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Beach house that earns $450,000 a year sold for $11.3 million
The Palm Beach home of recruitment boss Jason Johnson and his wife, Portia, has been sold for $11.3 million.
Known as La Palma, the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property was a holiday home and investment property for the Bondi-based Johnsons, who purchased it for $9,175,000 at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
La Palma is the Palm Beach holiday home rental of recruitment boss Jason Johnson.Credit: Domain
Jason, who was a corporate lawyer before becoming founder and chief executive of search firm Johnson Partners, told this masthead when they listed that they had undertaken an extensive cosmetic renovation, calling in award-winning designer Yasmine Ghoniem of YSG Studio to reinvent the 696-square-metre block.
And reinvent it, she did. Ghoniem transformed the Barrenjoey Road property into a luxe Mediterranean-inspired seaside home.
It must be a relief, then, that the Johnsons have finally sold the property, albeit a touch under their initial asking price guide of $13.5 million when it hit the market in September last year.
Jason Johnson in his former renovated home La Palma.Credit: James Brickwood
The property ended up netting $450,000 in revenue a year from short-term letting and photoshoots, out-earning most Australians.
Being one of the few houses overlooking Palm Beach and Pittwater, it fetches $5500 a night at the peak of summer, with one booking over two weeks in Christmas totalling $77,000, Johnson said.
It sold to another Sydney family planning to use it as a holiday home.
“The market represents value for people who have patience on their side and can strategically identify opportunities at the right price,” said Sydney buyer’s agent Jeremy Bedwani, who represented the successful purchasers and declined to comment further on their identity. The buyers will be made public on settlement.
The property sold through BJ Edwards and David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach, who declined to comment when contacted.
Mosman downsizers
On the lower north shore, another prestige property seller has taken almost a year and a cut in price expectations to find a buyer.
The founder of surf retail chain Surfection, Chris Athas, and his wife, Amanda, have sold their Mosman trophy home at the upper end of its last price guide of $22 million to $24 million, local sources say.
It was first listed with a $28 million price guide, and with a different agency, last year. But the couple have done well for themselves given they tried offloading it in 2018 with a price guide of $17 million to $17.5 million.
The Athases sold their home at the upper end of its price guide.Credit:
The seven-year wait added about $1 million a year to its value.
The couple purchased the Golden Triangle block for $3,965,000 in 2001, and it was extensively redesigned by award-winning architects Burley Katon Halliday.
The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house has been transformed into a luxury home with state-of-the-art features and north-facing views of Middle Harbour.
The couple sold it through Michael Coombs of Atlas, who declined to comment when contacted.
It turns out that the Athas family hasn’t moved far, settling earlier this year on a $25.22 million house, in Amanda’s name, just steps from Balmoral Beach, which the two bought from Kristine Healy, widow of the late Healy Optical’s David Healy.
The two are also in-laws of Mosman-based James Sideris, who has a growing hospitality empire to his name, including Norma’s Deli, Butter Boy Cookies and Rollers Bakehouse. The bakery is locked with the Northern Beaches Council on its nanny-state order to remove outdoor seating because of “safety risks” this week.
Unlikely prestige buyers
Byron Bay is the playground of the rich, famous and wellness gurus, so it came as a surprise that the buyer of Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon’s home was the Queensland branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia.
The charity paid $9.7 million for the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house, and plans to sell the home in a lottery to fundraise for the RSL, local sources say.
The Queensland branch of the RSL has emerged as the buyer of Ben Gordon’s serene Byron Bay home.Credit:
While the stunning home is a rarity, with few homes on the ridgeline and even fewer coming onto market, it is the second snapped up by the RSL.
The league also purchased the neighbouring home for $10.55 million almost a year ago from the Miller family, who incidentally had some hand in designing and building both properties through Ziegler Build, according to the latter’s website.
While the lotto for that home is just days away from being drawn, Byron Bay real estate must be a good return on investment for the organisation, if this is its second property in a row.
No doubt it was a good return for born-and-bred local Gordon, given that he bought the 660-square-metre block for $2.45 million in 2019 – the price almost quadrupling in less than a decade.
The property was sold through Will Phillips of Sotheby’s International Realty Byron Bay, who declined to comment when contacted.