Ex-pat Creatives Buy in Suffolk

Another couple of returning ex-pats have washed up on the shores of Byron. Australian photographer Polly Borland and her husband, filmmaker and highly awarded commercial director John Hilcoat, have bought in Suffolk Park.

The couple emerged as the $2.1 million buyers of the quirky, modernist-inspired home in Suffolk Park that appeared on Grand Designs Australia last year. This home (pictured) was featured in a previous Hot Property edition.

The home was built by Mike and Megan Fishwick. Mike, a clothing designer, and Megan, founder of Feel Good Revolution took their inspiration from the internationally ­acclaimed 1951 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Illinois weekender for Dr Edith Farnsworth. They paid $645,000 for the 800 sqm block of land in 2017 in the Seacliffs rainforest ­estate developed by Jonathan Levy’s Unison Projects.

The couple lived in a caravan with their three children for almost a year while undertaking the project. The Foxtel LifeStyle channel presenter Peter Mad­dison suggested it was “a uniquely Aussie version of a modernist building”.

New owners, Borland and Hilcoat, resided in England until around 2011 and are returning from Malibu, California. Borland is a highly awarded photographer. Hilcoat, who directed the hit prohibition-era crime film “Lawless” starring Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf, has joined the creative collective agency Collider. He’s collected every major advertising award over his long career, shooting commercials for the likes of Nike, Apple, Samsung and Coca-Cola.