GJ Gardner Homes founder starts work on $12m mansion in Noosa hinterland, modelled on a French chateau (2024)

The dining room will be large enough to seat 22 people and the exterior walls will feature sandstone imported directly from a French chateau.

But property icon Greg Gardner, of GJ Gardner Homes, says he didn't set out to build a mega mansion — he just wanted a bigger garage.

His latest personal project has caught the attention of South-East Queenslanders who have driven by the construction site near the Bruce Highway.

Some thought the Noosa Hinterland building was a laboratory, others a wedding venue, and there was even talk of a social housing project.

Mr Gardner said, after constructing almost 100,000 homes in Australia and overseas over the past 40 years, he wanted his dream home to have a point of difference.

"Everyone has curiosity about a new house being built. It's just a normal Australian thing, isn't it?" Mr Gardner said.

"You've got a couple of choices on 50 acres — to build an old Queenslander or to do something different.

"So I've just decided to do something different."

Mr Gardner's audacious property at Eerwah Vale was inspired by the famous Palace of Versailles in France.

"I'm trying to do a French chateau, a scaled-down version of Versailles," Mr Gardner said.

"I've been to Versailles a couple of times."

Sandstone blocks from France will be fitted to the home's exterior, which he said had been a logistical challenge.

"We bought an old chateau in France, pulled it down and we numbered all the blocks. They should be here this week," Mr Gardner said.

"Numbering the blocks was a nightmare."

'I wanted a bigger garage'

Once complete it will have eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 14 car spaces, a ballroom, two wine cellars, two lifts, a dining table that seats 22 people, and a commercial-sized office space.

The house will be off-grid, featuring 30 kilowatts of solar panels and 60 kilowatts of storage batteries.

The final cost of the build is expected to be $12 million.

The founder of GJ Gardner Homes said he originally did not set out to build such a grand design. He simply wanted to upgrade his garage.

"I stuffed up my last garage and made it too small, so the inspiration was really to have a larger garage and a larger man cave," Mr Gardner said.

"I have got plans of building a church out on the back corner, which will become my machinery shed, but it will look like a full sandstone church."

The main feature of the 10-hectare garden will be a 5-metre pond with a large bronze fountain in the middle.

"It's an angel with wings; it should look spectacular when it's done," he said.

Mr Gardner said he appreciated the cost would be hard for people to digest, especially in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

He knows the fact he has worked on his business for 40 years and donated significant sums to charity is unlikely to appease everybody.

But he said he was using local builders and contractors wherever possible.

"It's probably a little bit more expensive than what I thought, but it's what I want and hopefully we'll be happy," he said.

"This is not a typical type of construction, so I'm using Dunemann Constructions because they do this commercial-type work day in and day out."

$30 million sale shows 'strong appetite'

The appetite for properties in the upper echelons of the market around Noosa continues to grow, despite some eye-watering prices.

Earlier this month, Noosa realtor Tiffany Wilson set a Queensland property price record so far for 2024, selling a house on Witta Circle near Hastings Street for around $30 million.

The property sold within two weeks of being listed.

"There's only a finite amount of these properties available and they're usually held onto for a very long time," Ms Wilson said.

"So people can wait years for the properties to come onto the market."

She said buyers were often waiting in the wings for the right property to come onto the market.

"There is a strong appetite, it's certainly a location that is desirable for many who have holidayed here for a long time or have a connection to the area," she said.

"For people who have worked their entire life to get to that point, that's where they see their retirement life and they want to spend it with their family and friends."

Not a good market for locals

PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan said property sales in the Noosa region had not been impacted by high interest rates or higher house prices.

"That's one of the regions in the country where we haven't seen high interest rates dampen the buyer enthusiasm. There's no shortage of transactions," Mr Ryan said.

"In the past 12 months, we've had 729 homes sold in Noosa and 410 homes sold in the Noosa hinterland."

He said median property prices had increased by almost 150 per cent over the past decade.

"Prices have increased very significantly. The Noosa region's median house price increased by 148.8 per cent and 132 per cent in the Noosa hinterland," Mr Ryan said.

"That price growth changes the dynamic of the region and someone on a local salary is unlikely to crack into the local market."