Southport mansion Alston listed for receivers' sale

One of Gold Coast's most exclusive residential offerings – the riverfront Southport mansion Alston – has been listed for sale.

But rather than its past $20 million-plus asking price, the home of bankrupt developer Graham Spottiswood and his wife, Suzanne, has been ordered by Commonwealth Bank-appointed receivers, who have more subdued expectations.

The Gold Coast Bulletin suggests the likely price benchmark was set two doors away, when $9.5 million was paid for the former Quinlivan home at June auction when sold to the semi-retired cotton farmer Ted Hadley.

Alston, an European-style house, will go to auction on January 27 through John Natoli and James Ledgerwood of McGrath Broadbeach under instructions by Grant Sparks and Craig Ticehurst of PPB Advisory

The 3,442 square metres of land Alston sits on was bought from split-cycle engine inventor Rick Mayne for $2.35 million in 1998, where a house on the site was demolished to make way for Alston.

Completed in 2010, Alston boats six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and seven fireplaces spaced over 2,225-square metres of floor area.

Also included is a 15-metre indoor heated pool, gymnasium, basement cinema, a bar of five-star hotel quality with a six-metre-long marble bar top and a two-level library with a spiral staircase.

“The second you step into this property it is more than obvious that the quality of design, inclusions and meticulous attention to detail positions this very special home as one of world-class standing,” says Natoli.

Alston is fenced with exclusive mansions of Riverina Marine founder Bill Barry-Cotter to the south and former V8 supercar executive chairman Tony Cochrane to the north.

“This dress circle riverfront address is one of the Gold Coast’s premier enclaves and has been tightly held and rarely available,” says Ledgerwood.

In July 2011 Spottiswood listed Alston without success with $20 million price expectations through Christies International.

In February this year Spottiswood was sill holding out for a buyer happy to splash out more than $20 million for his Southport mansion.