Inside musician Ben Lee and actor Ione Skye's 1860s Woollahra terrace

It’s really just as well singer-songwriter Ben Lee loves spending time in his Sydney home. For when the four-time ARIA award-winning artist is chatting to Domain, he makes a rather astounding revelation − he and his wife Ione Skye have been imprisoned in their Woollahra rental for the past four hours.

“The door handle came off on the inside, so we’ve been locked in,” Lee calmly explains, “We’ve called the property manager and they’re sending a locksmith over.

“It reminds me of being in hotel quarantine!” he adds, laughing.

Before long, Lee provides an update. Help has arrived, with the locksmith quickly securing the couple’s release. Not that Lee ever appeared fazed. Or perhaps ever does.

The amiable Sydney-born performer – who hit the music scene in 1992 at age 14 with the band Noise Addict before launching his solo career two years later – views every home, and life chapter, as an adventure.

“In show business, you never know what’s around the corner, so you try not to think in terms of permanence,” he says. “And there’s something really nice about that.

“It’s the true blue-collar nature of being an entertainer, and a song-and-dance family. You go where the work is, you stay and then you move on.

“You also realise that the real vibe – the real homeliness and what your values are – is what travels with you. You can make anywhere fun, because it’s the people who make it fun.”

Married since 2008 to London-born actor and artist Skye, Lee has a 23-year-old stepdaughter Kate, and his and Skye’s 14-year-old daughter, Goldie.

Based in Los Angeles for many years, the family moved to Sydney during the pandemic, then returned to the US.

“We came out here in 2021 and Kate stayed – she really fell in love with it here,” Lee says.

In March this year, the collaborating couple – who together host their Weirder Together podcast – headed back to our shores with Goldie. And, once again, it was a case of going with the flow.

“The older one’s at uni and the younger one’s at school, and they’re enjoying it, so we’re like, ‘OK, I guess we’ll stay,’” Lee says.

Certainly, the couple are happy to have found this Woollahra house − a c1860s, two-level terrace in the heart of the leafy eastern suburb.

They have made the house their own, transforming the ground level into what Lee describes as a “hip hotel lobby with seating everywhere”.

“There are five or six little seating areas, and it’s so cosy,” he says. “Ione paints, and she’s hung many of her paintings on the wall, which make it feel really homey.”

Intriguingly, Lee and Skye have handed over the main bedroom suite to Goldie.

“We made a strategic choice,” Lee says. “For teenage girls, it seems so important that they can have their own sanctuary.

“We figured, ‘Let’s give her the main bedroom and en suite and she can have her own little private universe up there.’ And it’s all worked out.”

Setting a warm and welcoming scene was a priority for Lee and Say Anything  star Skye, who have always loved to entertain.

“At our place in LA, our parties were a bit legendary,” Lee says. “We always found a bridge between Australians and Americans.

“If a band like Cub Sport were in town, we’d throw a barbecue for them and introduce them to lots of people.

“When you first show up in LA, it can be really isolating – especially as an Australian. So, we’d be like, ‘Come, we’ll throw a little party and you’ll leave with three or four people’s phone numbers, and then you’ve got some friends.’

“It’s been interesting because we’re now doing the same thing here, but in the other direction. We’ll throw a little dinner party and just bridge worlds.”

Fittingly, creativity is alive within the walls. The couple’s eclectic collectibles are peppered throughout, adding colour and movement, as well as a delightfully whimsical ambience, to the house.

For now, this is their happy place.

“Ione is much more of a nester than me, and Goldie too,” Lee says. “But I think we all value having a space that’s cosy, fun and playful – a space you want to be creative in.”

Lee is busy touring Australia,  and releases his latest album, This One’s for the Old Headz, on September 20.

“It’s an album about reckoning with the past, and about the spirit that initially got you excited about rock ‘n’ roll and about punk and what it’s like to hold onto that feeling as you get older,” he says.

“It’s really cool, because there’s the audience that grew up with me, and then there’s the younger audience who have discovered me through TikTok and younger artists who are into what I’ve done.

“The record really is for both audiences. I recorded straight to tape with a live band over three days – we kind of did it the way it used to be done.”

The lead single, Heavy Metal, is accompanied by a Nash Edgerton-directed music video shot on film.