Property Of The Week: 5 Mitchell Street, North Bondi, NSW

Architect Richard Cole and builder Jeff Towler joined forces to create a Bronte beach house that would turn heads. The brief was successfully met with Panorama House on Yanko Ave, taking home the 2019 NSW HIA-CSR House of the Year gong and the Waverley Design Award. 

Local anaesthetist Dr Erin Cook bought the existing house on the 841sq m site in 2010, paying $5.85 million for essentially just the land. 

Fast-forward almost 15 years, and the eastern suburbs medico has listed his contemporary four-bedroom residence with Sotheby’s International Realty Sydney agents James Ball and Alexander Phillips from PPD Real Estate. It’s going to auction on May 3, and it’s expected to sell near its guide price of $24 million. 

If the amount is achieved, Panorama House could become one of Bronte’s most expensive properties, but it will still fall short of the current $29.25 million Bronte record set at 3 Tipper Ave in 2023. 

While the modern design and luxury finishes are plenty to talk about, the property has earned its name thanks to the panoramic ocean and beach views over the escarpment. 

Cole created a house using a sophisticated palette of natural materials, including timber, stone, brick, zinc, and concrete. 

The home has been designed to open up to the elements or close down to the environment to regulate indoor temperatures and reduce the use of artificial air conditioners. As an added bonus, solar panels feed into a 10kW solar battery to supply electricity to the house. 

Sitting high on a private north-facing battle-axe block on the sandstone escarpment above Bronte Beach, Panorama House has been built to thrive in its coastal environment.  

Its cobblestone driveway and sculptural curved facade make a dramatic first impression, and inside, the grand double-height void enhances the uninterrupted water outlook.  

The three-storey home features a central living zone on the ground floor, which houses a lounge room with built-in seating, a two-way sandstone Escea fireplace, and a choice of dining spaces inside and out, including a cocktail bar with Vintec fridges. 

The sleek kitchen has a Calacatta Oro island and a butler’s pantry. 

Big, bold glass doors reveal a heated saltwater pool and spa almost hovering above the ocean, an all-weather entertainer’s pavilion, a fire pit, and an expansive lawn offering plenty of room for children and pets to explore. 

In addition to the two bedrooms and shared bathroom on the main level, two more bedrooms can be found on the first floor and feature an even more elevated outlook. The primary bedroom has a palatial ensuite with a tub framed by ocean views, a walk or wardrobes, and a neighbouring home office that could easily moonlight as an enviable dressing room.  

This upper level also houses a second living room, a sitting area with fireplace and balcony access, and another bedroom with an ensuite and balcony. 

Bonus inclusions at the Bronte Beach house include a lower ground-floor gym or potential home cinema, a cloakroom, powder room, laundry with side access, an outdoor shower, a David Trubridge Navicula pendant light in the entryway, solid Blackbutt floorboards, hydronic heating, Haiku fans, and a double garage with an EV charger. 

Panorama House is listed with Sotheby’s International Realty Sydney’s James Ball and Alexander Phillips of PPD Real Estate, who have scheduled an on-site auction for May 3.