One of the Sunshine Coast’s most character-filled beach homes has been snapped up at auction and the hundreds of passionate locals who witnessed the event had a very special reason to cheer.
Trentham is steeped in history and has been a part of the changing face of Dicky Beach at Caloundra since it was built in about 1940.
Until late Saturday, it had seen only two owners in eight decades.
Due to its amazing position, 7 Wilson Ave was always going to attract considerable interest.
Listing agent, The Ray White Caloundra Group managing director Andrew Garland, said 17 bidders lined up.
They included contenders from Brisbane, interstate and the Sunshine Coast.
Bidding started at $3,000,000 and moved along quickly, with the 17 reducing to three parties who kept the bids coming in jumps of $100,000.
“It didn’t take long to get there; it was quite a quick auction,” Mr Garland said.
“I think there was a lot of people registered who were shopping above their budget as it turned out.”
At the drop of the auction gavel, it was a Caloundra resident who secured Trentham for an impressive $4.8m.
It was a popular victory as the new owner, Wroxton Innes (pictured above), was a familiar face to many at the auction, being from nearby Shelly Beach and a prominent businessman.
Mr Innes and his wife Amanda run the Caloundra-based Saddlery Trading Company, which has been distributing equestrian products to retailers for more than 30 years.
It has become the country’s largest supplier of horse-riding equipment with its products sold in over 1,000 retail stores in Australia and also exported overseas.
The successful family businesspeople have strong community connections and are passionate about the area.
The new owner is unsure whether the house will be renovated or knocked down, but it will become his family’s home in due course.
“He is over the moon and still processing it all,” Mr Garland said. “The buyer’s exact words to me were ‘really pleased with the outcome’.”
Trentham is steeped in local history and has been under the stewardship of one family for 65 years.
With its front row seat, its residents watched a passing parade of famous people tread the sands of the pristine Dicky Beach, from the likes of Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowan to Australian Test cricketer, Bill Brown, who played with Bradman.
Like property stories? Get more direct to your inbox by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article
Little has changed in the house while the surrounding area has gone from small town to bustling suburb. Some modifications were done to the house in 1994 to accommodate the changing needs of four generations of the present owner.
The former owner Margaret Clarkson told Sunshine Coast News her family had now scattered “to the four winds” and due to her advancing age, it was appropriate to give another family a chance to build on the house’s history and bring it into a new era.
Mr Garland said he had not been surprised by the result.
“The last sale along there was $3.8m four years ago. That was arguably a better spot than this one, so we expected it to achieve this number given the growth of the market,” he said.
“It was sold in the range of what we expected it to sell for, so it was unsurprising from that perspective.”
Mr Garland doesn’t expect, as a result of this auction outcome, a rush of Dicky Beach oceanfront properties to hit the market any time soon.
“The locals don’t look at it being extraordinary I think; some will, some won’t,” he said.
“The thing is about the beachfront in Caloundra is that is very tightly held, and they don’t sell because it’s a certain value. Those people don’t need to sell so they keep them.”
Like stories that inform, connect and celebrate the Sunshine Coast? So do we. Join an independent local news revolution by subscribing to our free daily news feed: Go to SUBSCRIBE at top of this article to register
