Aquatic Paradise sounds just like one of those cheery places you expect to be blissfully sunny and watery. Which – surprise, surprise – it is.
Aquatic Paradise sounds just like one of those cheery places you expect to be blissfully sunny and watery. Which – surprise, surprise – it is.
It’s one of Greater Brisbane’s canal estates, an affluent enclave home to about 200 properties hugging the mouth of Tarradarrapin Creek where it meets Waterloo Bay, in family-friendly
It’s the place to find large, sprawling mansions with water views and an on-the-water lifestyle.
It’s the place to find large, sprawling mansions with water views and an on-the-water lifestyle.
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On one quayside corner block, there is a touch of exotic Spanish mission architecture, like you see in Southern California or among the Hollywood Hills, with its curved tiles, arched windows and highly textured, desert-toned “Santa Fe” render.
Or perhaps it’s a tad Tuscan, or something that simply stirs memories of the Mediterranean.
Or perhaps it’s a tad Tuscan, or something that simply stirs memories of the Mediterranean.
“The original owner wanted a home styled around her travels overseas, to Europe and places like that,” says Storia Estate Groups agent Joseph Lordi. “This was her dream, with no expense spared.”
“The original owner wanted a home styled around her travels overseas, to Europe and places like that,” says Storia Estate Groups agent Joseph Lordi. “This was her dream, with no expense spared.”
Built in 1999 by Leo Bandiera of Build Prestige Homes,
Inside, a mosaic-like path, complementing the half-dozen colours of terracotta roof tiles, ushers arrivals past a hedged courtyard garden, with a bronze tiered fountain and an arched entry porch, through double doors.
Inside, a mosaic-like path, complementing the half-dozen colours of terracotta roof tiles, ushers arrivals past a hedged courtyard garden, with a bronze tiered fountain and an arched entry porch, through double doors.
Under a domed void and chandelier and alongside a reading nook, an elegantly furnished foyer momentarily holds your gaze.
Under a domed void and chandelier and alongside a reading nook, an elegantly furnished foyer momentarily holds your gaze.
“Every time I walk into the house, it feels peaceful,” says the current (and third) owner. “And cool. It was designed to be a cool house.”
The mood continues as you push deeper into the heart of the home: the open-plan kitchen-dining-lounge, which flows into a large rec space (or billiard room) and office.
The mood continues as you push deeper into the heart of the home: the open-plan kitchen-dining-lounge, which flows into a large rec space (or billiard room) and office.
As does the Spanish-Tuscan-Southern Californian design pastiche. Everywhere you look, there are arches (windows, joinery and cutouts for decorative pieces), tiled floors and hefty, timber-framed doors and windows.
As does the Spanish-Tuscan-Southern Californian design pastiche. Everywhere you look, there are arches (windows, joinery and cutouts for decorative pieces), tiled floors and hefty, timber-framed doors and windows.
Decorative timber pillars and earthy, limewashed walls further reinforce the sophisticated Euro-villa vibe.
The vendors reinstated the original limewash paint after the previous owners chose a more vibrant colour scheme. “We tried to be faithful to the original,” the British-born owner says. “We’ve lived in Europe, spent time in Spain and Italy, so the character of the house did speak to us.”
The vendors reinstated the original limewash paint after the previous owners chose a more vibrant colour scheme. “We tried to be faithful to the original,” the British-born owner says. “We’ve lived in Europe, spent time in Spain and Italy, so the character of the house did speak to us.”
Taking it a step further, they also decorated the house with sympathetically matched soft furnishings and furniture, including custom-designed and antique pieces collected over the 20 years the family has lived here.
Taking it a step further, they also decorated the house with sympathetically matched soft furnishings and furniture, including custom-designed and antique pieces collected over the 20 years the family has lived here.
“There’s an artistry woven throughout the home,” Lordi says, singling out the dome painted in a patina of liquid copper and the home theatre in a textural black containing iron filings.
In fact, the house itself is an interesting paradox: worldly in appearance, with plenty of imported features (Italian roof tiles, hand-carved pillars and chandeliers), but not without some local grounding.
In fact, the house itself is an interesting paradox: worldly in appearance, with plenty of imported features (Italian roof tiles, hand-carved pillars and chandeliers), but not without some local grounding.
Timber reclaimed from Brisbane’s wool stores and wharves, for instance, has been used for flooring. The interiors also have that unmistakable breeziness characteristic of coastal life in the Sunshine State.
Timber reclaimed from Brisbane’s wool stores and wharves, for instance, has been used for flooring. The interiors also have that unmistakable breeziness characteristic of coastal life in the Sunshine State.
It goes to the next level as you step outside onto the colonnaded entertaining areas overlooking the pool (which has tiled decking and a Balinese-inspired hut just to change the international flavour), the pontoon, and the pleasure-craft-filled canal.
This, too, is where the fan-shaped block opens fully to the expanse of sky and water, without surrendering its privacy.
This, too, is where the fan-shaped block opens fully to the expanse of sky and water, without surrendering its privacy.
It’s not the only opportunity to drink in the outdoors. The grounds are made up of a series of pocket gardens in which to entertain or kick back. There’s a grassed courtyard with a fountain at one end, in front of the gym and theatre, another with mature trees and, at the other end, a lawn.
It’s not the only opportunity to drink in the outdoors. The grounds are made up of a series of pocket gardens in which to entertain or kick back. There’s a grassed courtyard with a fountain at one end, in front of the gym and theatre, another with mature trees and, at the other end, a lawn.
Back inside, a quick turn up the softly rendered, twisting stairs takes you to the four family bedrooms (there’s a fifth for guests downstairs, off the lounge). They’re luxe and plush with upholstered chairs, patterned rugs and four-poster beds.
You could argue the sleeping quarters have less wow factor if it weren’t for terraced and Juliet balconies providing a panorama of the property’s 55-metre quayline (one of the estate’s biggest waterfrontages, dwarfing its own 16-metre street frontage).
You could argue the sleeping quarters have less wow factor if it weren’t for terraced and Juliet balconies providing a panorama of the property’s 55-metre quayline (one of the estate’s biggest waterfrontages, dwarfing its own 16-metre street frontage).
“This is where we fell in love with the house,” the owner says. “Family life on a canal with access to the bay. It’s a special place.”
“This is where we fell in love with the house,” the owner says. “Family life on a canal with access to the bay. It’s a special place.”
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