A former Illawarra local, multi-award winning building designer Gerard Smith was the mastermind behind the high ceilings and large north facing windows at 32 Samuel Close.

The owners bought the land fresh from the Stockland subdivisions less than three years ago and took some time to get the plans for their dream home right.

Dignam sales agent Adam McMahon said if he had to pick one feature he loved best it would be the workmanship in the build.

“In 20 years of real estate I’ve never, ever seen a house built to this high quality standard, but probably the [best] feature is the such high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass all the way around so the natural light is stunning,” Mr McMahon said.

“Everything from the heated polished concrete flooring through to the lap pool … the quality is second to none.”

From the exterior, what most pops to the eye is the use of Western Red Cedar in the triple garage door and continues as two smaller feature panels around the house.

The market price for the property is not currently listed, but it comes after a small weatherboard shack at 18 High Street recently sold for $855,000 after being on the market for 12 days.

The three-bedroom cottage did not come with a full kitchen, was on a slightly smaller sized block compared to the McCauley’s house, was much further away from the ocean and not able to be subdivided because of a drain severing the backyard.

Mr McMahon said the Illawarra’s northern suburbs were still in hot demand and not just by Sydneysiders but buyers from as far as Denmark, but more often “expats” – especially from Asia and America.

“People are basically looking online. Some of the properties we’ve sold the buyers haven’t even seen them … especially with video campaigns,” he said.

“A lot of people are coming back [from living overseas] and buying then renting for a year or two before eventually moving into them. But we’re finding people are looking online and buying them sight unseen.”

In saying that though, Mr McMahon said it’s less likely to see developers buying up blocks.

“Up to about three to five years ago there were a lot of investors buying up in the market, doing knock-over rebuilds, but because house prices have gone up so much that obviously impacts the land value,” he said.

“What we’re finding now is a lot more owner occupiers who are buying something and knocking it over and building their family home as opposed to developers or investors.”