Real Estate Flashback: Remember 1960s Palm Beach as the holiday land for the working man

IT was the credit squeeze of the 1960s when developers on the Gold Coast began slashing prices and offering “holiday land for the working man”.

A sign at Currumbin Creek in the mid-late 20th century.

IT was the credit squeeze of the 1960s when developers on the Gold Coast began slashing prices and offering “holiday land for the working man”.

It was an era in land prices that gave no second chances to speculating buyers, a time when blocks of land were going like hot cakes — for as little as $100 from Paradise Point to Palm Beach.

Map of the Tallebudgera Gardens Estate. Photo Supplied.

The Gold Coast in the 1960s was a special time and place and Brisbane plumber Neil Victorsen had dreamt of owning a slice of paradise since he first set eyes on the Gold Coast in the 1940s.

Regularly travelling to the shoreline with his family, Mr Victorsen said it was in his blood to build a home in the southern part of the Coast.

Neil Victorsen who is selling his Palm Beach holiday home that he built in 1962.

And in 1962, The Truth newspaper in Brisbane advertised “holiday homes for the working man” with terms of purchase offering £50 deposit with an interest rate of 5 per cent, a price half of the pre-credit squeeze value or “whatever deposit suits you”.

Home at 69 26th ave Palm Beach going for auction. Owned by Neil Victorsen. Picture Mike Batterham

So the plumber from Coorparoo became the proud owner of 69, Twenty-Sixth Avenue in 1963 and has never looked back — until now.

A labour-of-love and worth all its salt, the family’s holiday home will go under the hammer next tomorrow.

Neil Victorsen’s house under construction. Photo Supplied.

Now 82 and ready to part ways with his home, Mr Victorsen said he was one of many who lived in Brisbane and spent his weekends with his family on the Coast.

“We were dedicated to building the house so we never travelled anywhere but to Palm Beach after buying it and during the 10 years we spent building it,” he said.

An article on the Gold Coast property market in the early 1960s. Photo Supplied.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home remains on its original 622sq m block at the northern end of Palm Beach — not a brick out of place. “We used to go down every single weekend and spend time building it, with any spare cash we had,” he said.

“The decision to purchase the land at Palm Beach was something my wife Bev and I never regretted.

Neil Victorsen (pictured) during construction of his Palm Beach home. Photo Supplied.

“At the time it seemed like a lot because Bev and I were still setting ourselves up in life but we knew $700 for a block in Palm Beach was too great to miss.

“We heard years later, that the developer, Laurie Wall, was in financial difficulties and had exchanged the land development at Palm Beach for a large apartment building in Surfers Paradise.”

The house being constructed. Photo Supplied.

During the decades spent at Palm Beach, the father-of-two recalled disappearing before first light to catch the tides for fishing, returning to work on the house before heading off for a second fish in the evening.

“I was up before the kids and the last one in bed and it became a regular routine,” he said.

“It was a real art form fishing off Burleigh rock because you would get your line caught on the rocks and lose your bait.”

The house’s frame. Photo Supplied.

Five years after the initial purchase, Mr Victorsen poured the footings and two years later he put down the main floor.

These were the first steps towards the Palm Beach holiday home.

Mr Victorsen who has rented his handmade holiday home out for the past 15 years, is now taking offers for $500,000 and over.

“We had no idea the area would develop as it has,” he said.

Neil Victorsen’s house when it was just a frame. Photo Supplied.

“It was mostly a residential estate when we finished building.

“We had originally planned to build a fibro shack but our neighbours were putting up brick homes.”

The kitchen dining area had a table eight foot long with bench seats that became a tight fit during Christmas lunch.

“We would spend the school holidays at the holiday house and would have all the family over,” he said.

Another press clipping on the Gold Coast property market. Photo Supplied.

Mr Victorsen said when he first began building he could see across to Currumbin and said there was barely a house in sight.

“It was two lanes to the Gold Coast and there were only four other houses in Palm Beach at the time,” he said.

“Most of the people building there were doing it for the same reason we were, as a holiday house on the weekend.”

Palm Beach in the 1960s. Photo Supplied.

Gold Coast historical society spokesman Bob Nancarrow, 72, said Palm Beach was the poor cousin of Burleigh and was overlooked for its swamps and railway that ran through the middle of it.

“The line ran from Ernest Junction in Molendinar, through Palm Beach and out to Tweed Heads,” Mr Nancarrow said.

“Palm Beach was part of Elanora before it was subdivided sometime between the two World Wars.

“After they pumped out all the swamps in the ’60s, Palm Beach became more of a holiday home for many people in Brisbane.

“There was always people living in that part of the Gold Coast but it really blossomed in the ’60s.”

Home at 69 26th ave Palm Beach going for auction. Owned by Neil Victorsen. Picture Mike Batterham

Now, 54 years later, Palm Beach is no longer living in the shadow of its glamorous cousin Burleigh Heads.

Median house prices have shot up 12.1 per cent to $650,000 in the past 12 months.

Traditionally home to older couples and families, Palm Beach is a changing tide.

The area is now becoming home to more singles who account for about 17 per cent of residents in the suburb.

Palm Beach circa the 1960s.

Neil Victorsen’s daughter,
Lynne Bennett said the family’s connection to Palm Beach was part of her DNA.

“Mum and Dad bought No. 69 at the beginning of 1963 and I was born in November 1963, so this block of land and Palm Beach has played a significant part of my life, spending many Christmas celebrations there,” Mrs Bennett said.

“Three months ago it wasn’t even a consideration.

“I will shed a tear when we hand over to the new owners and hope they will have as many happy memories there as our family has for the past 53 years.”

The area’s long-gone cinema.

McGrath Palm Beach sales agents Andy Hogarth and Brendan Andrews are marketing the property and have seen a mixture of builders and renovators interested in the property.

“It is hard to even imagine that you could have bought a block of land for $700 in Palm Beach,” Mr Hogarth said.

“That is someone’s night out on the Gold Coast today.

“The land in Palm Beach is very highly held and we are always very tight on listings.”

Mr Hogarth said Palm Beach has transformed from a generation of old to young.

“Trendy cafes are popping up all over the suburb and it has a really youthful vibe,” he said.