Could this Queensland resort become the ultimate trophy home?

Why buy a house, when you can buy a resort?

Zen Beach Resort has hit the market with reports of cashed up buyers looking to transform it into a private residence.

Ray White New Farm real estate agent Hamish Brown listed 54 Miller St, Bargara for sale by tender closing on October 11, and says inquiry is coming from prospective buyers looking for a “trophy home”.

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“It’s being sold as a going concern, but it’s already getting immediate interest from people that want to turn it back into an absolute beachfront trophy house,” he says.

Imagine living just an hour-and-a-half from two of Queensland’s most popular World Heritage Sites.

The main executive residence at 54 Miller St, Bargara.

Sitting half way between Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef, and occupying five titles, Zen Beach Resort is a four-hour drive, or 45-minute plane ride, from Brisbane.

According to CoreLogic, owners Shane and Pascaline Emms purchased the property in 2013 for $5,750,000.

Emms says what they purchased and what stands today are two completely different things.

“We were working in Vietnam, Cambodia at the time (of purchase) and I was pretty busy and Pas said ‘why do we get a block of land in,” he says.

“We started looking and we found this extraordinary location.

The main deck at 54 Miller St, Bargara.

“It was an old rundown backpackers motel … and it was on five titles, it was an extraordinary position right on the beach and right in between Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef and we just said ‘wow this is the place for us’.

“So we bought it and have gutted everything, demolished half of it, totally rebuilt it all and spent an absolute fortune.”

Mrs Emms, a qualified interior designer who trained at Paris institute Ecole Superieure, was responsible for the fit-out and furnishings, which will all be included in the sale.

“She’s done quite a number of properties and she’s got her touch of Zen all over it,” Emms says.

“She is also a trained in a lot of complementary medical health activities … it’s called Zen beach retreat for a reason and it absolutely personifies what it is.”

The current owners have held weddings and a ’70s disco with mirror balls in the open lounge room.

For those looking to purchase the property and convert it into a “trophy” house, Emms, who lives onsite, says it would simply be “extraordinary”.

“You’ve got to do nothing,” he says.

“There is one real feature here; the main living area upstairs is 150sqm, total open plan, 180-degree view to the ocean.

Brown says the moment it was listed they received calls from Sydney barristers, Melbourne retirees and even a couple from Tasmania.

“We’re getting a lot of interesting buyers,” he says.

“Buyers who have had an affinity with the area in the past, whether they’ve lived there, whether they’ve holidayed there, whether they’ve visited there, which has wet their appetite and then there has been a distinct southern base from Sydney and Melbourne.”

The Bali-inspired hut and magnesium pool at 54 Miller St, Bargara.

Emms says they are selling now to have more flexibility for travel.

“Primarily we’re an international family,” he says.

“My wife’s French and I’m Australian.

“Our three boys are all French, one’s living in Hong Kong, one’s living in Paris, her mum and dad live in Strasburg and they’re in their mid-80s and honestly the primary reason is family.

“We’ve built Zen up and got it moving, but our ability to just take off for a month during school holidays and see our family is pretty difficult and that’s the only reason why we’re doing it, so we can have flexibility to see our parents and our kids overseas.”

This article from the Courier Mail originally appeared as “A Bargara resort attracts interest from ‘trophy’ home buyers”.