Beating the heat - and rising energy prices

The owners of this property in Sydney’s outer west never set out to be environmentalists. And, at first glance, the sprawling luxury home they built at Twin Creeks at Luddenham does not appear to be eco friendly. But appearances can be deceiving.

When they approached building designer Luke Van Jour at Distinct Innovations, they wanted a resort-style home befitting the spacious greenfield location at the golf course estate. A large, wraparound pool would be at the centre of the design for the single level home, along with three entertaining areas, an outdoor cabana and home theatre. This would be in addition to four bedrooms, a guest room and a study.

With about 4,000sqm to work with, there was plenty of room to move so the owner decided to include a spacious home gym. He also wanted a half size tennis and basketball court to round out the leisure options – and to fulfil a childhood dream.

“The client had a tough upbringing,” Van Jour says. “When his parents were not around he used to go to the local basketball court to shoot hoops, so including a basketball court was about bringing back some of those positive childhood memories.”

With a healthy budget to work with, Van Jour was tasked with creating a resort-style experience, with a wet bar and water wall next to the outdoor kitchen, all in a single level design so that every day would feel like a holiday for the family.

“The client had spent a lot of time travelling the world,” he says. “When he came home, he wanted that same feeling that he experienced when he was staying in hotels and resorts overseas. Everything had to be wrapped around this pool.”

In keeping with the luxury theme, Van Jour specified several home automation options.

“It’s a key part of this house,” he says. “You can turn on the aircon, warm up the coffee machine, open the garage doors. It also has security and biometric systems.”

With all the hi tech, it might be easy to miss the lengths Van Jour has gone to in order to design a house which is a little easier on the environment – and the owners’ bank balance – than you might expect of a building this size.

“I designed the house to block as much sun in summer as I could and bring as much winter sun into the

house as possible,” he said. “The whole house was double glazed and full passive design. It is brick veneer on concrete slab-on-ground with stone floors to allow for optimum thermal mass.”

There’s also a 8kw system of photovoltaic cells to cut down on energy bills, and rainwater tanks that hold up to 100,000L for washing clothes, topping up the pool and watering the garden.

“Without the solar panels, if this house had to run on standard electricity, it would easily be $7000 to $8000 a quarter but now it is about $2000 to $3000 a quarter,” Van Jour said.

However, it took a little while for the owners to get into the swing.

“When the clients first moved in, the bill for the first quarter was close to $10,000,” he said. “The owner asked me what was going on.

“In Luddenham, it gets down to -2C in winter and up to 48C or 49C in summer but when I went over, he greeted me in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of winter.”

As it transpired, all the thermostats had been set to 28C and both the reverse cycle air conditioning and the underfloor heating had been turned on. There were also four large screen TVs running 24/7 and the pool pump had malfunctioned so that it was running day and night when it should only operate four hours a day. After turning off the aircon completely (it was installed mainly for cooling the house in summer), resetting the temperature of the underfloor heating, fixing the pool pump and only using the TVs when there was someone in the room, the bill dropped almost 80 percent the next quarter.

The house took 18 months to build, which is relatively speedy for its size. Now, the family enjoys a resort lifestyle while reducing their bills – and their impact on the environment. When it runs well.

“We did all the right things but if the house is not operated properly, it’s a waste of time.”

Byron Bay’s most compelling homes have always taken their cues from the climate. They open to the breeze, dissolve the boundary between inside and out and use tropical landscaping to create privacy without shutting out the natural world.

At 17 Kendall Street, those familiar coastal ideas have been elevated into something more architectural.

The five-bedroom residence is designed around a spectacular open-air courtyard, creating a private internal landscape where glass, stone, timber and water meet. Floor-to-ceiling glazing draws natural light into the interiors while framing the heated swimming pool and established tropical gardens from multiple points within the home.

The home was originally built in 2016, but underwent a major renovation last year following its $5.3 million sale in 2023. Sotheby’s Byron Bay agent Will Phillips has a $15 million price guide.

The transformation focused on both the home’s scale and its level of detail. Soaring voids and bold architectural forms create drama, but the material palette keeps the atmosphere warm. Rich timber, natural stone and handcrafted finishes temper the contemporary lines, allowing the residence to feel calm rather than imposing.

