Toni Collette’s Birchgrove home owned by agent after losses in Sydney’s Bronte and Paddington
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The downtown hideout where Toni Collette’s estranged husband has been hiding from the press is actually owned by a staff member from her agent’s company.
Dave Galafassi, 44, has been taking refuge from the unwanted spotlight in a cozy $3 million three-bedroom house in Birchgrove, near the shoreline of Sydney Harbour.
But the couple never owned the house.
It was bought by a company set up by Catherine Handley, a business manager for United Management, which represents the Muriel’s Wedding star.
The unusual move comes after the couple suffered from repeated real estate disasters that caused them to lose a fortune in the real estate market.
The downtown hideout where Toni Collette’s estranged husband Dave Galafassi (pictured together) has been hiding from the press is actually owned by a staff member from her agent’s company.
Dave Galafassi, 44, has been shielding himself from the press in this cozy $3 million three-bedroom house in Sydney’s Birchgrove (pictured)
It includes moving into their dream home in Paddington that had to be vacated when the couple were forced to admit they couldn’t afford their $6.3 million winning bid.
The property subsequently sold for just $5.5 million and the star couple was forced to pay the sellers more than $600,000 to cover most of the difference after they walked out.
They also lost $900,000 on a house in the Sydney seaside suburb of Bronte, making no profit after selling another property in Bronte where they had been for three years.
Collette, 50, and Galafassi, a mother of two, confirmed they were divorcing earlier this month after Daily Mail Australia revealed the rock musician’s new relationship.
The photographs showed Galafassi kissing and hugging bikini-clad chiropractor Shannon Egan, 41, on a Manly beach in early December.
Collette later confirmed that the couple had been separated for a “substantial” period before the footage surfaced and announced the couple’s divorce plans.
Galafassi was later seen living at an address in Birchgrove with his 15-year-old white Toyota Landcruiser Prado parked across the street.
The house (highlighted in white) is close to the waterfront overlooking Sydney Harbor
The house was bought by a company set up by Catherine Handley, a business manager for United Management, which represents the Muriel’s Wedding star.
Property records reveal that the house was purchased in May 2021 by a company called Sunshine Follows Pty Ltd.
That company had been established just six weeks earlier by Ms. Handley as sole director. The company does not appear to own any other property.
It has sparked speculation that the couple have been living separate lives for around 18 months before their impending divorce was made public, with Galafassi living alone in the home owned by Ms Handley’s company.
Collette is believed to have turned to Mrs Handley, who is also believed to be a close personal friend of the star, to help find a new home for Galafassi when the marriage broke down.
The couple have been plagued by property problems since they were married on Berry’s property in the NSW Southern Highlands in January 2003 when she was 30 and he was the 25-year-old drummer in the Australian band Gelbison.
The couple lost $900,000 in 2011 when they sold this 1885 farmhouse on Bronte Road (pictured) for just $3,500,000 after buying it two years earlier for $4.4 million.
The couple lost $900,000 in 2011 when they sold their 1885 farmhouse on Bronte Road for just $3.5 million after buying it two years earlier for $4.4 million.
The four-bedroom period house on 750 square meters of land just meters from the beach did not even come close to the price they paid for it, leaving the couple with large out-of-pocket expenses.
They then tried to buy a house on Stewart Street in exclusive Paddington in Sydney’s luxurious eastern suburbs and successfully offered $6.3 million to grab the coveted terrace.
But the couple had to back out when they admitted they couldn’t raise the money in time.
The couple tried to buy this house on Stewart Street (pictured) in upscale Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and successfully bid $6.3 million for the coveted terrace.
“We can’t buy your beautiful house anymore,” the star wrote to Nick Kelly, husband of the home’s owner, Industrie clothing brand founder Susan Kelly.
‘We don’t have the finances to carry out the purchase. For the sake of both our families, I implore you to find a way to resolve this less publicly.
They were initially ordered to pay the seller more than $800,000 in compensation after the home eventually sold for just $5.5 million.
It was later reduced in court to $600,000, including the $317,500 deposit and legal costs, with nothing to show for it.
The couple then bought another home in Bronte, shelling out $5.5 million for the five-bedroom home on Yanko Avenue that they sold three years later for just $5.75 million.
The couple then bought another home on Bronte, paying $5.5 million for the five-bedroom home on Yanko Avenue.
They sold it three years later, in 2014, for just $5.75 million, the meager profit wiped out by stamp duty, legal fees and estate agency costs.
Collette is now understood to live in Sydney’s inner west, posting several photographs on her Instagram account of St Peters and Newtown.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to United Management for comment.