The experts say we’re going to see prefabs spouting up all over the place in the next few years – especially if hardware giants Bunnings are on the right track with their Elsewhere pods.

These flatpack kit sheds, studios and, yes, homes can be as small as a garden shed or as big as a granny flat – complete with kitchen and bathroom – and could cost about as little as a decent-sized family car.

Which, when you think there are families sleeping in their cars, is only appropriate.  You can read all about it here.

And yes, we’re back with a roundup of the latest quirky stories from LeftField Communications – find out how to get your daily feeds directly at the end of the story.

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Domain

Beyond the canvas: Why your walls don’t have to be boring
As we look for ways to elevate our homes, designers are embracing wall objects that bring spaces to life in extraordinary ways. Elizabeth Clarke

Couple finds door to nowhere during renovation of huge Moreton Bay estate
When Caroline Hoole and her husband stepped inside the Queensland homestead, they didn’t immediately grasp the scale of work needed to restore the dilapidated estate. Kate Kachor

Mount Martha beach box for sale asking $910,000 to $1 million
The once humble beach box, an iconic fixture along various strips of sandy shorelines on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, now comes with a stratospheric seven-figure price tag. Joanne Brookfield

The Block’s Emma and Ben sell Mornington home for $1.86m
Finally, The Block 2025 contestants Emma and Ben can claim a win after selling their “dream home” in Mornington, Victoria. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom property at 18 Brydon Close was sold byprivate treaty on January 9 for a reported $1.86 million. Jessica Dale

Meet Hadrian, the bricklaying Robot that can build a house in a day
A Perth-born robot capable of laying the bricks for an entire house in a single day is being pitched as part of the answer to Australia’s housing and skilled labour shortages amid warnings the construction sector is barrelling towards a crisis. Sarah Webb

Commercial Real Estate

Island in NT famous for attracting local crocs listed as unique Top End holding
A privately owned island in the Northern Territory’s Top End, surrounded by the territory’s famous barramundi and saltwater crocodiles, has been listed for sale at $1.5 million, offering one of the most unique lifestyle and tourism investment opportunities to reach the market in years. Emily Hutchinson

Realestate.com.au

Bunnings enters housing market with flatpack pod homes starting from $26,000
Australia’s most iconic hardware store is making a monumental leap from hammers and nails to helping build entire homes, as it throws its weight behind a burgeoning solution to the nation’s housing affordability crisis. Lydia Kellner

Genuine RAAF WWII bunker for sale an hour from Brisbane
A genuine Royal Australian Air Force World War II bunker — once used by US forces for secret communications — has hit the market with 30cm-thick concrete walls and bragging rights as one of Australia’s weirdest homes. Sophie Foster – Brisbane

Real Commercial

Inside rise and fall of Planet Hollywood Australia
It was the place where you could eat a burger next to the leather jacket Arnold Schwarzenegger wore in The Terminator. In the mid-90s, Planet Hollywood wasn’t just a restaurant, it was “eater-tainment” that briefly turned Sydney and Melbourne into Tinseltown outposts. Belinda Palmada

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The Age

‘Looking for real estate’: Even seals are searching for a place in Footscray
It was a lovely morning for a swim — or so thought a friendly seal out for a morning frolic in the Maribyrnong River in Footscray early on Monday. Pinnipeds are infrequent, but not unprecedented visitors in the city and inner suburbs as wildlife activity in Melbourne’s waterways is seen more often over summer. Lachlan Abbott

The Brisbane Times

Missing link in riverside path reopens after three years
A key section of Brisbane’s Riverwalk has reopened, marking a milestone for the city and the revitalisation of the flood-prone CBD stretch. With the backdrop of the Story Bridge, the ribbon was cut on Tuesday by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and representatives of Dexus to officially open the Riverwalk following a three-year, $42 million transformation. Brittney Deguara

The West Australian

Rich-listers from around the world eye remote Gnaraloo Station near Ningaloo
A Hollywood star, a world champion surfer and rich-listers from across the globe have expressed interest in buying Gnaraloo Station, near Ningaloo, which is likely to fall from local hands. Kim Macdonald

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These are just some of the quirkier property stories from this week this week’s LeftField feed. You can get links to all the latest property stories – houses as well as apartments – for free by registering on the LeftField website.