
Jamie Durie considers selling luxury Avalon mansion as he receives a shock offer he can't refuse - after battling disputes with disgruntled neighbours
But now it seems the happy couple, who moved into their dream mansion in November with their two children, may be ready to give it all up for money.
The celebrity gardener, 55, who purchased the home for $2.275 million in 2015, received a private offer of more than $30 million on the property, reported The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
'We've spent 10 years planning and building our family home and we love it,' Durie said.
'We received an unexpected offer in the mid $30 million and are now warming to the idea of spending some time on our hobby farm with the kids while they are young.'
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Durie said the six-bedroom Avalon mansion was not listed for sale, as the family sank $3 million and 10 years into building the sustainable forever home.
Despite the hurdles along the way, Durie forged ahead, determined to create a lavish multi-level mansion for his family with sustainability as its bed rock.
However, after receiving such a hefty offer, which would put at least $24.775 million in profits in his pocket, Durie is prepared to look at other 'off-market offers'.
'We have not listed or advertised the home but have asked McGrath to manage any off-market offers moving forward and we remain open minded either way, as we love living here,' he said.
Durie, Jane and their two children, Beau, three, and Nash, two - Durie shares a third child Taylor, 26, from a prior relationship - moved into the home in November.
The million-dollar design saw the original 1960s four-bedroom cottage pulled down and replaced with a sprawling six-bedroom mansion.
The lavish home, which Durie described as 'innovative, sympathetic and responsive to the topography of the site', boasts a pool, gym and media room.
He bought the property for $2.275 million in 2015 and later purchased his Byron Bay hinterland 'hobby farm' in 2023 for $3.625 million.
Durie chronicled the three-year build of his Avalon Beach home, following several years of design, in his new show Growing Home.
The documentary-style program shows all the little details which went into bringing Durie's sustainable dream to life, creating a home which 'maximised everything we wanted out of a house without compromise' all while treading lightly on the planet.
'I've always wanted to make a show that focuses on sustainable building, not just in the home but in gardens,' he told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
'For me, if we were going to make a show about sustainable building, then we should practise what we preach and show our house first. So that's what we did.'
But the build, which he dubs the 'Trojan horse of sustainability', has not been without a few hiccups for Durie along the way.
The landscaping guru was granted approval in April 2022 by the Northern Beaches Council over his development application (DA) for the waterfront property, despite receiving more than 50 objections from angry locals.
His plans to knock down a 1960s cottage and replace it with a sprawling six-storey mansion for his family was first met with opposition from neighbours who objected to the removal of 17 native trees.
Durie previously clarified 1,518 native and endemic species will be planted on and around the property.
'We've rectified the issue and I have sent a letter to all the neighbours and the council explaining what's happening and so hopefully they will see with our new plans,' he said on Today Extra in 2021.
Neighbours then had an issue with whether the home's construction would impact the ecosystem of a local microbat colony.
Durie admitted to Woman's Day he was 'sorry' for the stress the gargantuan build had put on Jane and their children.
'It's been the toughest project I have ever taken on in my whole life,' Durie said, adding: 'I'm sorry for the stress this has put on our family.'
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