Domain Prestige - April 24, 2024

Ah, the humble bathroom – not just a functional necessity, but a haven in our homes. From mums stealing quiet moments amid chaos to hard workers finding solace in a warm bath after a big day in the office, it’s where we unwind, recharge, and find a little peace in our hectic lives. When there’s an opportunity to feature a gorgeous bathroom on the cover I jump at the chance, and this week’s award-winning Mossy Point residence, on the far south coast of NSW, frames its bathroom perfectly. The uncomplicated cement-sheet form of its exterior is a nod to the smooth, silvery bark of the surrounding spotted gum trees, and inside it’s saturated with the contrast of warm timber tones. Writer Paul Best describes it well, likening the design to the composition of a felled gum. Like me, you might catch yourself lingering over the cover image and getting lost in that dreamy view.

Broadbeach

Gold Coast 125/177 Old Burleigh Road

5 5 3

Auction: 9am, May 8

Agent: Ray White Burleigh Group, Elly Malan 0403 349 979 and Rachael Crompton 0431 002 788

Towering 30 storeys above Broadbeach atop Carmel by the Sea, and boasting magical 360-degree views, this sophisticated penthouse comes with a private rooftop terrace with a pool and covered outdoor kitchen.

Hayman Island

Whitsundays Hayman House

$25 million-$27 million

5 6

Expressions of interest

Agent: SpinksCo Residential, Rachael Spinks 0411 101 015 with Abercrombys, Jock Langley 0419 530 008 This award-winning, Kerry Hill-designed home covers 1100 square metres in three pavilions. Enjoy drinks on the deck, a soak in the basalt-clad pool, and full access to facilities at the InterContinental Hayman Island Resort.

Brighton

Melbourne 3 Moule Avenue

$13.5 million-$14.3 million

6 6 4

Expressions of interest: Close 5pm, May 7

Agent: Kay & Burton Stonnington, Gowan Stubbings 0412 269 999

Renovated for modern living while preserving its historical charm, Narellan offers a feast of living spaces, including a billiards room with a bar.

DESIGN DIGEST

Wood works

Designers continue to embrace wood in various forms, infusing homes with warmth and refinement. Compiled by PAULINE MORRISSEY

COAST TO COSY

Capturing the beauty of New Zealand’s west coast, the distinctive Morris Chair is part of McMullin & co.’s latest release, the Piha Collection. With its uniquely wavy base and gracefully shaped back, finished with refined walnut oil, this piece radiates natural sophistication. mcmullinandco.com

PERFECT PAPER

solo or in creative clusters. kavehome.com

MAKING WAVES Sundown Lighting’s new timber pendants are artfully made from repurposed Australian timber. Highlights include The Wave pendant, with its playful, wavy silhouette, and The Kich, characterised by its striped design using alternating timber shades. sundownlighting.com.au

The Hila ceiling lamps by Kave Home merge minimalist white paper with subtle timber veneer accents in a natural finish. They promise a striking design statement, whether hung

FEAST OF FUNCTION The Heritage Dining Table by King has an elegant silhouette defined by a deep tabletop, clean lines and sculpturally angled legs. SoftTouch Extension Technology expands it from a six to a 10-seater. kingliving.com.au

COLES BAY

Tranquil and beautiful, Tasmania’s Coles Bay is a family haven for the relative handful of permanent residents.

Imagine the type of serenity found only in a place like Coles Bay, a headland outpost on the Freycinet Peninsula in the island state of Tasmania, off the island continent of Australia.

Surrounded by tranquil Great Oyster Bay and within striking distance of iconic Wineglass Bay, this coastal jewel is a haven for adventurers and serenity seekers alike.

The hunt for holiday havens

Despite its growing popularity, Coles Bay remains intimate, with only 515 permanent residents recorded in the last census.

Paul Whytcross of Roberts Real Estate says the population ebbs and flows with the seasons.

“Year after year, visitors flock here to kayak through crystal waters, hike amid ancient landscapes, and taste the sea’s bounty straight from the source,” he says. “Due to high demand, spontaneous accommodation bookings have become a thing of the past, compelling many to dream of owning a shack of their own.”

Despite its small scale, the town’s culinary delights are treasured. They proudly showcase Tasmania’s rich produce, from the luxury dining at the Saffire Freycinet resort to the rustic charm of the Freycinet Marine Farm.

“Nearby towns like Bicheno and Swansea cater for any shortfall, with a medical centre, primary school, daycare and other facilities all within a

By PAULINE MORRISSEY

half-hour’s drive,” Whytcross says. “The rising interest in holiday homes and investment properties in Coles Bay has seen median prices soar since 2019, with the scarcity of land and growth opportunities predicting a continued increase in property values.”

A shack of one’s own

Annabelle Morrison’s story of acquiring her cherished beach shack, Walter’s at Coles Bay, echoes that of many property owners who, when not using their hideaways, choose to share them with guests rather than leave them unoccupied.

