It wouldn’t be Christmas in Hopetoun Avenue, Vaucluse, if residents weren’t muttering about when Anthony Minichiello and Terry Biviano intend to move into their long-awaited dream home.

The Sydney power couple’s eastern suburbs mansion has been a work in progress since Minichiello quit playing rugby league at the end of the 2014 NRL season.

When ‘Mini’ and ‘The Biv’ bought the property two weeks before Christmas that year, their daughter Azura had just celebrated her first birthday. She is now 12.

About 18 months ago, Minichiello told the Daily Mail: ‘If I want to take eight years to build a house, then I will.’

If it takes a decade to complete the job, Minichiello is apparently fine with that, too.

Neighbours have repeatedly complained about the building site being an eyesore and claim they’ve been told it would be finished by Christmas for the past five years.

When Daily Mail Australia viewed the property in late November, it appeared to be in a similar state to how it looked 12 months earlier.

There were no tradesmen present during that visit. Fittings were yet to be installed in upstairs rooms and steel fencing still stood between the footpath and front wall.

It wouldn’t be Christmas in Vaucluse if residents weren’t muttering about when Anthony Minichiello and Terry Biviano intend to move into their long-awaited dream home

Minichiello and Biviano’s mansion (pictured in November 2025) has been a work in progress since shortly after Minichiello quit playing rugby league at the end of the 2014 NRL season

Some progress had been made with the delivery of what appeared to be two bathtubs, the erection of internal scaffolding and electrical wiring hanging from ceilings.

The backyard was largely bare but grass had grown over a stepladder. A swimming pool, which has been a refuge for frogs and breeding ground for mosquitoes, was holding stagnant dark water.

When contacted to see if he could provide an update on the work at his house in November last year, Minichiello asked, ‘Why’s that?’ then said he had to take another call.

This time, he did not respond to requests for comment.

An anonymous Vaucluse correspondent who described themselves as a ‘resident of over 25 years’ wrote to the Daily Mail recently to raise their concerns about what was going on.

‘For over eight years, a property on our street has been left in a state of incomplete construction, causing ongoing disruption… and distress to the surrounding community,’ the person wrote.

‘What began as a standard renovation has devolved into a drawn-out disaster.

‘The site is an eyesore – overrun with weeds, unsecured structures, and an abandoned, mosquito-infested swimming pool.

Neighbours have complained about the building site being an eyesore and claim they’ve been told it would be finished by Christmas for the past five years

Some progress had been made with the delivery of what appeared to be two bathtubs, the erection of internal scaffolding and electrical wiring hanging from ceilings

A swimming pool that has been a refuge for frogs and breeding ground for mosquitoes was holding stagnant dark water

‘Doors bang throughout the night, building work occurs at random hours, and the property remains in a state of disrepair that reflects a total lack of accountability.’ 

Minichiello has previously expressed his annoyance at speculation over what was causing the slow pace of construction and questions about when he and Biviano would finally move in.

He told the Daily Mail in late May 2024 that it was no one else’s business how long the house took to be ready, but he expected to be living there ‘later this year’.

The 45-year-old was a star fullback for the Roosters, NSW and Australia, and since retiring from football has run health and fitness programs for children called MiniFit.

Biviano gained fame as a shoe designer before marrying Minichiello in 2012 and in 2025, the 50-year-old fashionista returned for a second season of The Real Housewives of Sydney.

Minichiello and Biviano have been red carpet fixtures and once topped a tabloid list of Sydney power couples in which they were likened to David and Victoria Beckham.

In December 2014, the pair spent $3.1million on the four-bedroom brick house with the intention of turning the rundown pile into their ‘Mini mansion’.

They later decided to knock down the existing structure and start from scratch but objections from neighbours, cost blowouts and the Covid-19 pandemic repeatedly delayed construction.

In December 2014, Minichiello and Biviano spent $3.1million on this four-bedroom brick house (above) with the intention of turning the rundown pile into their ‘Mini mansion’

When Daily Mail Australia viewed the property in November 2025 (above) it appeared to be in a similar state to how it looked 12 months earlier

Minichiello could not understand why there had been so much attention on the building’s progress, but in June last year assured the Daily Mail it was nearing completion.

‘It’s all systems go again, which is good,’ he said.

Minichiello said the ‘five bloody years’ he had spent dealing with Woollahra Council had added to the length of construction but nothing would hold it back any longer.

‘We’ve got joinery, we’ve got retaining walls getting rendered, a plasterer, tiler – they’re all working at the moment,’ he said.

‘We’re on track to move in later this year.’

Minichiello supported Biviano’s earlier assurances the job had not stalled due to lack of funds.

In June last year, several neighbours said they were fed up with the ongoing construction and would be relieved if the end was in sight.

‘It’s been enormously frustrating,’ one said. ‘There’s been lots of difficulties and issues.

Minichiello has previously expressed his annoyance at speculation over what was causing the slow pace of construction and questions about when he and Biviano would finally move in

Minichiello told the Mail in late May 2024 that he expected to be living there ‘later this year’

‘It’s dragged on for an enormous amount of time. We’ll be enormously grateful when it’s completed.’

Another nearby resident said: ‘It’s looking at the mess. For a start, people would come in for a couple of days, then they’d go. It just hasn’t been a consistent build.

‘It would be nice if it was done at some point.’

A third neighbour had heard about multiple real estate agents visiting the property and recommending Minichiello and Biviano sell up.

‘They’ve told us for the last four years that they’re going to be in by Christmas,’ that neighbour said.

‘All we can hope for is that they do shift in at some point in time and that the build is finished.

Minichiello and Biviano have been red carpet fixtures and once topped a tabloid list of Sydney power couples in which they were likened to David and Victoria Beckham

In June last year, several neighbours said they were fed up with the ongoing construction and would be relieved if the end was in sight. The house is pictured in November 2025

‘They may shift in. Whether it happens this year or not, we don’t know, but it’s an eyesore at the moment.’

Minichiello and Biviano sold their Bondi Beach penthouse for almost $2million five months before buying in Vaucluse, after searching for the right place for about a year.

The existing 1980-built dwelling, which sat on a 770sqm block with 20m of street frontage, was described at the time as being in a ‘very nice part of Vaucluse’ and a ‘renovator’s delight’.

‘Held by one family for 35 years, it’s surrounded by prestige family homes at the peaceful end of one of Sydney’s premier streets,’ advertising material stated.