Fred Eager's Pink House, Mooloolaba sells for $3.8 million

Fred Eager's Pink House, Mooloolaba sells for $3.8 million
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Mooloolaba's Pink House sold at weekend auction for $3.8 million, when offered for the first time in 100 years.

Set on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, the Pink House is among the last freestanding homes remaining in the locality.

Sunshine Coast Next Property agents Loren Wimhurst and Karen Jones marketed the property as "one of the last development opportunities on the Mooloolah River never before offered to the market".

The former fishing shack on the Mooloolah River, north of Brisbane, has a glamourous history given its association with old world Hollywood stars.

Cary Grant, Jean Harlow and Errol Flynn stayed at the holiday home of the Eager car dealership family. 

Fred Eager was the son of the cigar-smoking businessman from Ohio, E.G. Eager who was responsible for the the introduction of the Overland car in 1911 to Australia. The family were later the representatives of General Motors Holden.

Fred Eagar died in 1949 at his home, Craigston on Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, aged 62. 

His skill as a big game fisherman and yachtsman was undisputed. He held the Queensland shark record with a 1941 catch of a white shark weighing 1324 lbs.

Fred Eager actually had two holiday houses on the Mooloolah River, Tangalooma and four doors away, Terrawina. Property Observer believes it was Tangalooma which was the weekend offering.

Among his fleet of water-craft was the luxury yacht, Tangalooma which was commandeered by the Navy in the second world war. 

Part-owner Jillian Chalmers told the Weekend Australian it was sad to sell the home which had been passed down to friends and family over the generations. It was also co-owned by the Hooper and Knobel family. 

"Originally built as a fishing shack, legendary stories still circulate in reference to the size of the fish and the catch, to this day," the marketing said.

"Many similar shacks surrounded this one, and the Pink House is the last one standing." 

The 1,012 square metre property at 63 River Esplanade boasts 37 metres of Mooloolah River frontage within a 350 metre walk to the Mooloolaba Surf Club.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

Editor's Picks

Why the investment potential at Elevate Hume Place above Crows Nest Metro is proving too good to miss
Aria to move ahead with bulked-up 'Urban Forest' apartment development in South Brisbane
Surry Hills Village completes with just a handful of apartments remaining
Victoria & Albert's unique appeal to downsizers, holiday-makers and investors in the heart of Broadbeach
City Beat October 2024: Units fare better than houses in soft Melbourne property market