First look inside Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding’s huge Hawthorn manor that they plan to renovate – realestate.com.au

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Comedian Andy Lee and partner Rebecca Harding have given the public an insight into the monster renovation project they are set to undertake in Melbourne’s east.

The pair were recently given the green light to build their dream home in Hawthorn.

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Boroondara Council are expected to approve $5m plans by the media star and his influencer partner to transform a derelict Hawthorn manor they bought for $8 million in 2021.

The move now paves the way for their plans to create a sprawling riverside property with a golf simulator, pool, theatre, gym, “mail room”, bar, cellar, large outdoor dining and entertainment terrace and 22.7sq m “waiting area”.

The 1876-built Italianate mansion fell into disrepair while sitting vacant for a decade.

The popular TV and radio host, who is best known as one-half of comedy duo Hamish & Andy, gave Instagram fans the first look inside the property on Sunday, one of the first times we have seen inside the home since he and Harding took ownership.

“Back at the house. It seems the ceiling might need a little bit of patchwork but the rest is perfectly ready to be lived in. Just ask any of the pigeons and possums,” Lee quipped on Instagram.

Friends and fans were floored by some aspects of the house, including super Wag Bec Judd.

“Oh my word. This will be an amazing transformation,” Judd wrote.

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The council will send the celebrity couple a notice of support for a development application, which includes adding a second building to the site.

The Herald Sun revealed in Aprile that the grand plans would also see a tunnel built between the two properties.

The ramshackle interior of the 146-year-old manor and its unkempt grounds sit on a 1950sq m landholding right on the Yarra River.

Jellis Craig partner Antony Woodley told the Herald Sun when it sold that the manor was “one of the first homes built in the area” as part of a trio of “ornate period properties” and as such, enjoyed a prime position at the river bend.

The property was originally marketed as a “timeless, noble, and enchanting vision”.

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