Greensill connects with nature

Lex Greensill, the farmer turned billionaire financier, has bought up big in Queensland’s Bundaberg region.

Darius Boyd’s home

Lex Greensill, the farmer turned billionaire financier, has bought up big in Queensland’s Bundaberg region. The Greensill Capital boss has spent $4.12 million on The Glass House, an award-winning home in the coastal town of Bargara. It will no doubt act as a base for Greensill, who is opening a bond-issuance outfit in Bundaberg for his $5 billion business. Designed by LG International architects in collaboration with SBT Design, the beachfront on Kelly’s Beach was designed to connect to its natural surrounds. Each of the three levels are serviced by a unique Italian glass Domus lift. The five-bedroom home sits in 2240sq m of tropical gardens that feature a heated pool, pizza oven and barbecue. Ray White New Farm agents Hamish Bowman and Perry Edmondson-Clark secured the sale.

Boss takes over marketing

Having moved on to their next project at nearby Paddington, Brisbane Broncos captain Darius Boyd and his wife Kayla have relisted their near-new Hendra home. They’ve called in Ray White New Farm’s Matt Lancashire to sell the home that failed to sell when asking for offers in the early $2m range, then $1.99m, with McGrath. A amily pet, French bulldog Boss, features in the marketing. It was built two years ago after they commissioned Base Architecture and builder Graya Constructions to create the four-bedroom home with jet black exterior. Boyd recently spent $1,205,000 on an original 1930s cottage.

Eco-tourism retreat near Ningaloo

Wilderness Island, off the coast of Exmouth in Western Australia, has been offered by Jim Alston. It is the home of his eco-tourism business, Wilderness Island Safari Holidays. It costs between $635 and $700 a day to holiday on the island. To rent the whole island costs $3000 a day. The island is on the eastern side of the Exmouth Gulf, an hour by boat or 10 minutes by plane. It sits adjacent to the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area. Spanning two hectares, the island has a lodge, six cabins with ensuites, a workshop, desalination plant, moorings and a dirt airstrip. Western Australia Sotheby’s agent Neil McAllister has the listing.

Minogue link to island farm

A Victorian island retreat once owned by pop superstar Kylie Minogue has been sold for $685,000. It is a farm holding she owned between 2005 and 2010. Set in Westernport Bay, French Island is about twice the size of nearby Phillip Island, but has just 120 permanent residents. It is only accessible by air or boat. The 71ha elevated farmland property, which comes with building permits, was sold by Minogue for $530,000 in 2010. She had paid $292,000 in 2005. There are four dams, a private billabong, large gum trees and bushland, excellent pasture, orchard — plus koalas. Phil Bock at Century 21 Home Port secured the sale of the Farm Road property on behalf of Janet Towns, the widow of the late microbiologist David Leslie.

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