A home in Newport known by locals as the ‘Copper House’ and designed by world-renowned architect Peter Stutchbury has hit the market with a coveted beachfront offering.

Marketed by agents Emma Blake and Sasha de Bilde of Ray White Northern Beaches, the residence’s vendor Andrew Moore has lived at the home for six years with his wife Jo and their two sons that he said was known to locals as the ‘Copper House’ due to its distinct architectural elements.

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7 Myola Rd, Newport sits on the beach with a hot tub. Images: Supplied

The home is known to the locals as the Copper House

The idyllic four-bedroom, three-bathroom property at 7 Myola Road includes a prime positioned hot tub that soaks in the ocean views.

Arriving at the homes, Japanese-inspired gardens sit at the entry, with open-plan spaces that connect via expansive glass doors that open north and east to the beach.

Inside the home, its open-plan design and vistas were some of the family’s favourite features.

Japanese inspired gardens welcome residents and guests

The entry of the home

Built by Bellevarde Constructions in 2006 using concrete, timber, glass, bronze and copper throughout, Mr Moore said the reported build cost was over $7m when completed. No price guide for the current sales has been made publicly available.

Mr Moore said the beachfront deck with a hot tub was his favourite part of the home that the family used all of the time.

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The Newport home boasts an open-plan layout

The kitchen boasts an island bench with Italian copper benchtops

Synonymous with its name, the kitchen boasts an island bench with Italian copper benchtops and a walk-in butler’s pantry.

Additional spaces in the home include a study, media room and 1,000 bottle wine cellar.

On the uppermost level sits three bedrooms that feature custom built-ins and copper louvres.

The master suite enjoys ocean views with an ensuite and glass doors opening to the coastal panoramas.

“You can lie in bed and literally watch the surf at Newport peak,” Mr Moore said.

“It’s a house where people love to drop in.

“We had many impromptu visitors and parties over the years.”

The ocean can be seen from the comfort of your bed

Outside the home sits a 23m hydronic heated lap pool, hot tub, outdoor shower and built-in barbecue with the property also affording its residents direct beach access.

Mr de Bilde said the property previously rented for $50,000 over a 10-day Christmas period.

“Most surrounding homes are used as holiday houses,” he said. “This could suit a family, an older couple or serve as a holiday home.”

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Australia’s electric vehicle dream is rapidly turning into a nightmare for thousands of households.

While the government pushes EVs, your shiny new electric car could be pushing your home’s power supply, running appliances, heating, cooling, lighting and then plugging in a car overnight is tipping homes to the brink.

The solution lies not in drawing more expensive electricity from the grid, but in adding solar batteries to create balance, resilience and independence.

According to Steven Yu, CEO of Aussie Solar Batteries Group, batteries are now the critical piece missing from Australia’s clean energy transition.

“Solar panels alone won’t cut it anymore,” Yu said.

“When you add the charging needs of an electric car to an already stretched household load, you hit the limits of the grid and your wallet. A solar battery solves the problem, it stores free energy during the day and makes it available when you need it most, including charging your car at night.”

The new household challenge: powering cars and homes

According to the Electric Vehicle Council, a typical passenger EV, driven 12,000km per year, will consume about 2,000kWh of electricity per year.

By comparison, a typical mainland Australian home consumes about 4,000-8,000kWh of electricity per year (depending on whether they use gas for cooking/heating or not).

That means families that once managed their power bills are suddenly dealing with almost double the demand.

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The average electric vehicle draws as much power annually as an entire household, effectively doubling a family’s energy demand.

For small businesses adding EVs to their fleets, the challenge is even greater.

“Installing a battery is the sensible thing to do and now thanks to rapid progress in technology there are plenty of affordable battery options available for households and businesses,” Mr Yu said.

“Thanks to the federal government, the financial incentives have just got even better.”

Federal rebate making batteries affordable

As of July this year, the Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has made solving this problem far more accessible.

The program offers rebates of around 30 per cent off the upfront cost of eligible battery systems, equivalent to up to $372 per kilowatt-hour of usable capacity.

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The Federal Government’s new Cheaper Home Batteries Program has made battery systems around 30 per cent cheaper, with rebates of up to $372 per kilowatt-hour

The scheme is open to households, small businesses and community organisations nationwide. It is not means-tested, and applies to systems between five kilowatt-hours and 100 kilowatt-hours.

“This rebate is a game-changer,” Mr Yu said.

“It means Australians can add battery storage for less and finally have the power capacity to run their homes and charge their vehicles without compromise.”

Savings and energy independence

A well-sized solar battery system can cut household energy bills by up to 70 per cent, saving families between $1500 and $3000 annually.

For businesses, particularly those operating EV fleets, savings can reach tens of thousands of dollars each year.

“Every dollar saved on power is a dollar that can be redirected into families and businesses,” Mr Yu said.

“Batteries don’t just save money, they give households and businesses the independence to manage their energy on their own terms.”

For households, this can cut energy bills by up to 70 per cent, saving between $1,500 and $3,000 a year.

