The house that Christopher Skase built on the market
REAL ESTATE
BEFORE going bankrupt and becoming Australia’s highest profile fugitive, Christopher Skase firmly left his mark.
And when people in Port Douglas talk about Skase, they refer to the man who put the sleepy fishing village on the map and the Sheraton Mirage will always be linked to him. It’s where he hosted the rich and famous. It’s how Port Douglas became the dream vacation for many.
Now, it’s his $35 million house that he and wife Pixie built in Brisbane, which is in the news. In fact, the house is as opulent today as it was in 1998.
The house at 36 Dickson Terrace, Hamilton last sold for $6.5 million in 2001 and is on the market for sale by tender after some serious multi-million dollar renovations, according to a report in the Courier Mail.
The house is being sold is because the owner Sir Yii Ann Hii owes $60 million to the tax office.
Sir Yii Ann was found to have “avoided tax by evasion” between 2001 and 2009 by falsely claiming he wasn’t an Australian resident.
The palatial residence called Bromley and its out-of-this-world proportions sprawls over an impressive nine titles.
Its walls are 12 metres high and made of one metre thick concrete, reinforced with steel, making it a safe haven.
Selling agent Andrew Murray of Murray & Associates Estates Agents, based on Hope Island, said he was sure the house would smash the Brisbane record sales price which stands at $14 million.
“Built in 1988 at a reported build cost of $35 million with a further $5 million spent on extensive renovations in 1997, the home is of irreplaceable value based on today’s standards.
The current owners have spent a further $4 million enhancing sophisticated entertaining areas, set around the medieval circular staircase and 50ft internal bell tower.”
“Houses like this just don’t get repeated. Skase left a legacy of property, it’s the same with the Sheraton Mirage and in Port Douglas,” he said of the famous former businessman who went spectacularly bankrupt and then became Australia’s most high profile fugitive.
“Pixie and Christopher amalgamated two reasonably extensive houses on Hamilton Hill to become nine freehold titles in 1998, and the reported build cost was $35 million,” Murray said.
“It had 40 foot high walls (or 12 metres), and the walls are one metre thick concrete, reinforced with steel. The owners are from overseas and they come and go a bit.”
“There is nothing built and on the market like this today. You wouldn’t build anything like it in the current climate today, no-one would spend the money. It’s very opulent,” Murray said.
“The southern markets are showing some interest, I’ve had a buyer from Sydney look at it four times. I’ve had local people look at it recently, and it’s also being advertised in China.
“The magnitude and the finish is of the highest possible.”
The house is built using rare and exotic granites, imported Italian marble, with ancient jade furniture.
