Jamie Durie’s amazing waterfront home for sale with a $33m price tag
A showcase of sustainable luxury, Belah House rises from Stokes Point with sandstone, vertical gardens and off-grid capability.
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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.
A Sydney couple has paid $15.5 million for the Grand Penthouse at Marquee’s $285 million La Belle Residences beachfront development which is nearing completion at Palm Beach, eclipsing the record for an off-the-plan apartment sale on the southern Gold Coast. The sprawling single level 640 sqm beachfront residence, with sweeping views of the Gold Coast …
Continue reading “$15.5m La Belle Penthouse eclipses southern Gold Coast record”
On the owner’s deck, a 20-metre swimming pool incorporates Feadship’s patented ContraWave technology and extends indoors as a suspended, glass-bottomed infinity pool.
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The Sydney developer-builder, which typically retains its projects, is offering 54 residences off the plan on Spencer Street, with prices starting at $3.9 million.
HSN Property Group has launched Maison Jolene in Rose Bay, giving buyers a rare opportunity to purchase off the plan from a developer-builder that has spent more than two decades building a predominantly build-to-hold portfolio in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. HSN values that portfolio at $4 billion.
Located at 2–16 Spencer Street, Maison Jolene comprises 54 residences, including house-sized two- and three-bedroom apartments, sub-penthouses and penthouses. Prices start at $3.9 million, according to HSN, with many residences designed to capture views across Rose Bay, Sydney Harbour and the city skyline.
James Nixon, head of projects at The Rubinstein Group, is handling the sales campaign alongside agency founder Gavin Rubinstein. He says the launch is an unusual opportunity for buyers who have followed the developer’s work.
“HSN is renowned for building entire projects and rarely selling a single apartment to the open market, so Maison Jolene really is a first for potential buyers who have been following the brand across previous projects,” Nixon says.
HSN worked with architecture practice MHN Design Union and interiors studio The Unlisted Collective on the development. A rhythm of arches and deep-set openings gives the building its presence on Spencer Street, while the residences are positioned to make the most of natural light, privacy and outlook. Landscaping frames the arrival and carries through to the shared outdoor spaces.
“Maison Jolene was conceived to bring a touch of European elegance to Rose Bay, drawing on the understated charm of Mayfair and the romance of Paris while remaining grounded in the relaxed character of Sydney’s eastern suburbs,” says Rafi Assouline, founder and director of HSN Property Group.
The apartments were designed with established Rose Bay downsizers in mind. Large kitchens, generous storage and flexible living areas are intended to ease the move from a family home, with layouts that can also accommodate families and professionals looking for more space in an apartment.
The shared amenities are designed as an extension of those homes. Residents will have access to a lounge, private dining room and landscaped alfresco entertaining area. A wellness retreat brings together a magnesium pool, cold plunge, sauna, steam room and heated stone recovery bench, alongside a gym and dedicated space for Pilates and yoga.
Inside the apartments, the curves of the façade recur in the cabinetry and balustrades. Custom wall sconces, tapware and patterned parquetry sit alongside carved marble basins, hammered-glass shower screens and recessed stone niches. Timber veneer wardrobes have leather-clad drawers, while an Art Deco-inspired motif appears in the raised ceiling detail, joinery and built-in velvet bedheads.
“Maison Jolene is at once contemporary and old world, with custom-designed parquetry flooring and an art deco-inspired motif juxtaposing with the curvature of the arched facade, balustrade and internal cabinetry,” Assouline says.
The kitchens bring several of those ideas together in a sculptural, bubble-shaped island. Assouline helped design and engineer the curved form and personally selected the marble, which is bookmatched so the veining mirrors across adjoining pieces.
“With each of our projects, I look for symmetry in design,” he says. “Crafting the apartments is like solving a puzzle of one thousand pieces; one little detail wrong could mean the picture doesn’t translate correctly once it’s finished.”
HSN will develop and build Maison Jolene, overseeing the project from design through to construction. The family-owned company says it has delivered more than 270 homes, has 200 apartments under construction and has a 100 per cent completion record.
“As a private, integrated developer-builder, we maintain close control over every stage of a project,” Assouline says. “We see our projects as collaborative partnerships with our architects, interior designers and specialist trades with whom we have refined a very unique aesthetic, to ensure every detail is considered for those who will live there.”
For Nixon, the developer’s involvement in both design and construction is part of the pitch to buyers. “The attention to design excellence, combined with HSN’s proven track record in delivering ultra-high-end developments, ensures a level of rarity and enduring quality seldom seen in today’s market,” he says.
“To purchase an HSN property is to acquire a property that will not just hold its value but stand the test of time as a timeless piece of Sydney real estate.”
The Spencer Street address puts residents close to Rose Bay’s village cafés and restaurants, foreshore walks and ferry service, with beaches, golf courses and schools nearby. Maison Jolene is now selling off the plan through James Nixon and Gavin Rubinstein.
Three completed developments bring a quieter, more thoughtful style of luxury living to Mosman, Neutral Bay and Crows Nest.
As housing drives wealth and policy debate, the real risk is an economy hooked on growth without productivity to sustain it.