However, Mr Yu emphasised that many current solar enabled households are now experiencing financial challenges despite the early financial benefits of solar.

The export tariff, which is money paid to households for selling solar generated power during the day to the grid, is $0.03 – $0.05.

Ridiculously, households still need to buy the same electricity from the grid during the night at a much higher rate of $0.35 -$0.69.

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The federal government shutdown is set to reach one month on Saturday, and the impacts are being felt by many Americans, including seniors who are struggling to access food, health care and a variety of support services.

An article published last week by national senior advocacy group AARP highlighted some of the difficulties being faced by older Americans. One example involves a 79-year-old Seattle-area resident who was no longer receiving telehealth benefits through Medicare.

AARP noted that the woman was seeking an appointment with her allergist but was told that Medicare wasn’t paying for virtual appointments. To avoid an out-of-pocket cost of $145, she was required to make an in-person visit.

Although the cost of gas, a ferry ticket from her island home and other travel expenses were less than $145, the situation might not have been resolved so easily if she were unable to drive.

“It’s traumatizing for someone who lives rurally, who’s not used to the traffic, to get on a big highway and travel into the city, into that milieu, for a doctor’s appointment,” the woman told AARP. The group said it is lobbying Congress for permanent telehealth waivers that were initially established during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A separate report published this week by NPR delved into the looming crisis for recipients of food stamps, who will see their benefits lapse Nov. 1 unless a solution is created.

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which serves 42 million Americans, hasn’t had its benefits disrupted since its creation in 1939, NPR reported. But a mid-October letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) told state agencies to not distribute November benefits “until further notice” due to insufficient funds.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has asked the USDA to partially pay for SNAP benefits through contingency funds. The nonpartisan research group claims that the government has a legal obligation to fund SNAP since it’s an entitlement program. But the USDA has said that its contingency funds are only meant for natural disaster recovery efforts, according to NPR.

The outlet went on to note that a coalition of more than two dozen Democratic governors and state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over the move. NPR also noted that some states are attempting to address the problem through local funding measures.

Local reporting by an NBC affiliate in Colorado noted that more than 600,000 residents in the state are dependent on SNAP benefits. Seniors account for more than 20% of beneficiaries nationwide, according to USDA estimates.

One resident who spoke to the outlet said she had to retire early to care for her mother and relies on SNAP benefits to make ends meet. “It’s unfair,” the resident said. “Having the basic essentials like food being threatened and taken away is traumatic.”

The distribution of federal retirement benefits are also being delayed. While the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is operating during the shutdown, its staff of 400 retirement personnel specialists are reportedly inundated and backlogged, according to reporting from an NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

The situation is exacerbated by the roughly 150,000 federal workers who accepted buyout offers earlier this year from the Elon Musk-led U.S. DOGE Service. Many left their government jobs on Sept. 30, while others will leave by the end of this year.

That will require the OPM to process some 60,000 new claims, which it’s attempting to do with a newly implemented technology system. The NBC report said that OPM had a backlog of 24,000 claims to process in August, with the average claim taking 70 days to move through the queue.

While these services and benefits are being impacted by the shutdown, the Social Security program is continuing to operate and recipients are receiving their monthly benefits. But a CBS News report said that other services handled by the Social Security Administration (SSA) — including verifications of benefits and processing of overpayments — may be disrupted.

Last week, the SSA announced a 2.8% increase in the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for beneficiaries in 2026. That amounts to a gain of $56 per month for the typical retiree.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and its CEO Nykia Wright have broadly acknowledged that things within the trade organization need to change. And while the trade group and its leadership team have taken steps in that direction, meeting with members across the country and pushing for improved transparency through efforts via its 2026-2028 Strategic Plan, some industry leaders don’t feel like this is enough. 

“NAR has this huge outreach program, and they are saying that they are having ‘hundreds of conversations’ — which they are, but when it comes down it, the actions that they have taken have been either willfully inadequate or they just aren’t doing anything,” said Dan Duffy, the CEO of United Real Estate Group and the appointed spokesperson for the otherwise anonymous 15-member working group.

Had to go public due to lack of response 

Initially, Duffy said the group did not want to go public with their efforts, but due to the lack of action on the part of NAR, he said they felt it was a necessary step.

“The reasons we are going public now is because we realized that change is not going to happen fast enough or be substantial enough if we do not keep the pressure on,” Duffy said. “We are doing this for every agent in the industry, we don’t care what brand they are from, the industry as a whole needs NAR to make changes.”

According to Duffy, the precursor to the formal working group began percolating over a year ago, as disgruntled large brokers left out of the NAR’s $418 million commission lawsuit settlement agreement met to air their grievances and discuss the changes they felt were needed within NAR.

What is now known as the Pro-Agent Restore Trust in NAR Working Group was formed in April 2025 and in the ensuing months the group said it has held multiple meetings with NAR via Zoom and has met with NAR in person. Through internal discussion and these meetings with NAR, Duffy said the working group has settled on six key issues it would like NAR to address. 

