The Queensland island that inspired scenes in a Chronicles of Narnia film has been sold for $5.6m.
Little Green Island, south of the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, was on Monday sold at auction by film producer and actor Douglas Gresham, who is the stepson of CS Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia.
Gresham, who lives in Malta, bought the 63-acre (25-hectare) private island for $2.45m 15 years ago. Besides its tropical forest, freshwater lagoon and pristine beaches, the island has a main house, a caretaker’s cottage and a pool with views on to the Coral Sea.
The property was sold by Tina Sander, a real estate agent in nearby Mackay. She said Gresham’s family told her the tropical island inspired Ramandu’s island in the 2010 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
“I’ve been privileged enough to stay there a couple of times overnight and it’s not until you actually visit the island that you really grasp its true magic and beauty and aura,” Sander said.
“I was born and raised in Mackay and I’ve been fortunate to travel the world and, without a doubt, I’d put Little Green Island in the top three places I’ve visited, easily.
“It’s hidden, unspoilt, secluded. Anyone who loves the ocean, it is literally your own private resort.”
She said the house, nestled into the base of a “mountain”, was “very protected from the elements”.
The main home on the island was built in 1995 and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was designed by the renowned architect and president of the Australian Architecture Association, Tone Wheeler, who originally designed the home for Edward de Bono, the late Maltese commentator who coined the term “lateral thinking”.
The island, a short boat ride from Mackay, was used for family holidays and was never let, Sander said.
The sale had drawn national and international interest, including 287 inquiries. On the day of the auction, those interested parties “boiled down to eight phone bidders and two onsite bidders”, she said.
The buyer is a Mackay family that has asked not to be named. Sander said they were one of two local bidders.
“It’s an incredible result, an amazing result – I personally believe it’s worth every single penny of that,” she said. “Everyone’s super happy that a local buyer ended up snapping it up.”
