A Mediterranean-style masterpiece perfect for sophisticated soirees
Gold Coast developer Daniel Veitch bought his first Hamilton Island property after he went hunting for a suitable marina in which to keep his boat. Now he’s selling this gem.
Gold Coast developer Daniel Veitch bought his first Hamilton Island property six years ago after he went hunting for a suitable marina in which to keep his boat.
In that time, the plumber and builder – whose business Dankav Developments has delivered $750m worth of residential, commerical and retail projects over 25 years – has spent millions of dollars completing four luxury homes on the Whitsunday Island off Airlie Beach.
“I recognised there was a massive gap in the market for inter-generational family holiday homes that could be used for celebrations and events, and Papillon was my push into it,” he recalls.
“I spent $6m on the renovations, turning it from a three-bedroom residence into seven to cater for multiple families, and building one of the best homes on the island.”
The market Veitch identified was to offer private and sumptuous homes for wealthy holidaymakers, weddings and corporates whose budget easily extended to the island’s exclusive five-star, adults-only resort Qualia.
The investment paid off, with Papillon’s past guests including Hamilton Island’s owners, the Oatley family, and actor George Clooney – who loved it so much he extended his stay to 10 weeks while shooting the movie Ticket to Paradise in 2021.
Collectively, Veitch’s four-property portfolio was operating at an occupancy level of 90 per cent and attracting a rate of $5000 to $12,000 per night, until a fire unfortunately ravaged Papillon in September 2023.
Since then, Veitch has put the jewel in his portfolio’s crown, Casa Rotunda, on Melaleuca Dr, up for sale.
Rebuilt from the slab up at an estimated cost of $20m, Casa is a “totally different offering” to his other properties, Veitch says, with its Mediterranean influences.
“When I bought Casa Rotunda it was a shambles and really badly damaged after the cyclone,” he says, in reference to 2017 Cyclone Debbie, which devastated much of the Whitsundays,” he said.
“We took it back to the foundations and used the round form of the slab to inform what is quite a bold design.
“I bought it during Covid when people weren’t going overseas to Mykonos so this was my Mykonos on Hamilton Island. That was the inspiration.”
Facing northeast and overlooking Catseye Beach, the home was originally designed by Peter Conley in the late 1980s and aptly named The Round House.
Veitch’s rebuild has substantially added to the property – an eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom main house and three-bedroom caretaker cottage – with fresh white interiors, curved arches, sunken lounge, double-height living area, and ultra-luxe kitchen and caterer’s scullery.
The semi-subterranean wine cellar with timber, stone flooring, and curated lighting, is Veitch’s favourite room of any home that he has designed.
Sotheby’s International Queensland listing agent Wayne Singleton described the home as the island’s finest he’s seen in his 23 years as an agent.
While no sale was completed when an expressions of interest campaign closed on December 23, Singleton says there had been strong interest, a lot of inquiry and a couple of offers.
“The campaign was designed to generate some urgency and test how the market would respond,” he says.
“The timing was critical.
“Unlike the mainland, on Hamilton Island most people will inquire or start looking for property before the Christmas and New Year period, which is our busy festive season.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton Island Real Estate’s Liam Kearney says inquiry was strong over Christmas with 15 to 20 walk-ins a day to the agency’s waterfront office opposite the marina and as many if not more emails arriving overnight.
Significant increases in property values across the island over the past two years include a 61 per cent lift in the premium “back row” Hamilton Island Yacht Club Villas and a 33 per cent increase for those properties located at the front of the complex, closest to the pool.
The Edge, the newest holiday complex to be completed on the island and the only one in the past 15 years, increased an estimated 18 per cent in value in the past two years.
“We only have a finite number of people wanting to sell and everything we sell has to make sense from an investor point of view,” Kearney says.