“The outcome of the commission lawsuits was incredibly damaging to a lot of companies financially,” said Duffy. “And the perception of the overall industry and the reputation of agents was just thrown against the wall because it was made to seem that we were all part of this conspiracy.” 

The need for independent governance

The issues the group has identified include the potential legal exposure caused by the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) in its current form, the legal risks imposed by the three-way Realtor membership agreement, the need for more transparency surrounding NAR’s restructuring plan, an increased need for independent governance, what they perceive as NAR’s “bloated” balance sheet, which they feel makes it a potential target for lawsuits, and for the disclosure of NAR’s financial interests in Second Century Ventures and how this NAR subsidiary benefits NAR members. 

Duffy said the group feels that the most pivotal issue is the need for independent governance within NAR. 

“The leadership team of NAR is the real board because that is where everything happens — they are the final arbiter of strategy, budget, everything,” Duffy said. “But when you look at that team, every single person there has worked their way up through volunteer boards and committees. Everyone there is well equipped to be in a senior leadership position, but the problem is, there is no divergence of opinions. Everyone got there by being agreeable to the ecosystem.” 

According to the working group, volunteer leaders are more likely to get promoted within the organization if they are agreeable and toe the organization’s line.

“None of them come from an outside publicly traded company or another nonprofit or are maybe the founder of a technology company,” Duffy said. 

The working group is pressing to include independent board members like these on the leadership team because they say they would have the ability to speak up and bring outside perspective, preventing questionable decisions, or choices that increase legal risk from being made. 

“Independent board members would fix everything because one of them would stand up and say, ‘We need to hire an outside attorney to look at this,’ or ask if a compensation plan is appropriate or competitive,” Duffy said. “That would stop things before they happened.” 

Ideally what they want to see is a small board with an odd number of members, with an equal number of independent and industry directors who are voted for certain term lengths. The final board member would be the CEO who will hold the only permanent position. 

Not more governance, just independent board members

“I want to be clear,” Duffy said, “We aren’t asking for more governance or for NAR to do more to govern brokers and agents. We are asking for them to have more independent governance inside their four walls and, if anything else, we want NAR to do less and stay in their lane.” 

While Duffy said the group is frustrated by NAR’s lack of action toward making any significant changes, they are optimistic that the changes and actions they hope to see are possible.

Just the start

“Right now, we are just in a rain band, the real excitement and energy around making change is the hurricane and the eye-wall is still off shore, but it is coming,” Duffy said. “This is the start of a campaign until change is made, and it is going to come closer and closer to shore and eventually it is going to hit.”  

For its part, NAR said it has had “productive conversations with this group” and looks “forward to continuing [its] conversations in the future.”

“While NAR will respect the privacy and confidentiality of these conversations and correspondence, we appreciate that industry leaders are, as they said, genuinely interested in being positive contributors to the process that NAR and its leadership team are undertaking to restore trust in NAR,” a NAR spokesperson wrote in an email.

Anna Chen laughs when she says she’ll be living on beans on toast for the next three months, but she’s only half joking.

After losing out for months to higher offers, the 35-year-old has finally beaten the competition to land a two-bedroom unit in the inner Brisbane suburb of New Farm for $840,000.

Her mortgage repayments will be about $800 a week, but she needs to spend another $45,000 renovating the unit before she moves in.

Anna Chen is a first homebuyer who has just taken on a mortgage and a renovation. Picture: Liam Kidston.

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“The first couple of months, I will have zero furniture, except for a fridge, and I’ll have to survive this summer without airconditioning,” Ms Chen said.

“I will be living on beans on toast for the next three months — I’m not even joking.”

But, unlike an increasing number of mortgage holders and renters who are dealing with the increasing costs of living expenses, Ms Chen is determined not to rely on credit to get by financially.

“I grew up in China, so there’s this idea of ‘always spend your own money’, so I don’t like the idea of taking on a loan,” she said.

This two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit in Langshaw St, New Farm, just sold for $840,000.

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“I have two credit cards. One I really don’t use and the other, I had a credit limit of $15,000 but my broker told me I needed to reduce it to $1500 to get my loan. What can I buy with that?! I can’t even buy an international flight ticket.”

It comes as new figures from credit score company, Illion, reveal the risk of Queenslanders defaulting on their credit cards in the next 12 months is rising, and more people are relying on credit to pay their bills so they can afford their mortgage and rent repayments.

“(These insights) are showing the greatest, most elevated level of credit stress among consumers since Covid,” Barrett Hasseldine, head of modelling at Illion, said.

A two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit in need of a renovation in this complex in Langshaw St, New Farm, just sold for $840,000.

“That in itself was something that we had hoped we had seen the worst of, and as interest rates are starting to come down again, hopefully there’s some of that easing pressure, but we’re not seeing the full effect of that yet.”

Ms Chen said despite the financial stress that would come with a mortgage, she couldn’t be happier to own her own home.

“I had a slight panic, thiking that I may never be able to get into the market,” she said.

“Now, I have this feeling — I’m finally home.”

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