Celebs flock to new hideaway to rival Byron Bay, Australia

PHOTO: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

Looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, many of Australia’s most famous faces are fleeing to a secret hideaway just 100km southwest of Sydney.

With its fresh air, expansive properties and relaxed lifestyle, the Southern Highlands is giving Byron Bay a run for its money in the celebrity property stakes.

While Byron Bay has claimed the Hemsworth clan and American actor Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Samantha Armytage, Larry Emdur, Sam Burgess, Michelle Bridges and Kyle Sandilands are among those that call the Southern Highlands home.

**Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban own an iconic property called Bunya Hill at Suttons Forest.**

With views of rolling green hills instead of crashing waves, the Southern Highlands is increasingly offering more bang for buck than Byron Bay. Realestate.com.au reports the major town centre of Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale all have median house prices significantly less than Byron Bay’s $1.87m, which was up 36.3 per cent in the past 12 months.

Moss Vale was cheapest at $740,000, followed by Mittagong ($797,500) and Bowral at $1.125m.

Australian actor Nicole Kidman and country music star Keith Urban own one of the region’s finest Georgian homes. Named Bunya Hill, the Sutton Forest property sits on 45ha and was purchased for $6.5m in 2008.

The mansion has wide sandstone verandas, pressed-metal ceilings, a carved cedar staircase and 10 marble fireplaces. Such is the grandeur of the home, it was leased as a vice-regal rural retreat for Lord Augustus Loftus, a governor of NSW in the 1880s.