The sale of Trent Barrett's stunning waterfront Barrack Point home is expected to fetch more than $2 million and be one of the highest residential property sales for the Illawarra's southern suburbs this year.
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Barrett and wife Kylie have put their six-bedroom luxury home on the market in the wake of news they will relocate to Sydney for him to take up a position as coach of the Manly Sea Eagles in 2016.
The couple have lived at the prestigious 36 Headland Parade address for the past 12 years, and have raised their children - Romy 11, Bohden 10, Halle 6 and Mia 5 - there.
The house, set on 847 square metres, is tipped to crack the $2 million mark when it goes to auction because of its location and land size. Other homes in the street on smaller blocks have sold for around $1.2 million.
Ray White Shellharbour Oak Flats Group director Amanda Bonnici, who is selling Barrett's house with agent Ben Cohen, said it was the best home in Barrack Point.
"The design and layout of the home is first class and one-of-a-kind," Ms Bonnici said.
"Kylie Barrett has styled the home herself and has done an absolutely amazing job.
"Having grown up in the area, I know it is every local's dream to have the prime position of this home and the Barretts have certainly taken full advantage of it and done an outstanding job."
The Barretts bought the original property in 2004 and rebuilt it several years ago. They have lived there continuously, except for in 2007 and 2008 when they moved to England.
"Kylie and I were originally going to build a house at Saddleback Mountain and we went for a drive one day and came through Shellharbour and Barrack Point," Trent Barrett said.
"It was a little bit out of the road, so we didn't even know it was here, to be honest.
"Once we drove around the point, we fell in love with it, and bought a place almost straight away."
Temora-born Barrett moved to the Illawarra in 1996 to begin his professional career with the Illawarra Steelers, now part of the St George Illawarra Dragons joint venture.
He and Kylie lived in Wollongong and Balgownie before making Barrack Point their permanent home.
Barrett said they were attracted to the suburb because it offered a quiet and private lifestyle and was close to the beach and Little Lake Foreshore.
"There has been a lot happen here in the last 12 years with the bridge, the cycle tracks and the parks," he said.
"You can pretty much ride from here to Shellharbour and the tracks will end up going all the way through down to the marina."
Barrett said it has been an idyllic home, complete with solar-heated pool, to raise four children.
"It's nice and handy and great for the kids," he said.
"We can just sit out the front and watch the kids surf and ride their bikes.
"All of our kids surf and I try and surf but I'm not very good. It's really good for paddle-boarding out the front and jet-skiing. It's just a really good lifestyle."
Barrett said the large size of the home, with multiple family and entertaining areas including a spacious north-facing lounge and dining zone, had suited their family lifestyle.
"It is big, it takes some cleaning," he joked.
Barrett said he had mixed emotions about leaving Barrack Point.
"It's a little bit sad because it's such a beautiful house and we built it and this is the only house the kids have ever known," he said.
"It'll be hard to leave but whoever buys it is going to get a lovely house in a lovely spot."
Ms Bonnici said she was confident the sales price would set a new record for Barrack Point when it goes to auction on Sunday, August 16.
lturk@fairfaxmedia.com.au
