And so Byron Bay gains another celebrity resident. The star of Iron Claw, Hairspray, and High School Musical Zac Efron has been enticed by the eco-lifestyle of the Northern Rivers suburb with works about to begin at his six-bedroom off-grid home in the Northern NSW town of Tomewin.
On a rural plot purchased in 2020 for a reported $2 million, Zac Efron’s soon-to-be-built retreat, an hour out of Byron, will be a self-sustaining, zero-waste home, covered with plant ecosystems designed to support insects and help other species thrive. This new build, known as ‘Futurecave‘, was given the green light from the Tweed Shire council in 2024 and is set to start works as early as next year. It won’t be cheap though, with the DA reporting it will cost an additional $2.685 million.
Nestled on the border between Queensland and New South Wales and currently a secluded oasis, Zac Efron’s Byron Bay eco-home in Australia spans 128 hectares with mountains, cliffs, valleys, rock waterfalls, and spring-fed dams with views over the lush rainforest surrounding. He purchased the rural plot after spending time in Australia during the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and while filming his Emmy-winning Netflix series Down to Earth with Zac Efron: Down Under. And clearly Australia’s natural beauty wasn’t all he fell in love with, as Zac-fans will remember this was also the time he famously dated an Australian barista he met at a cafe in Byron Bay.
“He just loves the Australian mentality and attitude, and he just wants to spend time in nature,” says Joost Bakker, the eco-designer Zac employed to build his new eco-escape.
Joost Bakker is a florist-turned-eco activist known for his no-waste living and the Future Food System, a self sustaining, zero-waste, productive house. “It’s not every day of the week that @zacefron asks you to design his home,” he announced on a post to his Instagram.
“Zac fell in love with @futurefoodsystem and then our family home in Monbulk and now wants a home of his own. Best of all he wants me to push my ideas as far as they can go!”
“So here we are – designing and building Zac’s home. It’s a dream come true.”
Hoping to create the “healthiest home on the planet”, Zac has given Joost free rein to try out all of his most unique ideas, only asking that he not cut down a single tree on the property. This includes using hemp bricks, rooftop gardens, and all natural building materials – including oyster shells.
“We’re using the building to get a lot of endangered insects and species back on track,” Joost shared in an interview with Domain. “So we can actually use the building to create habitat rather than take away from it.”
“For the past year we’ve experimented with making hemp blocks, replacing concrete with two materials that restore the environment. Hemp: possibly the best plant on earth at repairing and restoring.”
