Images: Instagram via @courtneyadamo / realestate.com.au
It’s a trying time for those with a mortgage right now, but even more so for those with multiple mortgages, as mum-of-five Courtney Adamo has discovered. Long-term dreams for summers spent soaking in the sunshine at ‘Sandy Pines House’ and walking barefoot to the beach from her family’s mid-century-inspired holiday house in Minnie Water on NSW’s north coast are coming to an end.
NEED TO KNOW
- Content creator Courtney Adamo has listed her Minnie Water holiday home for sale.
- The family has owned the property since March 2021 and announced they were selling in September 2026.
- Now known as Sandy Pines House, it was designed and sustainably built with the help of Balanced Earth.
- Courtney Adamo now has two homes for sale: their family home in Bangalow and holiday home in Minnie Water.
- The Minnie Water home is for sale through Lifestyle Coffs Harbour.
The Blackbutt timber-filled home, framed by Norfolk pines, that Courtney and husband Michael “poured our hearts into building” and hoped to still own when grandchildren came along, will be theirs no more. The content creator has regrettably put the property up for sale – joining their primary home in Bangalow, which is already on the market and has been since January 2025.
“We just can’t afford to own two homes,” Courtney tells Home Beautiful. “We tried to sell our Bangalow home (it’s actually still on the market), but it hasn’t sold yet, so we’re hoping we might have more luck selling the Minnie Water home.”
Their Minnie Water holiday house, which was available to rent on Airbnb, was a labour of love for the Adamo family. They “got the keys” to the property in March 2021 and rebuilt it from the ground up, with the knock down of the asbestos-ladden, termite-ridden building that formerly stood on the block taking place months later.
“Can’t wait to be sitting on the front deck watching the whales,” Courtney shared at the time, along with renders of their holiday home. Architectural plans and the build were by Balanced Earth, which specialises in sustainable materials, using hemp and other environmentally-friendly products.
Construction was completed by the end of 2022. “Not sure I’ll be able to sleep with excitement,” shared Courtney in December of that year, one week before the family moved back in. Since then, the Adamo family has enjoyed stays at the property, as have their rental accommodation guests, but four years on, things are not going how they planned.
“We really tried to keep this home – we had hoped to retire there and welcome our kids and grandchildren some day,” Courtney reveals to Home Beautiful. “It’s sad when the hopes and dreams you have don’t pan out like you hoped, but we’ve just been too financially stretched with two mortgages, and something has to give.”
What may feel like a despondent letting go for the Adamos will be the opportunity for a new start for someone else. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home is listed for sale with Sam Hinton from Lifestyle Coffs Harbour and is open to “expressions of interest”.
“We really hope that another family will purchase the house and love it and care for it like we have,” says Courtney. “It really is such a special place.”
See the real-estate listing for further details.
