Cairns real estate: Prestige hillside Mowbray retreat near Port Douglas

With mesmerising views of the Coral Sea and surrounding mountains, this elegant Far North home – lovingly built by a well-known couple – offers tranquillity and privacy. Take a look inside.

IT IS the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter for Port Douglas stalwart Ruth Grischy, who has put her extraordinary home set into the hills at Mowbray on the market.

Mrs Grischy’s husband Paul – the celebrated chef behind Catalina in Port Douglas – died last April and she is reluctantly leaving the home they built together to downsize.

She will live at her beloved Port Douglas, where she is heavily involved in a range of community activities and passionate about local history.

The couple established Catalina in 1979, moving to new premises and pioneering footpath dining on Wharf St in 1985 – it is now home to Melaleuca restaurant.

Mr and Mrs Grischy custom-built the house at 300 Mowbray River Rd and designed and created the lush gardens and winding pathways on their 3.45ha property at Mowbray, 11km from Port Douglas.

Ocean and mountain views and absolute privacy are on offer at the four bedroom, three bathroom residence at 300 Mowbray River Road, Mowbray. The house is set on an elevated 3.45ha block and has a 10m saltwater wet-edged pool. It is being marketed by Caroline Yarr of Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty. Picture: supplied.

“I love the view, we have the mountains on the side and the Coral Sea in front of us, and I love waking up hearing the birds,” Mrs Grischy said.

“Sitting on the balcony in the evening having a gin and tonic is pretty good too.”

“We are 350m up from the road, sitting above the tree canopy,” she said.

Mrs Grischy loves the kitchen.

“It is stainless steel and all white, my husband was a chef so basically it is a commercial kitchen, with a very uncluttered look, and when you are standing there you can look out to sea, it is very calm,” she said.

“It would suit someone who loves nature, who likes living out of town but still close to town, and would be ideal for someone working from home.”

She is renting the apartment downstairs, which has a private entry.

“The house is steel construction but doesn’t look like it, we used Western red cedar,” she said.

“There’s lots of pathways, and there is always something in flower, I have a gardenia hedge and fruit trees.”

She is looking forward to a new era in Port Douglas.

“There’s a lot to do for a person my age in Port, it is a really lovely community.”

Large sliding glass doors throughout the home make the most of views and there is an expansive wrap around veranda.

In a separate section, there’s another living space and two further bedrooms, and there’s an additional self-contained one bedroom apartment, with kitchen, ensuite and laundry, suitable for extended family or teenagers, or to rent out.

The 10m x 5m saltwater, wet-edged pool takes in the view of the coast and the mountains to the northwest.

The property has a price tag of $2.2m and is on the market with Caroline Yarr, of Sotheby’s International Realty Queensland.

Originally published as Cairns real estate: Prestige hillside Mowbray retreat near Port Douglas