'Living in a design museum': Inside Larry Emdur's Kangaroo Valley home for sale

Despite having fallen hard and fast for spectacular Kangaroo Valley eco-retreat Sky Ridge in mid-2020, TV host and anchor Larry Emdur and his wife Sylvie have already relisted it, citing a clash of work commitments and new property projects.

The striking house, constructed of steel, glass and shipping containers, was designed by architect Alexander Michael in 2018 and captured the Emdurs’ imagination immediately.

“Sylvie saw it in the local paper and threw it at me saying, “Look at this!’,” Emdur recalls. “It was like nothing else we’d ever seen; we went to see it as soon as we could and it was even more amazing in the flesh – it was mind-boggling.”

Rising from the ground like a futuristic bolt-hole, the house has a tough exterior, save for the cheerful yellow of the container doors that serve as shutters for the huge glass windows.

The couple paid $2.15 million for the furnished property, keeping the interior set up exactly as Michael had intended, with its lights fashioned from gas cylinders, tennis net balustrade and unusual collection of curios.

“It’s like living in a design museum,” Emdur says. “Everywhere you look, there’s something different; thousands of books. It’s a very beautiful, bizarre and fascinating place.”

Raw, exposed metals and polished concrete floors continue the industrial theme, but the vast living room is softened by the warmth of the signature double open fireplaces and by the expansive couches, from which you can enjoy views over the valley. In warmer weather, the glass retracts completely for immersion in the surrounding nature.

Upstairs, four pod-like mezzanine bedrooms with en suites (one with a free-standing bath) also capture bushland views from all angles.

Set on four hectares, the eco-friendly property is run off-grid and suited to peaceful weekends absorbed in nature.

The Emdurs like to relax around the outdoor fire pit and are often joined by kangaroos and wombats.

A self-confessed “typical eastern suburbs Sydney guy”, Emdur says he has relished the opportunity to embrace his inner lumberjack, though it didn’t come easily.

“[I] had to ask the guy in Bunnings how to turn the chainsaw on, but I got there,” he says with a laugh. “I got all the safety gear.

“I wanted to fill the timber storage unit up myself just as a little token thing to feel like a real lumberjack guy and I did that, and it was kinda fun. So now, I enjoy getting there and wiping off all my TV makeup and putting on my dirty boots and getting stuck into it.”

The trouble is, as host of both Seven’s The Morning Show and The Chase Australia, and with his new memoir Happy As out and another book in the works, free weekends are in desperately short supply.

Not to mention that the couple’s stays in the house compete with a busy Airbnb calendar, whereby the property earns its keep with rent upwards of $1000 per night.

“Now, I just look at my diary and say, ‘It’s not going to happen’,” Emdur concedes. “It’s a great business, but I don’t want to be a business owner; that’s not why we bought it.

“We decided we didn’t want to drive to Kangaroo Valley just to do maintenance. It deserves to be loved and appreciated.”

Any spare time the couple do have has been focused on their real estate ventures on the other side of Sydney at Berowra Waters, where they recently acquired a second property in as many years – a dilapidated house on a remote block at Neverfail Bay for $1 million.

The Emdurs’ nearby weekender is an architect-designed waterfront pad they snapped up for $1.1 million in late 2019.

In 2021, they sold an investment apartment for a touch over $1 million, while earlier this year, the couple offloaded their apartment in the 1924 Cadbury factory conversion in The Rocks for a reported $4.3 million. They bought it in 2017 following the sale of their $11.5 million Dover Heights mansion.

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679A Mount Scanzi Road, Kangaroo Valley NSW 2577

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The couple’s son, Jye, of TRG, is selling the property. He says his father has boosted Sky Ridge’s profile and appeal.

“He’s worked hard to [make the property] such a successful short-term rental and maximise the unique experience for all guests,” he says.

“He’s also managed to turn it into an online media star in its own right, and it is now a favourite getaway for many celebrities.”