Grant Hackett's Brighton family home is now for sale
- Owner: Grant Hackett, Olympic multi-gold medallist swimmer, and wife Sharlene
- The property: Modern and luxurious family sanctuary
- Address: 11 Rothesay Avenue, Brighton, VIC
- Expressions of interest: Close 12pm, March 18
Grant Hackett has spent much of this summer in the pool of his Brighton house, although the former Olympic swimmer concedes that these days, he’s more likely to be splashing about with his kids than swimming laps.
The multi-gold medallist, who now heads financial services firm Generation Development Group, and his wife Sharlene have turned the five-bedroom pad they bought in late 2021 into something of a haven for their kids – 18-month-old Olympia, Edward, 5, and Jagger, 15 (from his marriage to singer Candice Alley; they also share Charlize, 15).
Along with a pool, the garden has an in-ground trampoline and soccer nets. This is where Hackett says the family spends their downtime.
“Being CEO of a large company and being time-poor, when I’m off work, I just want to spend time with family at home,” Hackett says.
“There is always something for the kids to do regardless of their age. We like to go out, but we’re homebodies too, and we’ve set up our house to be like that.”
The couple acquired the large property on tree-lined Rothesay Avenue after almost two years of searching and were instantly taken with it.
Among its attractions were its peaceful cul-de-sac location, where neighbourhood kids are free to ride their bikes and shoot hoops, its proximity to the beach, and the way the house sat at an angle on the block, ensuring a 70-metre northerly aspect and glorious natural light.
“We wanted to be near the beach, we wanted a large block, we wanted a pool,” Hackett says. “We still wanted to have another kid, so we wanted enough room for a growing family.
“We were happy to do up the house a bit. Our mindset was: ‘You can’t change the street, you can’t change the block, you can’t change the location, but you can change the house.’”
Fast-forward to 2025 and the house has had a considerable renovation glow-up that marries contemporary with traditional.
“My wife would know the exact terminology I should be using here,” Hackett laughs. “It’s more of a contemporary, grand-style house.”
Across two storeys, there are two living zones, five bathrooms, a study space and enough bedrooms to house a growing brood.
Soaring ceilings and cleverly placed windows fill the space with sunlight.
A neutral palette, expanses of marble, pale timber herringbone floors and feature lighting all feel incredibly luxurious.
In the main-bedroom suite, a slab of lemurian blue granite from Madagascar forms a show-stopping backdrop in the double shower.
Paired with gold basins and tapware, and more marble, it is a calming space to unwind, Hackett says.
Hackett credits Sharlene’s design eye for the house’s glamorous new look, styled with her collection of fashion coffee-table books, crystals, marble vases and pastel-hued flowers.
His own passion project has been the gym they installed in a portion of the large garage, complete with backlit mirrors.
Hackett says he loves the convenience of training at home and can be regularly found lifting weights or rowing there.
So, why are the Hacketts moving so soon? They have bought a block “about 450 metres down the road” and plan to build their dream house with a lap pool for the freestyle champion.
“I’ve finally come around to wanting to swim [laps] again,” he says. “But my job is so busy and involves so much travel, it’s hard to actually get to a pool.
“I made a decision that I want to build a lap pool so I can have that as part of my fitness regime.”
The move has come five or so years earlier than the couple were anticipating, after they spotted the block for sale in a pocket of Brighton they had long loved.
It was an opportunity too good to pass up, Hackett reckons, despite their mixed feelings about selling up.
“We’re these sad people who are always looking on Domain,” he jokes. “Even when we’re not looking, we’re looking. We enjoy property – I think like a lot of Australians do, right?
“[The block] just came up as we were generally scanning. We were, like, ‘Should we do this?’ And we were like, ‘Aw yeah, but we’ve just done all this work to this house!’”
Plans and permits for the new pad are underway, and Hackett says it’s a good thing he and Sharlene enjoy the renovation and building process so much, and that they share a design aesthetic.
“I’m not sure how many couples are like this,” he reflects. “But we’re really aligned in terms of what we like and how we like to do things. We’re fortunate like that.”
One thing is for certain: the family plans to call Brighton home for a long time to come, having fallen in love with the community and bayside living.
“Brighton’s not far from the city, but it feels like you are away from the energy of the city,” Hackett says.
“I work in there all the time, so it’s nice to not feel like you need to go to a farm or something like that [to relax]. The lifestyle is really second to none.”
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