Party's over at Gold Coast place
STEP back in time to when pyjama parties were cool and the slickest home interiors channelled Dallas and Dynasty.
ONE of the Gold Coast's most notorious party houses, built by a Malaysian prince, has sold for a "steal'' at $1.5 million.
The sprawling '70s-style mini-mansion at Gilston in the hinterland - which was also home to the late "pyjama party king'' Bernie Elsey during the '80s - was snapped up by Gold Coast lawyer Andrew Wiltshire for almost $500,000 less than its last sale price.
Elsey, a plumber turned self-made millionaire, introduced the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids, clad in minimal, gold bikinis and armed with sixpences employed to rescue motorists from expired parking meters.
When he found that The Beatles, whom he had engaged to appear at his Coolangatta Beachcomber hotel, expected free food as well as pay, he cancelled the arrangement and substituted an unknown Brisbane group, the Gibb brothers, later known as the Bee Gees.
The interior of his former home appears to have not been touched since the 1980s, with chintzy treatments giving it all of the drama of sudsy prime-time soaps like Dallas and Dynasty.
"I was told that to build something like this again would cost in the way of $3-4 million,'' Mr Wiltshire said.
"It's absolutely one-of-a-kind.''
Malaysian prince George Abdullah, who is rumoured to have married a Southport shop girl, built the home in 1976 as a direct replication of his father's home.
It was not until the '80s that Mr Elsey took over the home, quickly launching his infamous three-day parties, which attracted celebrities and the Coast's highest flyers.
"It was a renowned party house,'' Mr Wiltshire said.
"They used to fly celebrities in there and I've been told there were even roulette tables.''
Despite its colourful past, the home sat on the market for morethan two years before the Wiltshires "fell in love'' with its eclectic style.
The home last sold in April 2010 for $1.95 million, and was once listed for sale in 2005 for $2.4 million, according to RP Data.
With the Wiltshire family soon set to move in with their three young children, the mansion's days as a party house could now be numbered.
But despite the end of an era, the lawyer has promised one thing - the property won't lose its style.
"We want to embrace that '70s style,'' he said. ``We already have a designer who is frothing at the mouth to get her hands on it - it's just a magnificent home.''
Marketing agent Scott Bennett of Ray White Robina/Varsity said the home featured a saltwater pool, bars and a gymnasium, as well as a waterside, wet bar, billiard room and six bathrooms.
The luxury semirural property sits on two hectares and includes landscaped grounds, four bedrooms all with ensuites, and a main suite with a walk-in wardrobe.
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