P&O heritage-status beaches oceanfront Orcades, Palm Beach, sales prospects

Orcades, one of the largest oceanfront properties at Palm Beach, has failed to sell at its mid-week auction.

There was just the one bid at auction - and the $4 million offer was rejected by the auctioneer when the landmark 1,922-square-metre estate was offered in the Raine & Horne auction room.

Bordered by bushland reserver and the oceanfront, the 1950s P&O-style homes sits on three Whale Beach Road blocks.

The property has a 44-metre ocean frontage with views stretching from Palm Beach to the central coast and is set in lush gardens with frangipani trees and a pool

It's named after the ocean liner Orcades, which made her maiden voyage from London to Australia in late 1948 – and comes with an original mirrored artwork of the ship. It was the first Orient Line post-war new ship built, replacing the 1937 built Orcades.

The four-bedroom house at 307-311 Whale Beach Road had $6 million-plus hopes.

It has been owned since the mid-1970s by the late entrepreneur Michael Callaghan, who died in July last year. He secured the holding through a trust deed arrangement from sales consultant Barry Neary who had spent $117,000 to buy the property in 1975. It was previously briefly owned by A.B. Lincoln Real Estate who'd bought the holding from Manly newsagent James Thomson in 1975.

Michael Callaghan was a Channel Seven executive who became a distributor for Thames Television programs for three decades from around the 1970s.

His many British guests included Benny Hill, Des O'Connor, Sid James, Ronnie Barker and more recently some cast members from The Bill.

Callaghan was also an accomplished tennis player – a teenage contemporary of John Newcombe and Rod Laver and John Newcombe.

Orcades has yet to be given a public asking price by listing agents Glenn Lee and David Eden of Raine & Horne Palm Beach.