Pat Rafter buys Byron Bay paddock
The former tennis champion Pat Rafter and wife Lara have purchased a coastal Byron Bay paddock. Its 28 hectares subdivided off an original Broken Head farm.
No home on the site, just grazing cattle.
"A country escape only minutes from the beach and moments from Byron Bay with a creek flat and an elevated building site," was the marketing pitch of LJ Hooker selling agent Glen Irwin, who had the listing inconjunction with Lois Buckett.
It had been on Irwin's books at a $1.75 million asking price for just over a year until its recent sale.
Locals jokingly expect a tennis academy, Florida-style, but I am advised it will be a family retreat for the Queensland-based family once the home is built.
The gently sloping land with some big fig trees had not been offered for sale in over 75 years.
The Noosa-based sportsman's $1.35 million purchase from the Boyes family marks a return to NSW property for the family who sold their Woollahra terrace after seven years ownership for $2.4 million in 2014.
They previously had a Sydney home on Hopetoun Avenue, Mosman which was sold in 2007 for $7.75 million.
The former world No. 1 is Australia's Davis Cup captain and since earlier this year Tennis Australia's new director of performance.
This article was first published in The Sunday Telegraph.