{"id":47616,"date":"2025-08-06T10:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T10:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47616\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T10:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T10:41:12","slug":"see-the-freak-features-at-silverchair-frontman-daniel-johns-love-shack-in-newcastle-which-he-bought-in-his-teens-and-is-now-listed-on-airbnb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47616\/","title":{"rendered":"See the ‘freak’ features at Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns’ ‘love shack’ in Newcastle – which he bought in his teens and is now listed on Airbnb"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1996, a 17-year-old Daniel Johns<\/a> bought a ramshackle beach house in his hometown with his first flush of Silverchair money.<\/p>\n

And neighbours exclusively tell Daily Mail the Freak singer still uses it as a secret escape to this day.<\/p>\n

‘You see him smoking on the balcony,’ said one resident of Merewether, a clifftop community south of the Newcastle CBD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘He goes away for long periods of time – no one knows where he disappears to – but he always comes back.’<\/p>\n

Johns, 46, is often seen walking his elderly dog Gia on the spectacular clifftops nearby.<\/p>\n

For 30 years, the Robinson Street shack remained rundown, but another neighbour said that in recent months the property has been abuzz with renovation activity.<\/p>\n

\"Exclusive <\/p>\n

Exclusive aerial footage shows Daniel’s freshly renovated and painted beach shack<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The ‘Freak’ singer is known for his quirky style and creates his own artwork<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The shack he purchased in 1996 has been transformed, but the ocean views remain<\/p>\n

Gone is the peeling paint and weather-worn decking, and in its place is a vibrant aqua and pink Palm Springs-style home.<\/p>\n

Daily Mail’s exclusive photos show the fresh paint job, new patio furniture, and a cactus garden out front – and aerial images revealed the home’s sweeping views across the famous Merewether rock pools and dramatic ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After 30 years of keeping his shack a secret, Johns – whose band Silverchair scored three songs in Triple J’s Hottest 100 Australian Songs last month – now rents it for $450 per night.<\/p>\n

For that, guests will get a unique insight into Johns’ famously quirky mind.<\/p>\n

Graffiti-style art – which Johns himself is known to create – adorns the walls, suggesting he may have created the pieces himself.<\/p>\n

A spray-painted guitar is hung in the hallway – with insiders suspecting it is one of Johns’ instruments.<\/p>\n

Our pictures show the home has a new barbecue on the front deck for guests to make the most of Newcastle’s balmy summer evenings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holidaymakers can bring their dogs along given the listing is pet-friendly, but interestingly there is no smoking allowed – despite Johns’ longtime affinity for cigarettes and vapes.<\/p>\n

\"It's <\/p>\n

It’s believed the grafitti-style artwork may have been done by Daniel himself<\/p>\n

\"Daniel <\/p>\n

Daniel has been making plenty of real-estate moves in his native Newcastle<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The beach house is perfectly located atop a cliff in the suburb of Merewether<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A Google view shows just how much work has gone into the property in recent months. Seen here before the renovations\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Merewether's <\/p>\n

Merewether’s famous ocean baths are just a short walk away from the Airbnb<\/p>\n

\"While <\/p>\n

While Daniel’s shack retains its classic charm, the kitchen has all the modern amenities<\/p>\n

\"Daniel <\/p>\n

Daniel is regularly seen by locals walking his beloved dog Gia on the clifftops nearby<\/p>\n

\"Silverchair, <\/p>\n

Silverchair, comprising Chris Joannou, left, Ben Gillies and Daniel shot to fame in the 1990s<\/p>\n

The two-bedroom, one-bathroom home is almost entirely booked up until the end of this year.<\/p>\n

‘Built in the 60s, this love shack has been transformed into a rustic, colourful beachside haven,’ the listing read.<\/p>\n

‘With all of its old character from the past, it has been styled with unique art and lush velvet couches you can sink into and watch the sunset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The outside balcony is perfect for sunbaking and having a BBQ grill, bring man’s best friend and the fam and watch the world go by.<\/p>\n

‘After the sun has gone down, cosy up by the fireplace and share a meal with friends.’<\/p>\n

Johns paid $645,000 for the shack after he and former bandmates Chris Joannou and Ben Gillies earned more than $6.5 million off the back of their debut album Frogstomp.<\/p>\n

The trio grew up in Newcastle, and until recently, Johns’ main residence was on nearby Charlotte Street.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, he demolished his longtime home and divided his block in two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is selling one half, and building his dream home on the remaining portion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1996, a 17-year-old Daniel Johns bought a ramshackle beach house in his hometown with his first flush…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[40680,64,63,447,100,35411,134,3953,2017],"class_list":["post-47616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-airbnb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-dailymail","tag-daniel-johns","tag-entertainment","tag-triple-j","tag-tvshowbiz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}