“My love affair with Coles Bay began in 2012, following my move to Tasmania to be with my now husband, William, who spent his childhood summers here,” Morrison says.

“We discovered our dream shack and dedicated two years to its renovation, all the while immersing ourselves in the breathtaking surroundings of Coles Bay.”

Now the couple and their three young sons use the shack as the perfect base in which to unpack and settle in for days and weeks at a time, creating family memories every summer and in other holiday periods.

“Our family loves exploring, following our noses around the local national parks to discover little paths that lead us to completely deserted beaches,” Morrison says.

Coles Bay in Tasmania’s Freycinet National Park is a natural wonder that draws visitors to its undisturbed splendour.

Coles Bay

East Coast Tasmania

61 Hazards View Drive

$1.495 million+

3 2 2

Private sale

Agent: Harrison Agents Launceston, Jo Oliver 0400 501 673

Stunning sea vistas are on offer at this lavish haven gracefully perched above the shoreline. The views unfold from the living area, the oceanfacing deck and even the main bedroom.

Hover your camera over the code to see Domain listings in Coles Bay

The eye of the beholder

When it comes to architecture, there can sometimes be a divergence between conception and perception.

Words by PAUL BEST

• Photos by RORY GARDINER

ARCHITECTURE

Pub rockers Hunters & Collectors sang “Do you see what I see?” back in the late 1980s. When it comes to an architect, you probably don’t.

What architects have in their mind’s eye when they design a building is likely at odds with what we see.

They have years of training and learned design principles. We have our emotions.

Take this 2022 three-bedroom residence –the work of Melbourne architecture practice Edition Office – at Mossy Point, a secluded hamlet on the NSW South Coast.

We see a bold-looking modern house nested between towering spotted gums, with a solid pitched roof (and with a curious notch) and a balcony framing dreamy bush views out across the Tomaga River and Broulee Bay.

Edition Office co-director Kim Bridgland, on the other hand, sees a two-storey linear structure clad in a mottled grey Barestone –a durable fibre-cement panelling – which leads into the sharply sloping 917-square-metre block so as to blend in with other properties on the residential street.

“There’s a sense of humility, of not trying to dominate the neighbourhood or the site,” Bridgland explains, pointing out that the house he designed for a family member deliberately appears as a single level from the street, concealing the lower-ground guest suite and storage.

At the same time, there’s an unintended hint of the early Aussie fibro beach shack “typology” in his design that’s both “familiar yet foreign”.

“We were just responding to the various levels of pragmatic, aesthetic and experiential constraints,” Bridgland says.

“Essentially, [it’s] the same wonderful Australian vernacular that created the simple beach shack. It’s what works here, what’s effective in a hard climate, what allows an intimate connection to the landscape.”

It’s not only the natural-looking monochromatic exterior finish that ties the property to the land; the spotted-gum interiors have a similarly single tone.

There are russet and amber-coloured timber floors throughout and detailed joinery crafted from industrial-grade plywood.

Which prompts me to imagine a felled gum: the long trunk of the house lies flat in the bush, its smooth, spotty skin mimicking the silvery bark, while the uniform character of the warm timber tones inside forms the guts of the tree.

“That wasn’t our conceptual agenda but I like the way we all bring our responses, understandings and way we see things,” Bridgland says, reminding me his house plan is born from capturing the rhythms of the street, the natural light and views.

This 2022 house in Mossy Point on the NSW South Coast borrows a grey beach shack aesthetic outside and fills it with the warmth of spotted gum on the inside.

“The design allows for calm; to be in the moment,” he says.

The architect’s vision is there to see again the second you step inside. Rather than a hallway, you immediately confront a keenly angled wall that demarcates the house into two symmetrical wings.

To the right is the social side: a big, breezy open-volume space, with living, dining and kitchen areas under raked five-metre ceilings.

The covered deck wraps around to a streetfacing porch, encouraging conversation with neighbours and passers-by.

YOUR AGENT

Marcus Lloyd-Jones, Modern House

“There’s this amazing interaction between the trees and the house. The trees provide the house with intimacy and more privacy, dictate views to the water and offer shade. They help make the house work.”

The left wing is the private half of the house: separate snug studies, identical twin bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry.

Not that we see it entirely the way Bridgland does. This wedge-shaped entry also directs natural light from both the north and south.

“You get this beautiful softness from both sides,” he explains.

It’s part of a larger curious design feature: a diamond-shaped void mid-house (which we see as a notch in the roofline) accommodates an outdoor dining room, with a tree-fern garden.

From above, one even may make out an open bird’s beak. Which works nicely with the idea that the house has wings. But that’s my thought, not the architect’s.

For Bridgland, the diamond cutout serves as a fulcrum around which the house’s social and private halves pivot.

“The void makes a big difference,” he says. “It unlocks everything. It lets in a more intriguing quality of light. It shapes the view out and connection to the sky and draws the garden into the middle of the house.”