A sculptural spiral staircase forms the architectural centrepiece, connecting the home’s different spaces while providing a strong visual counterpoint to the horizontal lines of the courtyard and pool.

The planning is centred on connection. Multiple living and entertaining areas open to covered terraces, enabling the house to expand and contract according to the occasion. Smaller spaces support quiet family life, while the principal living zones and alfresco areas can accommodate considerably larger gatherings.

At the centre, the courtyard operates as more than an impressive arrival feature. It brings light and garden views deep into the plan, provides separation between the home’s different wings and creates a protected outdoor environment for year-round living.

Accommodation comprises five generously proportioned bedroom suites supported by five designer bathrooms. Their distribution through the residence gives family members and guests a greater sense of privacy, while the tropical outlook maintains a consistent connection between rooms.

Wellness Wing

The home’s most distinctive inclusion may be its dedicated wellness wing.

A private sauna, gym, Zen room and traditional Japanese soaking bath combine to create a retreat within the retreat. Rather than treating wellness as a single-purpose gym placed in a leftover room, the design gives it a dedicated sequence of spaces intended to support exercise, recovery and quiet.

The Japanese soaking bath is especially appropriate to the home’s broader architecture. Compact, deep and designed for immersion rather than conventional bathing, it complements the restraint of the Zen room and the calming views into the garden.

Outside, the heated pool and covered dining terraces provide the more social side of resort living. Tropical landscaping creates privacy around the residence, while the courtyard design allows greenery to remain visible throughout much of the interior.

Belongil Boom

The location adds another dimension to the property. Kendall Street sits near the Belongil side of Byron Bay, within walking distance of Belongil Beach and local dining including Belongil Bistro, Treehouse, Féu and the town centre’s broader collection of cafés, restaurants and boutiques.

That northern pocket is increasingly emerging as a prestige counterweight to Wategos and the tightly held Marine Parade strip at the opposite end of Byron Bay.

Much of the most visible investment has centred on nearby Border Street and the Belongil beachfront. Hospitality billionaire Justin Hemmes has assembled four residential holdings in the neighbourhood at a reported combined cost of about $45 million. His acquisitions include a beachfront holding bought for $16 million in 2023 and a subsequent creek-front purchase.

The Block judge and interior designer Darren Palmer and his husband, Olivier Duvillard, have also moved into the precinct, paying $4.2 million for an original home with creek views.

Luxury developer and builder GRAYA has made an even larger commitment. The Brisbane group acquired a substantial Border Street beachfront site for about $20.65 million in 2024, with plans for a major trophy-home project. Part of that holding was subsequently sold in a transaction that underlined how dramatically land values have moved.

The strongest evidence came from Chemist Warehouse director Damien Gance and his wife, Sasha Robertson. The couple paid $33.5 million in cash for the beachfront residence Malia, setting a Byron Bay house-price record and surpassing the $30 million sale of Watermark at Wategos in 2023. They then reportedly spent another $20 million securing the neighbouring vacant parcel, taking their combined Belongil investment to $53.5 million.

Those transactions do not make Kendall Street directly comparable with absolute beachfront property. They do, however, illustrate the growing weight of capital and attention shifting towards Byron Bay’s northern edge.

For decades, Marine Parade at Wategos has been the region’s clearest shorthand for trophy property. Border Street and the wider Belongil precinct are now building a comparable identity, supported by larger holdings, beachfront scarcity and an expanding concentration of prominent owners.

Property details

Address: 17 Kendall Street, Byron Bay, NSW
Location: Near Belongil Beach and Byron Bay town centre
Original construction: 2016
Last sale: $5.3 million in 2023
Renovation: Major renovation completed in 2025
Current price guide: $15 million
Bedrooms: Five
Bathrooms: Five
Key features: Central open-air courtyard, heated swimming pool, tropical landscaping and multiple indoor-outdoor living areas
Wellness facilities: Sauna, Zen room, gym and traditional Japanese soaking bath
Nearby: Belongil Beach, Belongil Bistro, Féu and Treehouse

Beating the heat – and rising energy prices – in a luxury property

Temperatures can exceed 40C in Sydney’s west but everyone keeps their cool in this resort-style home

Wellness Wing

Belongil Boom

Property details