Paul Smith's beachfront Mirage Estate listed
In far North Queensland the Sydney-based developer Paul Smith's beachfront Mirage Estate home has been listed for sale.
Set on over 900 sqm, The Bali House is surrounded by tropical gardens, coconut palms, exotic frangipanis and a saltwater swimming pool.
Raine & Horne Port Douglas agent David Cotton has the listing and has set an asking price of $2.35 million for the home which includes all of its current furnishings.
The resort-style grand villa has five bedrooms - three with terraces - a home cinema, home office and a bar which overlooks the lush green gardens.
The home also has direct access to the famous Four Mile beach.
The Sydney-based Smith family have a long history in property best remembered under the Sahben banner for developing the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Double Bay.
The Smith's 35 villa was the first built in the beachfront Mirage and several family members retain family homes in the estate which amid the resort built by Christopher Skase's failed Qintex group.
The Mirage resort was set in 140 hectares with a two-kilometre beach frontage to the Coral Sea.
It was envisaged to feature a 300-room Sheraton hotel, 400 condominiums, a two-hectare salt-water swimming pool with a fresh-water pool within it, a championship 18-hole golf course, a historic village built around a station for the historic Bally Hooley steam train which will run from Mossman mill, convention facilities, restaurants and its own transport system.
A luxurious hovercraft was set to operate between the resort and Cairns International Airport.
Port Douglas started in the 1860s by servicing the gold mining towns about 200 kilometres away. At one point there were 27 pubs and grog houses in the main street.
Sugar cane farming followed, supplying business until after World War II when the road was pushed through to Cairns and the sugar mill took advantage of it. The port slowly died becoming little more than a fishing village of some 200 people until the Mirage resort inspired late 1980s tourism goldrush.