Bridgland says it also creates a more dynamic internal living space, with its sharply angled geometry and barn-like ridges: “It forces you to witness [the house] a bit more.”

Perhaps we do see what you see.

Mossy Point

Eurobodalla Shire 3 Sunrise Road $3.6 million-$3.9 million

3 2 1

Private sale

Agent: Modern House, Marcus Lloyd-Jones 0424 005 531

Units in Melbourne’s inner-urban areas have recorded a yearly rent rise of 46.7 per cent.

The newest investment hotspots

Using the latest Rental Report data, Domain has identified the Australian areas that provide the highest gross rental yields.

By SUE WILLIAMS

Looking for the newest Australian investment hotspot? The latest Domain Rental Report reveals how much rents and yields have risen in the past year, so you’ll be spoilt for choice.

If you’re choosing between capital cities by looking at rental yields, the way forward is clear. Sydney has seen the biggest jump over the past 12 months in both unit and house gross rental yields, according to the Domain figures, increasing by an astonishing 29.5 per cent and 13.2 per cent, respectively.

“Unit rents reached a record high after the steepest quarterly and annual increase ever recorded in the city,” says Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell. “For houses, gross rental yields are at their highest point since December 2020 in Sydney, following the fastest annual surge on record.”

Melbourne is in second place, with unit yields at 23.6 per cent and houses at 14.4 per cent, while Perth is in third place for units at 10 per cent and Brisbane is third for houses at 12.9 per cent.

When it comes to units, Brisbane has a yield of 9.7 per cent, Darwin is at 8.4 per cent, and Hobart is only slightly behind at 8.3 per cent. For house gross rental yields, Hobart is in fourth place at 10.7 per cent, and Darwin is fifth at 6.8 per cent.

“For houses, gross rental yields are at their highest point … in Sydney.”

But look more closely at suburbs in the current landlords’ market, and there is even more of a mixed bag.

The hottest hotspot nationally is Bass Hill in Sydney’s Canterbury-Bankstown region, with an annual rise in weekly unit rents over the past year of a whopping 62.8 per cent.

“It’s been a drastic leap!” says agent Carlos Tamayo of Agents’ Agency Network Partners, who has a two-bed unit for sale at $565,000, leased out at $580 a week.

“The problem is, we don’t have enough units available in Bass Hill, or in nearby Bankstown and Yagoona, and yet demand is high, as the ones we do have are close to shops and the train station, and prospective tenants have been offering more rent than we’re charging.”

Rents have gone up by 56.2 per cent over the year for units in Brisbane West and Flinders View, and 40 per cent in Collingwood Park. Agent Scott Reeves of Elders Real Estate says it’s just an excellent investment area.

“There are reasonable prices here and the way rents are going up … it’s now one of our most popular areas,” he says. “There’s a lot going for it in terms of shopping centres and [transport].”

In Melbourne, units are at their most attractive in the inner-urban part of the city, with a rent rise of 46.7 per cent.

A lot of that is the result of investors leaving the market over the past four or so years, believes Stephanie Evans of Belle Property Albert Park, because of the hike in interest rates and rising maintenance costs.

“This has reduced the stock available to rent, and with so many people wanting to live near the city centre, rents have gone crazy,” she says. “We’re hoping that increase in rent will now be the motivation for investors to start buying again, and we’re seeing the start of that.”

Your Private Garden Sanctuary

G04, 2 Bruce St, TOORAK VIC 3142

Introducing G04/2 Bruce Street, Toorak – an exclusive 3BR garden apartment designed by renowned architect Jolson and landscape designer Paul Bangay. Experience unparalleled luxury, blending spatial mastery with timeless decor. Private basement garage, a dedicated concierge service all in an unrepeatable Toorak location. The meticulously designed courtyard offers privacy, exclusive to this residence. Welcome to a lifestyle of distinction at Como Toorak, where luxury knows no bounds.

40 THE ANCHORAGE, NOOSA WATERS

An enviable, incomparable street in a quiet cul de sac of Noosa Waters, boasting a larger than most, idyllically north-facing site has a wide waterfrontage, knockout wide water views and a 180-degree panorama sweeping Mt Tinbeerwah to the Noosa Hill. There is no compromise when it comes to a striking contemporary residence. Inside it is clear, serious sophistication is at play. Natural light, via lofty ceilings, picks up the glow of

the Italian-tiled flooring drenching the vestibule and hallway. Look ahead to open plan living and dining areas where doors, the width of the residence seemingly disappear blurring indoors to out, and extensive undercover terraces that almost morph into the luminescent pool and spa and ‘spill’ to the water’s edge.

Price $6.5M

Spectacular Adelaide Hills Estate

Expressions of interest are being sought on this spectacular Hay Valley property of approx. 90 acres with magnificent stone bungalow homestead, indoor swimming pool, tennis court, multiple cottages, stone coach house and impressive infrastructure including stables for 18 horses.