The 5500 sq m Kalua is the biggest property in Palm Beach. It's listed for $25 million. THE jewel in the crown of the northern beaches peninsula hit the market this week with businessman Ian Joye listing Kalua, the largest and most prestigious property in Palm Beach.
Joye is offering 60 per cent vendor finance on the sale of the 5500 sq m beachfront estate which is for sale at more than $25 million. Vendor finance allows a seller and a buyer to work out payment terms without banks being involved, and these mutually agreed terms and conditions are stated in the contract of sale.
Kalua has had only two owners since the 1920s when the original house was built by the Hordern retailing family. In 1978, Joye bought the Ocean Road property from the Horderns for $330,000.
At the prestigious southern end of the beachfront, and nestled among the lush vegetation of Cabbage Tree Boat Harbour, Kalua is listed for sale through David Edwards of LJ Hooker Palm Beach and Christies agent Ken Jacobs.
In its secluded sprawling grounds are a five-bedroom six-bathroom plantation-style residence, a three-bedroom guest house, a self-contained cabana, a swimming pool and a north-south tennis court.
During Palm Beach's peak social season of Christmas-New Year, Joye has rented out Kalua for up to $40,000 a week to high-profile tenants, including media baron James Murdoch and actors Nicole Kidman and John Cleese.
Now living in Hawaii for most of the year, Joye knocked back $30 million for Kalua several years ago when the property was not for sale.
Given the property's vast size of 5500 sq m, the asking price of more than $25 million does not seem unreasonable when compared with the price per square metre of recent sales including $10.5 million for a 1433 sq m Florida Road property, which equates to $7013 per square metre.
Joye rose to business prominence in the mid-1980s with the $30 million sale of Winthrop Investments to Alan Bond, and this helped him establish the Coronet investment group.
