Central Element Breaks Ground On $150 Million Pearl Bondi Central Element Breaks Ground On $150m Pearl Bondi

Central Element has officially commenced construction on Pearl Bondi, its highly anticipated $150 million luxury residential project in the heart of Bondi Beach.

The development at 20–22 Sandridge Street will comprise just seven residences: two houses and five apartments. That tightly limited collection gives Pearl a markedly different character from the larger apartment projects reshaping other parts of Sydney.

Architecture has been entrusted to MHN Design Union, while Madeleine Blanchfield Architects is responsible for the interiors. Together, the two practices have been tasked with creating homes that respond to Bondi’s coastal setting while delivering the privacy, space and refinement expected at the premium end of the eastern suburbs market.

Central Element is acting as both developer and builder, giving the company direct oversight of the project from design through to construction and completion. Kinkora is the joint venture partner, with MA Financial providing project funding.

The official groundbreaking on Friday brought together senior representatives from the development, design, construction, finance and sales teams.

Attendees included Central Element general manager Dean Chivas and CE head of construction Adrian Banks, alongside Madeleine Blanchfield, founder and director of Madeleine Blanchfield Architects, and Amanda Stollery, director at MHN Design Union.

They were joined by Kinkora investment manager Tony Massaro, MA Financial investment manager Heath Grundy and Ray White Projects managing partner Eddie Mansour.

Nathan Chivas, Managing Director of Central Element, spoke to the vision behind Pearl and the significance of bringing such an ambitious, design-led project to market in Bondi.

“With Pearl, we set out to create something truly exceptional – a legacy project in every sense,” Chivas says.

“We’ve brought together a team of acclaimed local design talent who understand Bondi intimately and share our passion for crafting something extraordinary that honours its setting.”

The collection comprises of five house-like proportioned apartments that cascade towards the shoreline with access to Wilga Street, while the two Torrens titled houses are perched at the site’s peak. Nearly 500sqm of lush landscaping by Dangar Barin Smith enhances the setting, while Madeleine Blanchfield Architects delivers interiors defined by quiet luxury. timeless, natural and deeply connected to Bondi’s coastal soul.

For Central Element, the start of work at Pearl represents another step in the company’s growing eastern suburbs pipeline.

The milestone follows the recent completion of Ballamac House in Coogee, where Central Element sensitively restored and transformed a historic residence dating from the 1860s into a collection of eight luxury homes.

Pearl carries that focus on tightly held locations and limited residential collections into Bondi Beach, although with an entirely new architectural proposition. Its combination of five apartments and two houses also gives the development a broader mix than a conventional boutique apartment building.

With construction now under way, attention will turn to how the project’s architectural and interior concepts are translated into the completed residences.

In one of Australia’s most closely watched property markets, the small number of homes, experienced project team and central Bondi location make Pearl a significant addition to the suburb’s next generation of premium residences.

Project details

Project: Pearl Bondi
Address: 20–22 Sandridge Street, Bondi Beach, NSW
Development value: $150 million
Residences: Seven—two houses and five apartments
Developer and builder: Central Element
Joint venture partner: Kinkora
Funding partner: MA Financial
Architecture: MHN Design Union
Interior design: Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
Sales: Ray White Projects Eddie Mansour
Listing: Pearl Bondi

A bold 1950s home in Palm Springs, California, adorned with eight colorful murals by the late artist Shawn Savage, is coming to market ahead of the city’s annual Modernism Week.

The white stucco home on El Camino Way, built in 1954 and recently renovated, has an asking price of $2.295 million. Its staggered facade features three playfully abstract murals on either side of double-height hot pink doors.

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The sellers are Los Angeles-based partners John Freeman and Mathieu Faure, who knew it was “the one” when they saw it after several months of searching in the winter of 2023. “It’s a happy house,” Freeman said. “We really liked the feel of the house: the uniqueness, the openness, the brightness—and the art.”

Located in the Mesa neighborhood of Palm Springs, which backs up to the San Jacinto Mountains, the 2,237-square-foot house features three bedrooms, an angled bonus room and a yard with a pool, desert mountain views and another colorful mural running alongside the pool.

“I never thought in my life I would have a house with pink doors,” said Faure, a producer at Apple TV who is originally from Paris. “It’s so colorful, it’s so different. And so Palm Springs.”

Abstract murals can be found on the facade.Patrick Ketchum

The layout of the home creates a smooth flow from the front doors through the open-plan common area—a foyer, bar, and living and dining room—into the kitchen around a fireplace wall and out to the yard. A corridor leads to a private bedroom wing, where the primary suite has floor-to-ceiling windows and the primary bath is only a tad smaller than the bedroom.

Faure has filled the home with Jonathan Adler furniture, rugs and accessories, riffing on the energetic California vibes of the house to create an aesthetic of “modern American glamour,” he said.

“It was enjoyable for me to play with different types of furniture and make this house ‘happy chic,’ as I describe it,” he said.

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“He did a fantastic job,” said Freeman, who is an attorney and consultant. “It does kind of bring a smile to my face whenever I walk into the house.”

Since the furniture and decor were chosen for the particularities of the space, the couple is open to selling them with the home. Their West Hollywood house is already furnished; the collection doesn’t match the vibes of a Houston loft they bought near family; and Faure can’t imagine these pieces in New York—where he’s lived in the past—he said.

The duo bought the Palm Springs house for $1.925 million in 2024, according to property records, and will list the home Monday. They are represented by Stewart Smith, Patrick Jordan and Kevin Stanley of Bennion Deville Homes/Luxury Portfolio International.

The previous owners had purchased the home in 2021 for $975,000 and then spent more than two years and $700,000 on the renovation, according to Realtor.com. They commissioned Savage, a local Palm Springs artist and painter known for his joyful abstract work, to decorate the home.

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Savage, who died in 2024, lived in the Coachella Valley from 2003, and his work can be found in various local institutions and is on exhibit at the Illumine Gallery in Palm Springs. “Some artists pass through a place. Shawn Savage became a part of it,” the gallery’s description states.

Unsurprisingly, the murals invite lots of friendly conversations, as well as guided tours and interested lookers, but never to a degree that it disturbed the peacefulness of their home or the neighborhood, the sellers said. “It felt like living in an art gallery, and you have the exterior that you would share with the world,” Faure explained.

The neighborhood also played a role in their decision to buy, because of its access to the hiking trails of the San Jacinto Mountains, the lack of through-roads and the neighborly environment.

“It’s a very friendly place,” Faure said.