Functional sanctuary
While his business is grounded in providing housing for Queenslanders, property developer John Fitzgerald’s spiritual home is high in the Himalayas.
But when not on his annual pilgrimage to India, the investment adviser and author found peace at his own Zen-inspired retreat on the Gold Coast.
Named Gangotri, the Broadbeach Waters property embodies harmony and energy with clean lines and natural materials, enhanced by imported artefacts including a life-size Buddha statue.
Mr Fitzgerald, founder of the JLF Group and best-selling author of 7 Steps to Wealth, is taking the one-of-a-kind home to auction after the family took on a new project in northern NSW.
The luxury property on a 984sq m waterfront parcel on River Crescent is marketed by Ben Ada, of Amir Prestige, and will go under the hammer on April 6.
Mr Fitzgerald said Gangotri, completed in 2010, was designed to be highly functional while providing a “sanctuary” where modern families could find moments of calm.
“The house is a complete living environment where you have the office, the gym, the home cinema, so you really don’t have to go anywhere,” he said. “But more importantly, you have a lot of stillness within it. It’s a big house, but not a busy house.”
Finishes include travertine tiles, American cherry oak cabinetry and timber floors, while special features are the 2-ton Buddha and a 1000year-old door salvaged from a Tibetan monastery.
Mr Fitzgerald said the home design was inspired by his longstanding yoga practice.
“I go every year to a little place in the Himalayas, Dharamshala, and I hike up the mountains and practise my meditational yoga with people who I’ve been practising with for decades, and through being in this environment, I wanted to create that stillness and serenity that is a contrast to the busy lives that we have,” he said.
“From every room in the home you will see water and you will see plant life. You become part of a living environment and that is a design unique to Eastern cultures.”
The six-bedroom, sevenbathroom property is a custom-crafted oasis of luxury inclusions. There’s a media room, gym with steam shower, and timber spiral staircase leading to a home library.
An al fresco terrace with teppanyaki kitchen overlooks the infinity pool, while frangipani trees line the river’s edge, where a 12m pontoon and boat shed provide a launch pad for aquatic pursuits.
PropTrack data shows the typical house price in Broadbeach Waters is up 3.6 per cent over 12 months to $2.037m.