Cottesloe still home to Fortescue’s Elizabeth Gaines

Elizabeth Gaines and husband Kevin Manuel have traded up and stayed in Cottesloe.

The Brisbane mansion built by Christopher and Pixie Skase.

Elizabeth Gaines, now CEO of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals, and husband Kevin Manuel have traded up and stayed in Cottesloe. Having sold their luxury apartment for $3.35 million a few months ago, they’ve spent about $5.75m on a nearby new home. The five-bedroom home with office, gym and lift was built in 2016. The now-sold apartment cost the couple $3.57m in 2016 when they bought it from the Hughes car dealership family, shortly after Gaines was made CFO at the company. The three-level Cottesloe apartment was in a block of four designed by architect Blane Brackenridge. It became their WA base after they sold on Sydney’s northern beaches for $5.2m last year. They resided in the home built by model Jennifer Hawkins and builder husband Jake Wall at North Curl Curl.

Buyer for Skase mansion

The opulent 1980s Brisbane mansion built by Christopher and Pixie Skase has been sold for $10.1m. Star Hotel boss Steven Shoobridge, best known for his 2016 Brisbane CBD penthouse sale to former PM Kevin Rudd and Therese Rein for $8m, secured the home. The hotel-like residence on Dickson Terrace was built by the Skases in 1988. They quit Australia for Majorca in 1991. The recent occupants were Sir Yii Ann Hii and his estranged wife, Soo Hian Beh. Set around the medieval circular staircase is a 15m internal bell tower. It last traded at $6.25m in 2001. The property had been on the market with multiple agents since 2016 with hopes as high as $25m.

Entrepreneur exits Main Beach

Queensland entrepreneur Tony Quinn and wife Christina have done a pre-auction deal to sell their luxury Main Beach sub-penthouse. The couple, who sold their VIP Petfoods empire in 2015 for about $400m, own a $10.9m Hope Island home nearby. They recently settled on a $3.4m Byron Bay retreat near Clarkes Beach. Their 19th-level Main Beach apartment in the residents only, 2005-built Axis building cost them $2.62m. It comprises 320sq m with three bedrooms, a home office, two living areas and a terrace with skyline views. Ray White Prestige Gold Coast agent Jackson Paradise had the listing. After selling VIP Petfoods, the Quinn’s spent $25m buying the confectionery company Darrell Lea. They sold it earlier this year for about $200m. They also own two motorsport racetracks in New Zealand where Tony hopes to build a world-class golf course along with residential development.

House no longer rules

The South Australia home of former House Rules contestants Kate Whiting and James ‘‘Harry’’ Harrison has sold for $885,000. The design duo, who are no longer together, paid $550,000 for the Somerton Park home in 2015. They were set to live in the home for a few years then knock it down and build a new home before being cast on the 2017 hit Seven Network renovation show. Harris Real Estate’s Simon Noakes and Callan Eames sold the three-bedroom home in the coastal suburb southwest of Adelaide in just over two weeks. Harry is working on a local housing development while Kate has recently signed with Finesse Models Australia.

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