Australia’s most famous property heirs and heiresses

Welcome to a world where the now normal struggles to get a first home in an Aussie capital city usually don’t apply.

And it’s not even a matter of the Bank of Mum and Dad foregoing a few of their retirement dollars to chip in a couple of grand towards your deposit.

For the heirs and heiresses of the rich and famous — some of whom are billionaires — there’s no need to skimp on dining out or holidays for years.

And the first pad won’t be a tiny bedsit overlooking a freeway either — they’re likely to be moving into something way more grand, and ultimately being handed the keys to a family mansion in Vaucluse or Kew.

But you might be surprised to learn that not all children of famous Aussies are filthy rich.

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1. Robert Irwin

Like many 21-year-olds, Robert Irwin – son of the late legendary zookeeper and conservationist, Steve Irwin — still lives at home with mother, Terri, at Australia Zoo on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

His 27-year-old sister, Bindi, and her husband, Chandler Powell, and daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, also live there.

Robert, also a zookeeper, TV presenter and actor, did an amusing TikTok video two years ago called “New house alert – Take an exclusive look at my new place”, in which he showed off his new rental in the outback.

Spoiler alert: The front steps he’s “just put in” collapse on the way into the rusty tin shed and things don’t improve inside.

“This is just a great spot to entertain — these guys love it,” he says, pointing to the huge spider on the wall.

You might have thought that the offspring of famous Steve would have been set to inherit a fortune after his father’s death and be able to buy a mansion, but not the case — his life insurance was for just $200k.

Most of the money went to the zoo, which he and Bindi will no doubt own one day.

2. Justin Hemmes

The 52-year-old CEO of the Merivale Hospitality Group, Justin Hemmes, resides in a heritage-listed 7000sqm waterfront mansion called The Hermitage in Sydney’s Vaucluse, estimated to be worth about $200m.

In 2011, Justin moved in. And while many 39-year-olds these days add their personal touch to their first home by updating the kitchen doorknobs, he did a full-scale multimillion-dollar revamp of the 1831 Gothic residence that he and his sister, Bettina, grew up in.

“We had a lot of fun with maintaining the heritage component,” Hemmes told Vogue in 2015.

Five-metre steel-and-glass doors were installed to open up the ground floor to spectacular harbour views.

MORE: Billionaire Hemmes’ Aus $60m carpark plan exposed

3. Anthony Pratt

One of Melbourne’s (and Australia’s) most wealthy men is cardboard king Anthony Pratt, who inherited control of the huge $3.5bn Visy packaging business from his late father, Richard, in 2009.

And that’s not all he inherited: he and his family now reside in the heritage-listed Italianate mansion, Raheen, which has a 2ha garden in exclusive Kew now worth well over $100m.

Richard and his wife Jeanne had bought Raheen in 1981 from the Catholic Church for an unknown amount. Of course, they did an extensive reno, including a new wing designed by Glen Murcutt. And then Anthony did another big reno in 2016.

4. Francesca Packer-Barham

It’s a different story for Francesca Packer-Barham, granddaughter of late billionaire Kerry Packer, daughter of Gretel and Englishman Nick Barham, and niece of James Packer.

When she was 21 in 2016, she bought a Potts Point apartment for $2.1m and then, just four years later at the age of 25, sold it for $500,000 more.

Her next property was a whole-floor apartment with 360-degree views over Sydney in the Harry Seidler-designed­ building Horizon in Darlinghurst, bought for $16m.

That sold for a cool $27.5m last year via Highland Double Bay Malouf director David Malouf.

The young socialite was then considering buying a couple of apartments in the exclusive Billyard Ave, Elizabeth Bay development, but decided against it.

She’s now living in England, no doubt somewhere salubrious.

5. Christian Wilkins

Many might think model and actor Christian Wilkins, son of the well-known veteran TV presenter Richard Wilkins, might have also been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

But with five children to four different mothers, the celeb journo that’s been on our screens forever has a lot on his plate.

Plus, he had to take a pay cut recently at Channel Nine, down to a mere $200k, with reports his rock star lifestyle was under threat.

