Music-lovers looking to own a slice of ‘80s pop history will be saying, “Oh! You pretty thing” when they see the Nurimbah property where David Bowie re-wrote his smash hit China Girl.
Set on the caldera of the extinct Tweed volcano, the 4.56ha property, Wagawn, is for sale with a price guide of $3.25-$3.5 million according to realestate.com.au.
Bowie, who Rolling Stone declared was the “greatest rockstar ever” after his death in 2016, is said to have reworked China Girl in the music shed on the property during a two-week stay in 1983.
The song was originally written by Bowie and Iggy Pop when they were in Berlin, and it appeared on Pop’s first solo album, The Idiot, in 1977.
It became a smash hit when Bowie re-recorded and included it on his album Let’s Dance.
Still, there’s plenty of other features to appeal, with the 619sq m homestead at 2407 Numinbah Rd, Numinbah, NSW, built around the original 1883 home.
Janis Perkins, principal at Real Estate of Distinction Byron Bay, said Bowie scrawled the lyrics to the song on the wall of the music shed at Wagawn, but they were unfortunately painted over by the previous owner.
It offers four ensuite bedrooms, a grand living and library room and an opulent kitchen with New Guinea rosewood cabinetry and Mongolian granite benchtops.
Perched on an old stock route, 500m above sea level, the homestead also has sweeping, 270-degree views of Springbrook and Mt Warning national parks.
Decking wraps around the home to offer extensive entertaining spaces and there’s a saltwater swimming pool and stables for four horses, along with a tack room.
Owner Linda Catelan has lived on the property for 25 years and said she’d spent many hours recording songs with her brothers in the music shed.
The property is zoned Rural 1 and could be used as an eco-lodge, boutique farm or brewery/distillery with 22 million litres of mountain water available each year on two water licences.
“It is the cleanest water in Australia, high in minerals and with perfect pH levels,” Ms Catelan said.
“The property is completely private, you cannot see any neighbours, and it’s the perfect place for the peace and tranquility, which has helped to nurture me.
“I am sure the next custodian of Wagawn, which means crow’s nest in the local Indigenous language, will be here for many decades.”
