Property of the Week: Belah House, 189 Riverview Rd, Avalon Beach
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Property of the Week: Belah House, 189 Riverview Rd, Avalon Beach

A showcase of sustainable luxury, Belah House rises from Stokes Point with sandstone, vertical gardens and off-grid capability.

By Kirsten Craze
Fri, Oct 10, 2025 1:42pmGrey Clock 2 min
If any home could tell the tale of sustainable luxury down under, it’s Belah House – the unique off-grid capable waterfront creation of landscape designer and television icon, Jamie Durie and his partner Ameka Jane.

Anchored into the cliffs of Stokes Point overlooking Pittwater, their recently completed eco mansion was designed by Silvester Fuller Architects in collaboration with the Backyard Blitz and The Block alumni and builder Antoine Gittany, from Dilcara.

The six-bedroom, six-bathroom, two-car garage home also features in the first season of Durie’s latest show, Growing Home.

Despite Durie reportedly knocking back an offer of $30 million earlier this year – and the couple revealing to media that money couldn’t buy the experience of living life in their eco dream home – the Northern Beaches residence has come to market this week with a $33 million price tag through McGrath Pittwater agent James Baker.

The high-profile pair are reportedly moving to the Byron Bay hinterland. Crafted to define what it means to live harmoniously with nature, Belah House is set over four levels on a dramatically elevated 1017sq m block on the prestigious peninsula. The enviable beach house has about 720sq m of internal living with seamless spaces flowing through to the great outdoors.

Wrapped in sandstone, with vertical gardens and carefully curated native greenery throughout the site, the property had been orientated to connect with the vast bushland of Ku-ring-gai National Park.

As a horticulturalist by trade and a sustainability advocate in practice, Durie is best known for his design programs, including appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The couple poured five years of research into their Avalon project, treating their own home as a test run for revolutionary technology to change the way Australians live with nature at home.

The house sits high on seven geothermal probes sunk 120m into the earth to harness the ground temperature to heat or cool the home, as well as its zero-chemical infinity-edge pool, and hydronic floors.

The property features 42 solar panels, a 20kW Skybox solar system for near-total energy independence, and water harvesting systems that recycle every drop. The concrete has been engineered with up to 75 per cent reduced carbon emissions, and the Control4 Smart Home system manages elements from climate control to lighting and irrigation.

Inside Belah House, there are multiple living areas inside and out, walls of glass to capture the outlook, a gourmet open-plan kitchen with a butler’s pantry and coffee station, as well as a full bar and terrace on the same level.

The lower ground floor is home to a palatial main bedroom with dual walk-in wardrobes, a large ensuite with a freestanding tub overlooking the water and three more bedrooms, including one with its own ensuite.

Additional features at the property include a media room, a self-contained guest suite, home cinema, wine cellar, outdoor kitchen, infinity pool, 160sq m rooftop garden containing a vegetable patch, interior hanging gardens, and a wellness retreat complete with a gym, sauna, steam room, plus ice bath.

A 35-metre inclinator services the 37-degree slope to private deep-water facilities, including a jetty, slipway, and grotto entertainment space carved into the natural rock.

Belah House at Avalon Beach is on the market with James Baker of McGrath Pittwater for $33 million via an expressions of interest campaign that closes at 5 pm on November 11.



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A century-old warehouse reborn as a $19 million inner-city sanctuary, The Pigeon Shed blends gallery-scale drama with family living in a bold architectural reinvention.

By Kirsten Craze
Fri, Aug 15, 2025 2 min

Behind an unassuming brick façade in Chippendale, The Pigeon Shed is a Sydney warehouse that rewrites the rulebook on inner-city renovation. Part gallery, part residential sanctuary, the former atelier that earned its nickname thanks to a colony of wild birds that once called it home is today an architectural anomaly.

Owned by creative director Beau Neilson, the daughter of billionaire arts patron Judith Neilson and fund manager Kerr, the transformed 1914 industrial shell has been an artistic labour of love for the owner of The Vanguard in Newtown, reimagined alongside the team at MCK Architects.

Purchased in 2012 for $3.1 million, Neilson transformed the one-time dilapidated shell over a decade.

Since then, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom Chippendale property has appeared in several architectural publications, such as Habitus, Architizer and The Design Files, celebrated for its unique blend of steel, timber, marble and concrete surfaces coupled with its intelligent use of space.

The savvy reinvention of the compact 324sq m corner block footprint has resulted in 735 sq m of internal and external living space across three levels.

Although selling agent Shannan Whitney of BresicWhitney is not publicly commenting on the price guide, the home is reportedly being shopped around for about $19 million.

The one-time soap factory is being traded in by Neilson for a $20 million waterfront estate she recently bought in Double Bay, according to news reports.

The contemporary home features gallery-sized entertainment zones with dramatic high ceilings, vertical gardens and landscaped courtyards that allow for oodles of natural light and private gatherings inside and out.

The main living level houses a vast gourmet kitchen featuring a dramatically long island bench, a hidden butler’s pantry and an internal courtyard that flows seamlessly to an indoor pool. On the same level, a family room also adjoins a second internal terrace.

A unique copper-clad elevator joins all three floors, including a lower-level lounge room, a library with a secret door to a guest bedroom suite, and a separate study.

The top-level layout has three more bedrooms incorporating the upper-floor primary wing with a full-width street-facing terrace, a designer ensuite and dressing room. Each of the two remaining bedrooms has its own en-suites and shares a grand landscaped side terrace.

Additional features include a built-in solar system, hydronic heating, exposed beams and original brickwork.

Located within a short walk to UTS, Broadway, and Newtown cafes and restaurants and the CBD.

The Pigeon Shed at 42-44 Pine St, Chippendale, interest campaign with Shannan Whitney of BresicWhitney.

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