Jamie Durie buys on Pittwater at Avalon

Celebrity landscape gardner Jamie Durie didn't stay away from Avalon for long, having quietly bought a $2.275 million waterfront.

The original 1960s Pittwater cottage has four bedrooms, a retro kitchen and a self-contained accommodation on the lower level.

Each floor includes a deck or terrace overlooking Pittwater and a sandstone pathway leads directly to the foreshore. The 1000sq m property was listed for $2.45 million.

The property replaces the hillside home the Manly-born Durie sold early last year. It was his whale-themed home that fetched $3.75 million.

He had teamed up with architect Walter Barda to create the home, which was designed to look like a whale. Planning and construction took three years.

The result is a complete original — topped off by an observation deck in the shape of a whale’s stomach, surrounded by a zinc roof designed to look like a whale’s tail.

Durie is no stranger to major renovations, having pioneered the ongoing renovation series, The Block in 2003. 

This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.