That had left Christian pretty much to his own resources, home at Dad’s place in Cremorne until 2020, when, at the age of 25, he bought his first home, a quirky one-bedroom terrace on a 65sqm block in Surry Hills, for $1.025m.

“It’s noisy even at 2am and I can never sleep, but I love it,” he told Stellar.

“I feel safe and accepted and I am so grateful for my community.”

Then last June, he sold it for $1.25m.

The plan was to spend more time in Los Angeles, working on his acting and presenting prospects. He had signed with an LA talent agency.

6. Josh Penn

It’s the children of hugely successful businesspeople that are well and truly set up, such as Josh Penn, one of Lowes Menswear CEO Linda Penn and dentist David Penn’s three children.

His folks bought him a two-bedroom apartment in Chatsworth House, Point Piper, across the road from the lavish family mansion, Villa Veneta.

Then there’s the family’s palace at Cap ‘d’ail in the south of France, currently being renovated, where Penn is intending on spending some time next year.

Thankfully, the Penn family, worth about $800m, do give back — Josh and his mum raised a whopping $84.3m at the recent Gold Dinner for the Sydney Children’s Hospital foundation.

7. Ryan Stokes

Old money always wins the day, with Ryan Stokes — son of billionaire Seven West chairman Kerry Stokes, 84, and his second wife, Denise Bryant — owning a string of property. Ryan, 41, holds senior board and executive roles within his father’s business empire, including CEO of Seven Group Holdings.

They also own two multimillion waterfronts in Palm Beach, Gold Coast, and they previously owned a two-bedroom penthouse in Walsh Bay, which they sold.

Dad Kerry made his fortune in Perth real estate, then through making the most of his opportunities at the Seven network and The West Australian, along with the profitable WesTrac Caterpillar machinery business. While not self-made, Ryan brings in the dollars these days, reportedly taking home $11.69m in pay.

8. Jess Ingham

There are so many billionaire heirs and heiresses in the famous Ingham chicken family that it’s hard to pick one to focus on.

But probably most interesting is Jess Ingham, the 36-year-old granddaughter of the late Jack Ingham, the co-founder of the family chook empire.

Ms Ingham married building tycoon Roger Zraika, the nephew of jailed drug dealer Hassan Zraika, at The Mint, in Sydney’s CBD, in 2021. They have a three-year-old son called Nemer. She also has an eight-year-old daughter, Mimi, from her first marriage to Alex Macris.

The family lives in a luxury three-bedroom apartment, right above John Laws, in the Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo, which she bought at the age of 27 in 2016.

She had it briefly on the market two years ago with a $15m price guide, but later decided to keep put their plans to find a larger family home on ice.

“After celebrating Christmas and New Year there, we decided the time wasn’t right to sell,” she told the AFR.

Her mum, Sue, may have helped her with the initial purchase. She sold her ‘private sanctuary’ in Darling Point for $14.05m last year via Highland Double Bay’s David Malouf.

9. Peter Holmes à Court

Peter Holmes à Court, 57, the eldest son of the late billionaire businessman Robert Holmes à Court and Janet Holmes à Court, is based in Kenya with his wife, the American photographer and humanitarian Alissa Everett.

He also penned his autobiography, House Riding With Giants, but Aussies will remember him most as the joint owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs with Russell Crowe from 2006 until 2014.

He sold a 145-hectare Mittagong property called Chain of Ponds, which he owned with his former wife, Divonne, for more than $6m in 2014, which he’d bought a decade before for $3,405,000.

10. Jackson Warne

The son of late cricket legend Shane Warne, 26-year-old Jackson Warne, is showing signs of being a lover of real estate like his dad, establishing business relationships with the likes of property tycoon Tim Gurner.

Last year he was announced as the face of Gurner’s $150m private members club, Saint Haven, and its offshoot called Saint.

“So excited to be an ambassador for the new @saintprivateclub!’ he said in a clip shared to Instagram.

Jackson, and his siblings Brooke, 27, and Summer, 23, inherited almost all of their late Dad’s $21m fortune, or about $6.41m each.

His estate included $5m in the bank; a $6.5m Melbourne home by the sea, about $3m in shares and $2m worth of personal belongings, including a jet ski. The bank of Dad should set the young Warnes up very nicely.

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