2024’s favourite Australian homes, as chosen by you!

After moving from inner-Melbourne to regional Victoria, The Block 2011 contestants Josh and Jenna began work on a homestead nicknamed ‘The Castle’. “It’s perched up on a hill overlooking Rutherglen, so it had the presence of a castle,” explains Jenna.

The pair shared the process of taking it from unliveable conditions to a warm and inviting family home. This included the installation of a brand new shiny galvanised iron roof and bullnose verandah, a whimsical and nostalgic guest bedroom and a rumpus room painted in a serene shade of green, plus an extension that was designed to take advantage of the property’s glorious views. 

This year, interior designer and Block judge Darren Palmer let Home Beautiful inside the gorgeous home he shares with husband, Olivier Duvillard, their teenage son and two dogs, Frankie and Razzie. As a judge on The Block, it was no surprise that Darren’s own home became a reader’s favourite, with the sandy pink tones, unique artworks and minimalistic design winning us over.

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. Some of his favourite details? The combo of three things: dark parquetry flooring, high ceilings and arches, and steel frame windows. 

Bianca, who is originally from Adelaide, and Nick, a surfer boy from Queensland, were up for a tree change. They went to check out this property and were met with the romantic reality of a 1900s two-bedroom farmhouse, Paul Bangay-designed garden and rolling paddocks.

With its wide verandahs, rambling roses, leafy vegie patches and 41 Black Angus cows, this picturesque place wouldn’t be out of place in a Beatrix Potter story.

The waterfront beach shack owned and renovated by journalist and TV personality Samantha Armytage is a favourite with Home Beautiful readers for a reason—its all-white colour palette and laid-back coastal aesthetic epitomises what many of us want in a beach house.

After spying a run-down home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, serial renovators Alex and Janette Stritt, a husband and wife building and design team, embarked on a full knockdown and built this Hamptons-style abode in its place. With its airy interiors and classic Hamptons colour palette, the result is simply bliss.

As soon as Zoe found interior designer Evalyn Nicolas of Design Studio 407, the renovation of her family’s newly-purchased home took off. “She had such incredible ideas,” says Zoe.

The five-bedroom, tri-level house in a harbourside suburb on Sydney’s North Shore was so “impressive in scale,” explains Evalyn – bigger than the Marshalls’ previous home in Sydney’s Inner West – and deserving of updates that would do it justice. The results are absolutely stunning, including an entire wing of the house that’s designed just for Zoe.

Annabel was pregnant with her and Thomas’s eldest son when they first moved to Avalon, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. After the birth of their younger son, the pair engaged architect Andrew Barnyak to plan their new home.

With council approval granted for the two-storey Hamptons-style property, and with the build well underway, Annabel could turn her attention to the fun stuff, with help from interior designer Janette Stritt. By completion of the project, the cottage they first found was a far cry from the graceful, family home that now stands in its place.

With its wrap-around sandstone verandah, large swimming pool and expansive, park-like garden, its not a surprise that the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home owned by Recipetin Eats founder Nagi has been a favourite with Home Beautiful readers this year.

Tasked to create a modern coastal home that was functional and beautiful, Amy devised a palette that incorporated engineered timber floors, stone features and quality fixtures.