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 million at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

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 undertook an extensive cosmetic renovation, calling in award-winning designer Yasmine Ghoniem of YSG Studio to reinvent the 696-square-metre block.

And reinvent she did. Ghoniem transformed the Barrenjoey Road property into a luxe Mediterranean-inspired seaside home.

It must be a relief then that the Johnsons 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.

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 become 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 in 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 with a different agency last year. But the couple have still done well for themselves considering they tried offloading it back in 2018 as well with a price guide of $17 million to $17.5 million.

The seven-year wait has ended up adding about $1 million to its value each year.

They purchased the Golden Triangle block for $3.965 million 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.

They sold through Michael Coombs of Atlas who declined to comment when contacted.

It turns out the Athas family hasn’t moved far at all – settled earlier this year on a $25.22 million house, in Amanda’s name, just steps from Balmoral Beach, which they bought from Kristine Healy, widow of the late Healy Optical’s David Healy.

The couple is 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 off in a lottery to fundraise for the RSL, local sources say.

While the stunning home is a rarity with so few homes on the ridgeline and even fewer that come on the market, it is the second snapped up by the RSL.

It 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 its 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 he purchased 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.