The most expensive home ever auctioned in Queensland

The ten-bedroom estate at 49-109 Tallebudgera Connection Road, Tallebudgera, went under the auctioneer’s gavel on Saturday, February 25.

A buyer made an unconditional cash offer of $42 million before the start and the sum was announced on the auction room floor. When no other prospective buyers topped it, lawyers for both sides began the transaction process.

The deal for Bellagio La Villa is expected to be minted in the next two or so days. Listing agent Amir Mian of Amir Prestige Group declined to comment while the contracts are being finalised.

Properties in Queensland going to auction are not allowed, by law, to carry an advertised a price guide, so there was unknown factor around what the home could fetch.

The villa’s price is a marginal second only to 47 Lansell Road in Melbourne’s Toorak which traded in October 2021 for $43 million and holds the record for the most expensive Australian home ever sold under the hammer.

The mind-blowing property spans 17 hectares along the Tallebudgera Creek and is the work of a trinity of high-end design specialists – architect Michael Witty, garden landscaper Paul Bangay and interior designer Eleanor Davis.

A European-influenced porte-cochere graces the facade at the end of a long, cinematic driveway, comprising manicured lawns, impeccable hedges and bubbling fountains.

The interior is dripping in gold – it edges decorative wainscotting and fretwork on the walls and joinery, in almost every room.

The entry has a handsome staircase with ornate balustrade and beyond is a ballroom with a second kitchen for entertaining. The main, family kitchen is so large and well appointed that it includes a cold room.

The ten bedrooms are served by ten bathrooms, with marble throughout and one with his-and-hers, side-by-side bathtubs.

A gym is included for private workouts and the buyer will freshen up in his-and-hers dressing rooms.

Soaring proportions, balconies, a colossal central courtyard and a sparkling indoor pool with a coffered ceiling and arched French doors finish off the classical design.

The buyer will also find a guest house on the grounds.

The property is a 15 minute drive from the popular tourist destinations of Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads and Coolangatta.

It is unusual for properties in the stratosphere of the market to be sold by auction. Discreet haggling and expressions of interest are the more customary methods for buyers with deep pockets, who generally do wish to expose that fact at an auction.

Before the Toorak deal, the Australian auction record was $24.6 million for a water-view house in Sydney’s Vaucluse. That address pitched $10 million over reserve, leaping the previous record of $23 million for Sydney mansion Le Manoir, in Bellevue Hill, bought in 2009 by Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch.