Island Real Estate BVI Blog

Island 'I do' for Kristy
Andrew Hornery
February 7, 2009

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Her matrimonial home may have 19 bathrooms at her disposal, but the expat model Kristy Hinze is opting for the more laid back attractions of the British Virgin Islands for her wedding to the US billionaire Jim Clark next month.

And at $US51,000 ($78,000) a night, it's practically a steal.

PS hears Hinze, 28, and Clark, 64, will host an extravagant series of celebrations on a private island in the Caribbean, most likely Necker Island or the alarmingly named Mosquito Island, which are a hop, skip and jump from Clark's humungous Palm Beach mansion.

Guests from Sydney will fly to Miami, then make their way to St Thomas and Virgin Gorda before boarding Clark's cruise liner, the $US100 million superyacht Athena. The islands, within view of each other, are considered the world's most exclusive private resorts and are owned by Sir Richard Branson.

Hinze and her entourage of Sydney party types, along with Clark and his wealthy but much older friends, will be able to soak up the stunning and unspoilt slice of the Caribbean, free of those dreaded long-lensed paparazzi. Instead it will be flamingos and ancient tortoises (not the two-legged billionaire variety but those with shells) to keep the wedding party company as they splash in the turquoise waters with coral reefs and beautiful white beaches.

The islands, which boast 50 staff, set the maximum number of guests at 28, but the Athena is expected to take on any overflow.

Hinze's fairytale marriage will continue when she returns to Florida and Clark's mega-mansion, an almost 6300-square-metre pile which has 19 bathrooms, a lift, four patios, two pools and a tunnel leading to a mystery destination.

Known as Il Palmetto, the 1930 Italian-style home is surrounded by two hectares of gardens and man-made lakes along South Ocean Boulevard, dubbed "Billionaires' Row".