Melburnian shells out $8m for Whitsundays winter escape
Melbourne businessman Paul Preat, who heads a helicopter adventure tourism company, has spent $8 million on an Airlie Beach retreat.
He has bought Mandalay Coral Gardens, a record-setting waterfront residence in tropical North Queensland, which comes with its own helipad.
It was sold by Whitsundays developer Bill Sharpe and his wife, Kirsty.
It won the Australian Master Builders Association house of the year award for 2007-08.
It took four years for the Sharpes to complete building on the 4749-square-metre property, to designs by architect Peter Connelly.
The four-bedroom main building has two levels with sliding glass walls, plus huge outdoor terraces and a marina berth.
It comes with a 40-metre infinity-edge pool that wraps around three sides of the house and has a swim-up wet bar. Informal living areas extend to a private beach with a teppanyaki pavilion.
Ken Jacobs and Darren Curtis at Christie's International oversaw the listing in conjunction with Rob Taylor at PRD Nationwide Whitsundays. It was initially listed in 2008, with the Preats being the keenest buyers when it didn’t sell at its June 2010 auction on Hayman Island.
The 1000-hectare Larundel farm, the Preat family residence in Victoria's Western District, remains listed through Jock Langley at Abercromby's Real Estate Armadale.
Most recently priced at $14 million, it was initially listed with $20 million hopes in late 2009.
The Larundel homestead is at Cargerie, near Meredith. Its interiors are by designer John Coote, and it is now set in Paul Bangay gardens. It was built by the Austin family, founders of the Larundel psychiatric and Austin hospitals.
Mr Preat, who has been associated with veterinary products, has indicated previously he and his wife Gabrielle were selling to pursue a new tourism opportunity in Queensland.
