Inside stunning million-dollar Shoal Point property
After many years forming family memories in this three-storey home with sea views, it’s time for Lynne Dinsdale to sell.
Mackay
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SELLING her dream home at Shoal Point was not an easy decision for Lynne Dinsdale.
The cherished memories from more than a decade of birthdays, Christmases and trick or treating will make it hard to part with the three-storey house she and husband Graham built, but hopes another family will take up the mantle and create new tales to tell years into the future.
Lynne and her husband Graham grew up in Rockhampton but, like many, moved to Moranbah in 1972 for two years and stayed for 40.
Graham worked at Peak Downs Mine and while raising her kids, Lynne started up Donut Land on day one of the new Moranbah Fair Shopping centre in 1985.
It was while on a family holiday at Kohuna Beachside Resort that they fell in love with the area.
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"It was Easter. We walked along the beach all together at Shoal Point and we said that's where we're going to retire and here we are," she said.
"We bought an older style house on this block originally and we used it on our days off for about five years.
"Our children were married and had babies and we thought we would move into town and they would stay in Moranbah and come in on their days off but they just about beat me to live here.
"The style of the home (we built) … we envisaged we would have our own spaces upstairs if we wanted to get away.
"And we thought if everyone came in on their five days off, everyone would be really comfortable.
"The entertaining area downstairs opens up onto the pool and it's a huge area.
"Originally we were only going to build a two-level house but then we climbed up the ladder one day and saw those views and thought 'well we'll break the budget and go another level'."
Lynne wanted to live the Mackay life and Graham wanted a boat ramp.
The 607sq m size block at 32 O'Brien Esplanade, on the corner of Denman Ave, originally had an older beach shack with carpet in the bathroom and the old-fashioned lights switches activated by a piece of string.
The family used that as a holiday home for years but a neighbour in Moranbah eventually transferred that beach house to a block in Seaforth.
In its place, the family built the kind of home many of us aspire to.
The top level is a parents retreat with a balcony sporting gorgeous 180-degree views over the ocean and a front-row seat to sunrise and sunset.
The middle level has a sleek design but exhibits a homely feel with views over the saltwater pool below.
A kitchen and servery opens out to the entertainment area where the Dinsdales have had many parties they hold as fond memories.
"When Graham and I were looking around for land, we went to an area in Dolphin Heads where it was high with unlimited views to the sea but we couldn't get to the beach from there and would have to drive," Mrs Dinsdale said.
"We wanted to be able to walk to the beach with the grandchildren.
"My eldest granddaughter was only five when we built it so we'd spend hours in the little rock pools collecting shells and … soldier crabs.
"The next door neighbours would take her walking at 4pm every afternoon and then give her cups of tea and bickies.
"On Halloween nights, they would all come around to get their bags of lollies.
"It's a beautiful community."
Mrs Dinsdale said she chose the sleek design because she wanted the decor to be timeless.
"I wanted it all the same classic colours, timeless," she said.
"And I wanted the outside to be timeless too.
"I thought, down the track in 15 years if I'm sick of that white vase, and aqua blue is in fashion, I can put a blue pot in here and over there and it's all up to date again.
"The walls are white and the tiles are all matching and they will blend with anything."
Mrs Dinsdale said she had now turned 70 and it was time to downsize.
"This home holds so many memories," she said.
"But I think I'll be happy for the next owners to enjoy it.
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"I hope they'll make many precious memories and have a lovely, happy life here.
"All the parties and Christmas Days here have been very, very special.
"I have four grandchildren who play hide and seek and chasey and dance.
"I had a handyman come in and tell me 'this feels like home', he said it had a homely feel about it."
Gemma Dinsdale, Lynne's daughter-in-law, said the O'Brien Esplanade home had always been a retreat for the whole family.
"My niece has had her 16th here, her 18th here, her 21st here and Lynne's 60th was here so all those big milestone birthdays were pretty much downstairs by the pool," she said.
"I think my favourite level is (the middle) because that's where we have all our family meals.
"My sister-in-law and myself had her second child and my first and second all born in 2005, 2006 and 2007 so they were like 'the triplets'.
"Lynne would sometimes have the three girls and she would pile them into this pram and she would take them down the beach for the day
"There are many fond memories here."
Sell Buy Lease Real Estate sales manager Cassy Dickerson said with each level basically self-contained, the property was like a hotel.
"Mum and dad have their own retreat upstairs, the middle level is for the kids and downstairs there's an entertaining area but with the extra kitchen and bathroom it could be a studio apartment," she said.
"Someone could live up the top and rent or Airbnb the other areas.
"If you were to buy this in Melbourne or Sydney, this would be a multimillion-dollar property and it would blow others away.
"But because it's in Mackay, it will sell for about $1 million. We're taking offers between $900,000 and $1 million."
The matriarch of the family hopes they can find the right buyer for the home.
"I think it's the only one like it in Mackay," she said.
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