‘Love it or hate it’: Bold new look divides Gold Coast buyers

Gold Coast home design: The traditional coastal home has a dark rival A dark new front is rolling across the Gold Coast, casting a shadow over the city’s decade-long obsession with white-on-white coastal design. Driven by a wave of interstate arrivals and an increasingly cosmopolitan local market, bolder styles are now sweeping the sun-drenched city’s new-build market. While the Hamptons-inspired look remains a staple, the city’s newest display homes reveal a stark shift in buyer tastes, with crisp whites making way for walnut cabinetry, statement wallpaper, jungle-themed tiles, and sleek black finishes. The Castaway 450 is still the company’s most popular design It has a luxurious kitchen with a butler’s pantry At Skyridge, Frasers Property’s massive $1.5b, 342 ha masterplanned community in Worongary, two side-by-side G.J. Gardner display homes serve as a litmus test for the city’s housing future. The Stradbroke 418’s dark, moody aesthetic stands in contrast to the neighbouring Castaway 450’s neutral coastal palette. G.J. Gardner Homes CEO Trent Gardner said while the coastal Castaway still accounted for 72 per cent of sales across their southern Gold Coast offices, the darker Str...