Gold Coast mansion that hosted Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson sells for record $15.5 million giant deal
THE top end of the Gold Coast property market is back — that’s the message in the wake of a $15.5 million deal on a giant Isle of Capri house.
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THE top end of the Gold Coast property market is back — that’s the message in the wake of a $15.5 million deal on a giant Isle of Capri house.
The sale of 57-59 The Corso to Chinese buyers is at the highest price achieved on the Gold Coast since the GFC-afflicted market of 2009.
Seller Mara Spong has been chasing offers of $15 million-plus for three years for her two-level semi-Balinese style mansion.
When it first was marketed it was touted as having a replacement cost in excess of $20 million.
Ms Spong’s sale comes on the heels of deals in the past three months of $13.25 million and $11.5 million on the Mermaid Beach oceanfront and $11 million on Cronin Island.
A sale worth close to $11 million is believed to be in train at Sanctuary Cove.
The buyers of the Spong house are Hongbo Li and Liyan Song and the sale was handled by Doug Hoang, principal of The Venetian Real Estate, Robina.
He is marketing, at $3.695 million, a 420sq m home in Knightsbridge Pde East at the Sovereign Islands, owned by the couple since 2013.
The last $15 million-plus sale on the Gold Coast was in 2009 and involved the $18 million purchase of an Albatross Ave beachfront home at Mermaid Beach by pubs and pokies billionaire Bruce Mathieson and wife Jillian.
The Spong house, which has six bedrooms and six bathrooms, is on a northeast- facing 2197sq m site on a section of the Nerang River known as the Adams Basin.
It has been sold with most of its furnishings.
Professional wrestler Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson famously stayed in the home during filming of disaster movie San Andreas in 2014.
Johnson tweeted a photo appearing to show him in the grounds of the 2197sq m property.
“Mornin’ greetings from the Gold Coast, Australia. #RiseAndGrind #AussieLove” he wrote.
The home was built by surfwear industry pioneer Doug Spong and then wife Mara in the 1990s and spans four lots.
Mr Spong founded the Thin Air accessories business, a supplier to Billabong International, which was turning over nearly $40 million a year when it was eventually sold to Billabong.
Architectural firm Hamilton Hayes Henderson was engaged to design the house and to incorporate ideas and influences the Spongs had picked up in Bali and parts of Asia.
The house, completed in 1999, has basement parking, two floors of living space totalling 1630sq m, and 705sq m of outdoor living areas, including lanais.
The record for an Isle of Capri house is $6.35 million, paid to transport company operator Peter Smith by entrepreneurial businessman David Baird in 2012.
The Spong house’s major features are:-
•Six kingsize bedrooms, each with an en suite and with a dressing room off the master suite.
•A kitchen with granite benchtops, European appliances, a butler’s pantry and a cold room.
•Recreation areas that include a waterfront pool, overlooked by a lanai, and a gymnasium.
•A theatre, billiards den, sauna and heated spa.
•A temperature-controlled wine cellar with storage for more than 4000 bottles.
•A porte cochere at the front door and basement parking for six cars.
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