“T Toot! Toot!” Bobby Genovese sounds the horn on his red toy train as we speed round his 100-acre estate in Ocala, Florida. If the train is a surprise, there are many more in store: life-size elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, cowboys shooting from a cave and monkeys chattering on a tree. Not real of course concrete and resin, tripped by electronics as we move around his “adventure park.” Genovese watches his guests’ jaws drop and rubs his hands in delight. Because it’s fun, it’s unexpected and, as I soon come to find out, if’s very Bobby.
Genovese is a Canadian-born self-made businessman, venture capitalist and property investor. He can also add passionate serial boat owner to his bio - up until recently he had six boats (now reduced to a “more manageable” four). His partner (now fiancee) of 13 years, Dee Dee Taylor Eustace, is a successful Canadian architect/interior designer with a studio in Toronto and three properties of her own.
“The first time we met we played tennis. I won, of course,” Genovese tells me with a wink. “No you didn’t!” Eustace laughs, turning to me. “Bobby and I are very competitive,” she whispers. “My mum would always say to me, “You don’t have to win,’ but I’d always reply, ‘But why would you play?’ And in that way, we’re so alike
