Home sweet home: mansions of Brisbane’s rich-listers
Indoor pools, sweeping views, yoga studios and private jetties — we take a look at 18 of the city’s most eye-popping mansions and who owns them.
Southeast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southeast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Some of these can’t be missed, but most of Brisbane’s mega mansions are tucked away in our suburbs.
We take a look behind closed doors at what’s inside, who owns them and what they cost.
From gold-leaf-edged mirrors to cellars crammed with thousands of bottles of fine wine, basketball courts and fully equipped gyms, these pads have the lot.
23 BOYD ST, BOWEN HILLS, $6.6M
Put on the market late last year by Stefano and Denise Paino, Cintra House is one of the city’s most prominent hilltop residences.
The two storey heritage-listed landmark dates from 1863.
It boasts six bedrooms, 3000sq m of land with 300 degree uninterrupted views of the city, Hamilton Hill, and the Brisbane River.
A rare example of Georgian architecture, the sandstone spread was designed by architect Benjamin Backhouse and once was home to Queensland’s 10th premier, Boyd Dunlop Morehead.
Mr Paino, who bought the property for $6.6 million, is the son of hotelier Salvatore Paino.
121 KING ARTHUR TCE, TENNYSON, $4.2M
Well known company director, Gladstone Port Authority chair and chicken ‘n chips chain mogul, Mark Brodie, is selling this riverfront 3500sq m property.
There’s a five-bed main Majorcan house, three-bed guesthouse and a third office/gymnasium building, all across three titles.
It includes a whole-floor master suite with a river-facing balcony, cinema, study, cellar, riverside pavilion with room to entertain 100 people, an eight-person spa, jetty and pontoon.
Last listed for $4.2 million.
39 ELDERNELL TCE, HAMILTON, $11.2M
This 151-year old stone mansion, once known as Eldernell, is owned by Mrs Crocket’s salad king John George.
It was the residence for Anglican archbishops for decades before Mr George and his wife Susan paid $11.2 million for it in 2007, which at the time made it Brisbane’s most expensive house.
Standing on 5600sq m of land with sweeping river views, it was designed by James Cowlishaw and built in 1869 for William Hemmant, a well-known Brisbane draper and politician.
At various times former Premier A.H. Palmer, philanthropist G.H. Gray of Castlemaine Perkins and Edwin Tooth of Austral Motors fame have lived there.
1 LEOPARD ST, KANGAROO POINT, $18.5M
Chinese businessman Zijian Zheng co-owns what was until recently Brisbane‘s most expensive house.
He and Huihui Zhai bought the spectacular riverfront property off City Motor Auction Group boss Angelos Russo and his wife Sandra for $18.48 million back in 2016.
The three-level property features a clifftop infinity-edge pool and spa, soundproof cinema, 70m of city and river frontage atop the Kangaroo Point cliffs, internal lift, climate-controlled cellar, gym and steam room.
33A HARBOUR RD, HAMILTON, $10.3M
Fitness style queen Lorna Jane Clarkson picked up this five bedroom, four bathroom riverside property in 2010 for $10.3 million.
The neighbouring property, Balaam, recently sold to an undisclosed buyer for what is believed to be well north of that amount.
Clarkson opened her first Lorna Jane retail store in Brisbane in 1990 with her husband Bill. There are now more than 200 Lorna Jane stores.
The ultra-modern award-winning trophy home has six bedrooms, a four-car garage and 900sq m of living space over several levels.
There is a professional recording studio, movie theatre, 1000-bottle wine cellar, ducted airconditioning, fully integrated sound system, automatic irrigation system fed by a 30,000 litre underground rainwater tank and direct access to the river walkway.
WALAN, 2 SCOTT ST, KANGAROO POINT, $4.4M
Lachlan Power, a 25-year-old computer gamer and son of the Logan Mayor Darren Power, was recently revealed as the owner of a $4.4 million luxury riverfront apartment in Walan, a distinctive-looking tower overlooking the river and Story Bridge.
The whole-floor apartment has jaw-dropping city and river views, access to a rooftop pool and other swanky features.
Power also owns a Newstead unit and a Norman Drive, Cornubia, seven-bed bachelor pad fitted out with flashy custom features such as a half basketball court, pool, a custom bar with backlit marble benchtops.
SUTHERLAND, SUTHERLAND AVE, ASCOT, $6.1M
You would expect nothing less than a jaw-dropping home from Queensland’s undisputed queen of style, Keri Craig-Lee, famous for her chain of boutiques and for styling Elton John’s wedding to Renate Blauel.
As well as an indoor swimming pool and atrium, the seven black-uniformed house staff have a lot of work to do keeping the glass-fronted designer handbag spaces, gold leaf mirrors and other knick knacks clean.
