The former Bahamas home of Irish acting legend Richard Harris has been placed on the market for auction with an asking price of $10m.
Kilkee House - named after the town in Co Clare where the Limerick actor spent childhood holidays - is a magnificent oceanfront estate on Paradise Island in the Bahamas and will be auctioned on January 14th.
The 10,000 sq m, four-bedroom home was built more than 70 years ago by Huntington Hartford II, a playboy sophisticate who dreamed of transforming a spit of land a short boat ride away from then capital city Nassau into a hideaway for the wealthy seeking sunshine in the winter months.
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When Hartford built the stately colonial-style beach house, Paradise was little more than 5km of overgrown bush with a north-facing beach on the ocean side and a harbour on the other. The only way to reach the 2.5 acre estate is by boat.
Harris, who famously starred as King Arthur in the 1967 classic Camelot, the “Bull” McCabe in The Field in 1990 and Professor Dumbledore in the first three Harry Potter movies, bought the house in 1971. Continuing in the tradition of Hartford, entertaining was serious business with serious names over 30 years: Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, the Beatles, Peter O’Toole, Pierce Brosnan.
After Harris’s death in 2002, a key was found that unlocked a secret compartment, a treasure trove of mind-altering contraband hidden inside.
Even if there had never been a party, the property was - and is to this day - breathtaking, with great lawns and lush gardens, a stone bridge over a winding rock grotto pool, 60m of waterfront on the harbour facing Nassau, a private dock to take in megayachts, a dining room that seats 18, a guesthouse, waterfall and gym. Harris’s children and, later, grandchildren romped on the private beach out front and rode horses on the land.
Harris’s children sold the retreat in 2005 to real estate developer David Kosoy (Sterling Financial Group) and his wife, who then spent millions reviving it. Following the couple’s acrimonious split, the estate is now up for sale with Concierge Auctions.
At the opposite end of Paradise Island, inside Ocean Club Estates-where basketball legend Michael Jordan owns land, Beyoncé and Jay Z's manager Steve Stoute built a home, and tennis great Jim Courier and baseball star Gary Sheffield are neighbours. Prices range from mid-seven digits to megamillions. Bloomberg
