Strong offer for Pat Rafter's Sunshine Beach home
The Sunshine Coast home of the tennis legend Pat Rafter and wife Lara has gone under contract.
Their John Burgess-designed seven bedroom home finally attracted renewed buying attention in the wake of two $10 million sales.
The retired tennis champion Pat Rafter and his wife Lara had listed their dress circle Sunshine Beach home in August 2016 ahead of plans to settle at their 28 hectare Byron Bay retreat.
They always wanted $18 million plus for the seven bedroom, five bathroom beachfront home which was built in 2010.
Rafter recently suggested it was what it had cost.
They paid $9.5 million in 2006 for the building block with rival tennis star Thomas Muster missing out of the 1286 sqm double block holding.
The minimalist luxury U-shaped home has a central pool with two glass-fronted wings pushing out towards the ocean over a steep banksia and pandanus-covered dune that drops down to the beach.
There's a path to the sand and the surf, some 136 kms north of Brisbane.
Tom Offermann and Eric Seetoo at Tom Offermann Real Estate Noosa Heads had the listing which went under offer late last week.
Its ambitious asking price would almost double the previous Sunshine Coast record which stands at around $10.3 million.
It would also rank among the all-time top half dozen Queensland residential sales.
They've built a barn style home on the Byron Bay outskirts among huge fig trees.
Having previously resided on Balmoral Slopes overlooking Sydney Heads, the sportsman's purchase marked a return to NSW property.
The father of two says there's "something to do every day" at the Byron property.
Since retiring, Rafter went on to become an underwear model for Bonds, a brand ambassador for the Mantra Group of hotels and a successful businessman.
In 2010 he was announced as Australia's Davis Cup captain and held the post until stepping down last year.
His greatest accomplishments came at the US Open, where he won back to back titles in 1997 and 1998, propelling him to world no.1 status in 1999.
This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.