a 72sqm master-bedroom suite on a second level overlooking the pool. It’s been costed at $233,000, along with a 20sqm balcony costing $30,000.
There’s also a 12sqm ground-floor kitchen extension for a pantry costing $36,400.
The plans, by Harley Graham Architects, have been designed to ensure the “scale of development is commensurate with the site”.
The single-storey 380sqm beachfront home was transferred into Luke’s name last year, having been bought in 2018 for $4.3 million by a family investment company.
The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home sits on an 1800sqm block, the largest on the beachfront strip south of the town.
It was 2014 when Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky conceived their grand plans in nearby Broken Head after they spent $7 million on the 4.2ha Kooeloah estate.
Their project was forecast to cost $8.8 million, but likely cost closer to $20 million.
The LA-style compound sits high above Seven Mile Beach.
Last year Liam secured approval on his nearby estate for a yoga studio, with day beds and a built-in barbecue on its decking next to a dam.
A $4.4 million two-home application awaits council approval for the 35ha property bought by the family company for $4.25 million in 2019.
FACELIFT FOR ‘BLUE HOUSE’
The Block interior designer Shelley Craft and her estate agent husband Christian Sergiacomi have quietly offloaded their nifty mid-century, modern renovation project in the heart of Byron Bay.
It recently sold off-market, presumably through Sergiacomi’s database, for $2.3 million to a local family. The buyers have quickly dubbed the property Polly Palms Byron, pitching it as being ideal for hiring for photo shoots, events and films.
The Paterson St home had a quick renovation, after the asbestos came out, although not quite as quick as the one-month target that Craft and Sergiacomi set themself. It took around nine weeks.
They added a heated pool, and inside the renovation saw the three-bedroom, 1950s fibro cottage, affectionately known by locals as the “little blue house”, turned into a modernised mid-century home.
The floorplan and layout remained the same, but its exterior became ocean green.
“We love this little home and know that we have created a very special place that will stand the test of time,” Craft told the homestolove website.
Sergiacomi and Craft had paid $1.18 million for the investment property in 2019.
The couple have recently completed their own beach house at Belongil. It’s a collaboration between Paul Uhlmann Architects and interior designer Jase Sullivan.
Meanwhile, plans for the next Block to be in Byron appear to have hit a hurdle, with the requisite five pinpointed homes still to be secured on Sunrise Boulevard, opposite the Belongil estuary, just off Ewingsdale Rd. Filming is not due to start until February.
MAHALIA BARNES SELLS IN BERRIMA
Singer Mahalia Barnes and her musician husband Ben have sold in Berrima, taking some 280 days to find the buyer.
They secured $2.35 million for their 1940s Southern Highlands cottage which had been listed last year with $2.5 million hopes, with intentions to stay local.
They had paid $960,000 in early 2017 when they made the move from the city. Their Redfern apartment, in the Watertower warehouse conversion, which had a recording studio, was sold for $1.4 million.
Their move saw them residing across town from her rock legend parents, Jimmy and Jane, who bought the Riverbend estate in 2008 at $1.5 million.
For a brief time in 2011 the older Barneses had the sandstone house on 2758sqm listed for sale, thinking they would make their Botany warehouse their permanent residence.
Riverbend has three solid sandstone pavilions linked by long covered verandas that jut over the river.
It features a renovated kitchen, four bedrooms and bathrooms, a pool, a jetty, and stone walkways through established gardens.
The Barneses have their now redundant Botany warehouse listed for auction later this month.
BURGESS SELLS CHIFLEY HOME
Former South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL player Luke Burgess, who now runs the Burgess brothers’ burgeoning 4B Label fashion brand, has sold his former Chifley home.
The two-level home, with four bedrooms, including a master suite with an ensuite and a study nook, fetched $2.42 million.
There are custom interiors throughout the home, which opens to a rear north-facing backyard with a pool.
Burgess’s former teammate, NG Farah agent Beau Champion, who has previously sold coastal eastern properties for brothers, Sam, George and Tom, secured the sale at midweek online auction.
There were eight registered bidders with four active.
Champion had given buyers an initial $2.1 million guide after a nearby duplex, without a pool, sold for $2 million earlier this year.
OTTO BUYS FIRST HOME
Filmmaker Gracie Otto has bought in Elizabeth Bay.
The first-homebuyer has spent $825,000 on a one-bedroom apartment, with car space, in the harbourfront reserve Karingal complex.
It has a newly renovated kitchen and bathroom and a living and dining area that opens to a balcony. Richardson & Wrench agents Luke McDonnell and Greg McKinley secured the sale. It last sold for $173,000 in 1996.
“I feel like an adult,” Otto told Stellar after her recent purchase. She’d been living across the road in a studio. The 34-year-old’s latest documentary, Under The Volcano, premiered this week, focusing on the life of music producer Sir George Martin.
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Originally published as The Sell: Luke Hemsworth’s plans to renovate his Byron Bay home
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