‘Bluey’ Airbnb Home Sells For $1.845 Million in Silent Auction
A home in Australia that was converted into a replica of the Heeler Family home in the hit children’s series, Bluey, and rented as an Airbnb sold for nearly $2 million at a silent auction, profiting its owners millions in only a few years.
‘Bluey’ Fandom Takes on Real-Life Attributes
Fans can seem to get enough of the hit children’s show, Bluey on Disney+, Disney Channel, and Disney Junior.
Originally commissioned by BBC Studios, BBC Studios Kids, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Bluey, which was created by Australian animator Joe Brumm and is produced by Ludo Studio, debuted in Australia in 2018.
A year later, Disney purchased the broadcasting rights to the series, allowing a whole new hemisphere of planet Earth to discover the sheer joy and fun that comes from watching an episode of the children’s show that follows the adventures and daily life of an animated family of Heelers–Bluey, her younger sister Bingo, and her parents, Chilli and Bandit.
The Heelers live in Paddington, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, in Australia, in an adorable house that is, as Bandit describes it in the Season 3 episode, Ghostbasket, “bigger on the inside” than it might look on the outside.
But having only an animated version of the Heeler “Queenslander” home wasn’t enough for some fans, so the idea for a Bluey-themed Airbnb home was born.
Home in Paddington Becomes a Real-Life ‘Bluey’ House
In the city of Paddington, near Brisbane, Queensland, in Australia, there’s a 4,300-square-foot lot, and on it stands an adorable home that was built in 1920.
The home, located at 55 Charlotte Street in Paddington, features three bedrooms, one bathroom in white with green accents, and space for one vehicle, and the backyard is an expansive retreat among lush green grass and colorful plants and foliage.
The home also features a partially enclosed sun deck–the perfect place for relaxing, reading, or playing make-believe. The open-air deck is just one of the many things that make the little home the ideal place to raise a small family–even a family of . . . canines!
Shortly after the Queenslander home on Charlotte Street was purchased for $730,000 in 2014, Ludo Studio celebrated the debut of the very first episode of Bluey, and the show became an almost overnight sensation–and the fandom and excitement over the children’s series only continues to grow.
As the success of Bluey exploded, an imaginative new marketing campaign was born, and Airbnb rented the small inner-city home from its new owner, Emma Hoskin, and secretly transformed the abode into a real-life version of the iconic Queenslander cottage from the Bluey series, where one lucky human family would get to stay for a fun-filled weekend getaway.
Then, in 2022, the adorable little home was listed by Gower Property Group in Paddington. According to realtor Chris Gower, homes in the area sold for between $714,500 and $1.85 million that year.
Homeowner Forbidden From Mentioning ‘Bluey’ During Sale
When the property was listed in 2022, the home’s owner, Emma Hoskin, and the Gower Property Group were forbidden from attempting to profit from mentioning any ties to Bluey. Early on, the BBC demanded social media posts that linked the Paddington home to Bluey be immediately deleted.
Related: BBC Takes Action Against Activist Group Using Bluey’s Likeness On Pro-Palestinian Shirts
Then, as the time drew near for the silent auction to sell the home, auctioneer Justin Nickerson was told to make no mention of the series whatsoever, but he did mention dogs–though not the Heelers themselves.
“(There’s a) good-sized yard for the dog or maybe even a family of dogs to call their own,” Nickerson said to a crowd of approximately 80 people who gathered for the auction.
Realtor Chris Gower likened the campaign to sell the house like “walking a tightrope.” But after the home sold, the gag on saying Bluey’s name was lifted.
“Now we can talk about it,” Gower said, and we found a buyer who doesn’t know a thing about Bluey. (Now that just blows our minds!)
Related: Parents Cautioned Against Allowing Children to Watch Episodes of ‘Bluey’
Hoskin said she was honored to have been a part of the Bluey and Airbnb campaign, in spite of the fact that she was unable to talk about the home’s Airbnb fandom during the sale of the home.
“I think that we did really well off the back of it regardless,” she said. “That sale price we are actually super grateful for. And it having been the Bluey house and having had that attention . . . people knew anyway.”
The ‘Bluey’ House Sells to the Highest Bidder
Fifteen bidders tried their luck at scoring the three-bedroom Queenslander in 2022. The opening bid of $1.52 million kicked off the auction. Only ten minutes later, the same bidder conceded that he could go no higher, and the home was ultimately purchased by a couple from Singapore who bid $1.875 million for the home.
Nickerson congratulated the couple, saying, “Well, to you, we say, Bingo! Sold!”
Hoskin purchased the home in 2014 for $730,000. Its selling price of $1.875 million in 2022 represents a 250% increase in the home’s value in just eight years–and a profit of $1.145 million during that time.
Not bad for a three-bedroom, one-bath home that looks very much like the iconic home seen in the most popular and successful children’s series in the history of children’s programming.
