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Conveyancers must always be wary of funny business: the entertainment industry can be both a help and a hindrance when it comes to screen-famous real estate – particularly properties where the exterior alone has become well-known for appearing in a TV show or movie.
Take, for example, Sydney’s 83 Moncur St, Woollahra, a freestanding block of units used in the 1970s primetime soapie Number 96.
In a show that shocked with sex scenes, nudity and gay characters, the four-storey eight-pack had a racy reputation. However, Woollahra is, in fact, a quiet, genteel and upmarket suburb.
Flats in Number 83 are tightly held. The last sale we can find is a two-bed with one bathroom and no parking that went for $1,150,000 in 2019.
§ The Castle
If the 1970s are a little too distant, how about the beloved 1997 comedy The Castle? The hit film follows the Kerrigan family’s battle against compulsory acquisition for a measly offer of $70,000.
As patriarch Darryl Kerrigan would say: “Tell ’em they’re dreamin’!” Their house in fictional Coolaroo was actually at 3 Dagonet St, Strathmore, on the edge of Melbourne’s Essendon Airport. The by-then dilapidated weatherboard house was sold in 2017 for $40,000 – minus the block of land – and relocated to Beechworth where it’s been restored as a family home. Townhouses now occupy the Strathmore site.
The Kerrigans also had a holiday shack at lakeside Bonnie Doon, which exists and can be rented on Airbnb. The house name, of course, is “Serenity”.
§ Neighbours
Ramsay St, Erinsborough is the fictional Melbourne cul-de-sac where the characters from TV’s Neighbours (1985-2025) lived. It’s actually Pin Oak Court, Vermont South, about 20km east of the CBD.
With at least six homes featured, permissions could have been difficult, but all residents signed up and were paid for their trouble. They deserved to be: the location, once it became known, attracted busloads of fans.
Houses in Pin Oak Court are today valued at $1.3 million to $1.6 million.
§ Mother And Son
Another victim of progress was the Mother And Son house at 16 Rickard St, Rodd Point, in Sydney’s inner west.
The 1984-94 ABC sitcom starring Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald featured the 1927 brick exterior and streetscape. The house sold in 2014 for $1.95 million, replaced by a modern duplex. Relatively few bidders remembered the show: the appeal was the bayside location 9km from Sydney’s CBD. Nearby houses now sell for up to $5 million.
§ Kath & Kim
You’ll be disappointed if you go looking for the original house from 2002 sitcom Kath & Kim. The “Fountain Lakes” house at 4 Lagoon Place in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Patterson Lakes sold for $1.485 million in 2016. It was demolished in 2022. However, the owner first held a fan day to raise funds for a cancer charity, which was a “noice” gesture.
§ Packed To The Rafters
The three-bed Packed To The Rafters (2008-13) house at 8 Riverview St, Concord, in Sydney’s inner west, sold last year for $3,635,000. The marketing appears to have made no mention of its TV history but, smartly renovated in a prime location, it was hardly needed.
§ The Secret Life Of Us
Channel 10’s The Secret Life Of Us (2001-05) revolved around young adults living in an apartment block in Melbourne’s St Kilda. The exterior was 14A Acland Street, with rooftop scenes filmed a short distance away at 22A The Esplanade.
Described as a “brilliant” block of a dozen older-style flats, the Acland St units have been valued from $500,000 to more than $800,000.
The TV link may have faded but it’s still a hip location. The median price for a St Kilda unit is about $510,000.