A listing history lesson today detailing the colourful yet little known Post-War development of Surfers Paradise as primo holiday destination and Googie-motel wonderland for a brief shining moment before a new slew of ‘developers’ saw fit to rid itself of such joy.
To wit – a penthouse apartment in the heritage listed (huzzah!) ‘Kinkabool’ (c.1959) designed by architect John Morton of firm Lund Hutton Newell Black & Paulsen. This rarity in its preservation success, is one of the few recognised landmarks of Mid-Century Modern apartment living scattered across the country, a contemporary to the ‘Torbreck’ in Brisbane, ‘Domain Park’ in Melbourne and ‘Arlington’ in Sydney. ‘Kinkabool’ was built in a time of acceleration for Surfers Paradise with the once sleepy wave spot catching the eye of many a suited and sunburnt entrepreneur, who then sought to make their own fortune with various and colourful attempts of built glamour and sparkle. Constructed four years after the rise of the very first Gold Coast motel, the legendary the El Dorado (demolished in the 80s) and two years after the dazzling Chevron (demolished 1987) only the ‘Kinkabool’ has presided over changing hands and times, the glitter, the grime, the downturn and development for the duration. It remains still intact, a lone sentinel of its era.
The present sellers would love to see the wonderful Mid-Century legacy of their now departed grandparents taken on and cherished by a new sun-seeker, perhaps someone who loves a bit of sand and shimmer and who knows the value of a protected penthouse when they see one.
