Home Beautiful’s favourite Australian celebrity homes

The stunningly renovated Elsternwick home of fitness guru Sam Wood and his wife, Snezana, is a testament to the life they’ve built together – sleek, sexy and seriously high-end. We had a chat with the man himself about the essential ingredients it took to make this “quintessentially Melbourne” house a home for their family of six.

After soliciting her social media followers for recommendations, Zoe found interior designer Evalyn Nicolas of Design Studio 407 to help make over their five-bedroom, tri-level house in a harbourside suburb on Sydney’s North Shore. In their revamped Sydney home, Benji and Zoe love having several entertaining spaces, kids’ zones and a cinema room for family and friends. Plus ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bedrooms.

The big block with plenty of space for their two Groodles sealed the deal for Brisbane couple Ebony and Eric when buying this home. The couple extended and renovated the 1920s Queensland worker’s cottage before listing it for sale in March 2024 – though not before we got the chance to see the home in all its glory!

While this home didn’t technically belong to AFL legend Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin and his model/author/entrepreneur wife Jesinta when Home Beautiful visited, they’ve since moved in with their two young children. We got the chance to behold the work of its former residents Dominee, a designer and interior stylist, and her builder husband Ben, who created this home worthy of a celebrity couple.

Considered, clever and warm, like its owner, the home of Wendy Moore is truly special. It’s not just about how it looks – sophisticated yet relaxed with a subtle Art Deco nod – it’s about a feeling; friends are welcomed with hugs and cups of tea, family gathers for intimate celebrations or casual drop-bys, and the stuff of life unfolds. As she prepared for Christmas 2023, the Selling Houses Australia host welcomed us inside. 

She’s one of Australia’s most-loved TV personalities, but Edwina Bartholomew is also a keen renovator. The multi-talented Aussie celebrity let us take a look inside Warramba – an 1890s homestead in New South Wales’ Capertee Valley, that Edwina and her husband Neil have lovingly restored, with a modern country appeal that’ll make you weak at the knees.

An appreciation of all things beautiful along with a fascination with colour is seen in every space in the quirky, 1959-built Adelaide home that Poh and her former partner Jonathan spent years slowly retweaking. With its mezzanine levels, concrete floors and bursts of colour, the home is an ideal fit for the artist and MasterChef Australia judge who can’t go past a piece with history. 

Practical meets polished in the former home of the Better Homes & Gardens TV hosts. The ground-floor two-bedroom eastern Sydney coastal abode has a stunning view out to the Pacific and interiors that are just as spectacular. “Everything here is about being practical for having a young family,” says Juliet, who cleverly mixes more affordable buys with high-end finds.

Warm and welcoming, understated and charming. If, as they say, a home reflects the people who live in it, there’s surely no better example than that of lawyer-turned-chef, MasterChef winner, author, TV presenter and now podcast host Adam Liaw. For Adam’s family, their former Sydney home and the pieces that dwell in it are a true reflection of their personalities and the way they love to live.

Between work commitments and the rush and rumpus of family life, the Channel Seven presenter and her husband, Tony, wanted their architecturally designed home in Sydney to be a cocoon of calm for their family, which includes their sons, Gus and Archie, and their two gorgeous French bulldogs. With a relaxed boho aesthetic and treasures the family has collected over the years, the couple achieved just that.

Home Beautiful visited Larry Emdur and wife Sylvie’s majestic cliff-clinging home in Sydney. As you glide through the spectacular double-height entrance foyer, it feels like the edge of the earth. Floor-to-ceiling glass means the lounge room is an enviable viewing platform for the coastline. It really is all about the views at the TV larrikin’s home.

It’s difficult to believe that the winding, bumpy, often single-lane road that leads to Tara Dennis’s home by the river is just an hour and a bit from Sydney’s heart. Dwarfed by giant gum trees, the road is often engulfed in fog or crossed by the odd wallaby. “The other night, there was an echidna going across it,” smiles the long-time TV presenter and interior designer, who now works full time running her two Pepperwhites homewares stores in Sydney’s Wahroonga and Balmain.

When the Sydney-born Getaway presenter moved to Victoria to be with her farmer husband, she admits there was quite a bit to get used to. “At first I felt like a square peg in a round hole,” she says. While she initially thought she would have to choose one life or another, she soon discovered that living “a hop, skip and a jump” from the local airport meant that she could maintain her frequent flying and still live happily in the country. “I’ve learned to love my life on the farm,” she says.

As the top chef and head honcho at some of the country’s swishest and most celebrated eating establishments, you could be forgiven for thinking the last thing Matt Moran would want to do when he steps through the very private entrance to his eastern suburbs home is turn on the burners. But for this father-of-two, cooking at home is far from work. He invited us along for a tour of his place.

Sophistication combines with easy elegance in the charming former home of legendary Australian cricketer and commentator Glenn McGrath, his wife Sara, and their children, James, Holly and Madison. Shades of cerulean and royal blue create a tranquil first impression, echoing the peaceful waters nearby that lap gently at the rear edge of their property in Sydney’s south.