The oceanfront estate in Rosedale transformed for private, high-end glamping

The concept of securing private oceanfront acreage as a secluded getaway is nothing new on the South Coast, as the likes of Nicole Kidman, bar tsar Justin Hemmes, and fashion pioneer Robby Ingham well know.

But there was nothing glamorous, luxurious or remotely designer about the De la Vega family’s plans for the Spotted Gum forest they bought at Rosedale in 1987 on which they simply wanted to go camping.

It was the ultimate in discretionary spending for Jane de la Vega and her then-husband, Argentinian-born property developer Jose de la Vega, who paid $180,000 for the 20 hectares in Rosedale.

“No one wanted it because you couldn’t build on it, but we did because we wanted to go camping,” said Ms de la Vega, a long-time Kiama local.

The bushland holding surrounding a private beach was a big departure from the landmark Sydney developments for which Jose de la Vega was famous, having been involved in the early stages of Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf and Walsh Bay Wharf.

It was also far simpler than the family compound Nicole Kidman envisaged when she bought three properties on the beachfront at Rosedale in 2004 for $4 million, and it lacked the luxury of Hemmes’ $7.5 million Glasshouse Rocks estate at Narooma or Ingham’s $10 million oceanfront parcel at Gerringong that now comes complete with a Nick Tobias-designed mansion.

However, The Camp, as it is became known, did go up market in the early 1990s when six Sydney Water Board relocatable huts were put on the site and fitted as basic bedrooms and separate kitchen, and art work room.

“We really didn’t ever want to build a house and would have been happy camping in the sheds forever but, after 12 years, council gave us 28 days to take the sheds away after someone complained that our ‘camp’ didn’t comply with the rules,” said Ms de la Vega.

“I was really afraid that once we built a house, our whole way of living there would change.

“I was nervous that with a big expensive and beautiful house hanging around my shoulders, I would feel obliged to get the vacuum cleaner out rather than the pastels or paints or shells or glue with my four girls.”

She needn’t have worried. The result designed by architect Julius Bokor created what he describes as “a small village in the forest rather than a large house” based around the huts that had stood on the site.

The unique series of six pavilions built from galvanised steel with polished concrete floors and zinc roofing houses interconnects bedrooms, living spaces, kitchen and an art room.

“The house was never to be showy pretentious or a statement of wealth. But, of course, it was built and designed so beautifully and with such attention to detail that it was very expensive,” Ms de la Vega said.

The labour of love was conceptualised over three years and built at a cost of $2.5 million.

Almost 20 years after it was completed, Ms de la Vega is begrudgingly ready to sell it, listing it for $8 million to $8.8 million through Ken Jacobs, of Christie’s International, and David Matthew, of Nirvana Property Specialists.