She used to walk past the house on her way to school and dreamt of owning it.
So her cattle baron billionaire husband Trevor bought it for $6.1 million in 2003, for her 45th birthday.
Up to 100 workers were on site at any one time during Ms Lee’s amazing transformation of the two-level, century-old home.
It has a library with a model of the Gulfstream jet she and Trevor bought from Oprah Winfrey (before selling it to rapper friend Sean Combs), the obligatory cinema, billiards room, gym, yoga studio, steam room, hair salon, wine cellar and much more.
Ms Lee and daughter Cartier admitted to not using much of it.
When not in residence, the couple have a holiday home on North Stradbroke Island or park their 54m superyacht Keri Lee III in the Mediterranean.
WINDERMERE, 14 SUTHERLAND AVE, ASCOT, $13M
This landmark property set a record for the area when it sold last year for $13 million.
The grand Queenslander was on the market for less than three weeks before it sold to local property developer Troy Duffy and his wife Caroline, who moved there from a nearby luxury home which boasted a 3200-bottle cellar.
Windermere sits on the high side of the established tree-lined avenue, which boasts some of Brisbane’s best classic heritage homes.
Sutherland Ave is known for its impeccably presented homes on large and tightly-held blocks of land.
Windermere has six bedrooms, sits on 4664sq m, has a triple garage, championship-size floodlit tennis court, pool and spa surrounded by lush, established grounds and commercial-grade kitchen.
33 MORAY ST, NEW FARM, $20M
Corporate Travel Management’s Jamie Pherous loves New Farm so much he is building a $20 million riverfront mansion there.
The only stumbling block are the plans for his pool, overlooking the New Farm Riverwalk, which Council has blocked. He will take on Council next month in the Planning and Environment Court in a bid to overturn its ruling.
With Mr Pherous ranked 160th on the AFR 2020 Rich List with a fortune of $623 million, his new retreat will sprawl over four levels and six bedrooms on an 1100sq m block of land.
It is reputed to be a $20 million build and the land alone cost $11.3 million.
Tim Stewart Architects has designed the spectacular home, called Iron House.
There’s a media room, office, study, laundry and stone-clad living, dining and kitchen terrace on the upper ground level.
Level one will include a muted timber master suite with dressing room and ensuite, surrounded by elevated gardens. There will be a further five bedrooms.
On the fourth level, there will be a roof terrace with a lap pool, an entertainment room with kitchenette and guest quarters.
And the basement level will feature an ultra-modern wine cellar, games room and gym leading to a clifftop pool.
BROOKFIELD, $10M
Property king Don O’Rorke built Balaam, which sold recently, but moved his large family from it to rural living in Brookfield several years ago.
The property has 4ha of rolling green hills abutted by national parks.
The natural light highlights several key pieces of Mr O’Rorke’s extensive art collection.
Designed to be “of this time and of this region”, all 1300sq m of the main house uses local materials and styles, respecting the community the property was built in.
Red bricks and weatherboard materials used on the exterior give the building a distinct Queensland feel.
Cedar joinery and blackbutt floors give the house a natural black, white and tan palette, creating a contemporary country aesthetic.
FIG TREE POCKET, $8.25M
In 2014 the savvy tech entrepreneur, the man behind Fortitude Valley-based behemoth NEXTDC, and wife Jodie splashed out $8.25 million for a “boutique resort-style’’ riverside estate in Fig Tree Pocket near the Palmer compound.
In addition to a pool and tennis court, the 10,000sq m of grounds feature two lakes and an orchard.
In 2016 he listed one of his Fig Tree Pocket properties, 12 Aminga St, for sale after lavishing an amazing reno on it.
That Hamptons-style property cost them a cool $6.3m in 2010 and has a 67m river frontage.
Mr Slattery has moved several times in the past decade, but always in a tight circle in FTP.
CHAPEL HILL
No, “Mr Springfield’’ does not live at Springfield.
Instead, Springfield City Group chairman Maha Sinnathamby, who built an entire city southwest of Brisbane, put his family’s roots down in Chapel Hill.
“I have lived in Chapel Hill for 31 years, in a house that deliberately hasn’t changed much other than to keep up with a few mod-cons,” Mr Sinnathamby said.
“It’s a treasured family home that has stood the test and witnessed so many memories for our children and their children.’’
He said his wife of five decades, Yoga, had put a huge amount of effort into the garden and was devoted to it.
They bought a hectare of land “nobody else wanted” at the time and subdivided it, retaining just under half.
The family home is white and modernist, with the entrance and living room featuring a glass wall.
Designed by architect Ian Webb, the single-level home was where they raised their four children – Uma, Raynuha, Meera and Naren.
RIVERGUM, FIG TREE POCKET, $7.5M
Clive Palmer and his children have amalgamated another impressive family compound.
In 2018 his son Michael paid $5.1 million for a 1.3ha property next to Mr Slattery’s.
Palmer senior bought riverfront Rivergum Retreat, in the same year, off embattled Linc Energy founder Peter Bond for $7.5 million – a $2 million discount on its list price.
Mr Palmer’s son also owns a neighbouring 3,430sq m property he bought for $1.85 million in January, 2016, according to CoreLogic records.
In March this year, Clive Palmer’s builders applied for special permission to build one of Brisbane’s largest private home jetties on the river.
At 28m long it would be about three times that of the 10m length currently “acceptable” in Brisbane riverfront homes.
The on again, off again politician has also bought two adjacent mansions and recently built a concrete fence locals, dubbed the Great Wall of Palmer, encircling the properties on Jesmond Rd, Needham and Ningana streets.
BLAIR LODGE, 1 EDEN LN, HAMILTON
The family home of late antiques dealer Jill Phillips, sister of renowned Brisbane author David Malouf, is up for auction next month.
After being held for 43 years, it’s anyone’s guess what the imposing Federation Queen Ann-style home is worth on the open market.
She and husband Lance bought Blair Lodge, which sits on 2049sq m, in 1978.
“Mum lived around the corner in Arran Ave as a child and always looked up and said: ‘I want to own that house one day’, and she talked my father into it,” her daughter Leah Phillips said.
A new kitchen was added 15 years ago and when work began on upgrades to Kingsford Smith Drive, the developer double-glazed windows to eliminate street noise and installed airconditioning.
The front veranda is a place for family gatherings.
1 KING ARTHUR TCE, TENNYSON, $17.6M
Fit for royalty, this amazing home was bought by Canstruct International chief executive Rory Murphy in 2019 for $17.6 million.
Canstruct is a leading construction and civil engineering company founded half a century ago by Mr Murphy’s father Robin.
Broncos chair Karl Morris sold it in 2019 for $17.6 million.
With 98m of absolute river frontage, a 50m pontoon, seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, space for six cars, a pool and champion tennis court spread out over 4224sq m, it is indeed grand.
It’s also quiet. The property has just one neighbour, and is otherwise flanked by bushland, the Brisbane River and Oxley Creek, with parkland and golf course views.
102 VIRGINIA AVE, HAWTHORNE, $8.6M
The five-bedroom riverfront mansion is home to rich-listers John and Wendy Thorsen who bought it for $8.6 million in 2016.
Mr Thorsen retired from the resource sector more than a decade ago following the sale of Foxleigh Mine to Anglo-American in 2007.
These days his focus is on investment, with a penchant for bank stocks, and their passion for targeted charitable causes including the Wesley Research Institute — the Women’s Health Laboratory is named after them.
Keen travellers, the Thorsens also enjoy boating.
The property covers 1272sq m of manicured riverfront with wrought iron gates and sandstone floors, plus city skyline, New Farm Park and Story Bridge views.
106-110 VIRGINIA AVE, HAWTHORNE, $11.1M
With an expansive tennis court and swimming pool, this neighbouring home was purchased by Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse founder Anthony Yap for $11.13 million in 2018.
The mega mansion, on a sprawling 2137sq m riverfront block in Hawthorne, was formerly the base for energy executive Shaun Scott and his wife, Sarah.
The home has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two swimming pools, a heated spa, a north-south facing championship-size tennis court, a boat house, putting green and private 12m jetty. There’s also a wine cellar, music room, library, gym and games room with built-in bar.
CLONLARA, 150 ADELAIDE ST EAST, CLAYFIELD, $7M
Lucy Coulson, of the Fairfax family, paid a hefty $7 million for this spread in 2018.
The price for the Federation home smashed the record for the suburb that year.
The magnificent property had been the home of the late Sir Edward and Lady Dorothy Williams and their eight children, who grew up playing within its massive 3317sq m grounds.
But now the century-old home, named Clonlara, has begun a new chapter.
Many of the six-bedroom home’s original period features have been preserved including the grand entry foyer which leads to formal dining and lounge rooms.
Other features include ornate plaster and pressed metal ceilings, timber walls and leadlight windows.
There are two championship sized tennis courts and a swimming pool.
Bystanders’ actions praised, as crash victim identified as young dad
Friends of a 27-year-old man who died in a single-vehicle crash on Brisbane’s bayside have told of the admirable actions of two bystanders, who comforted him at the scene before paramedics arrived.
Yay! Traffic is Brisbane is about to get a lot less congested
Council has identified 14 busy Brisbane roads where it wants to extend clearways to unclog traffic. But not everyone’s a fan of the idea.