Church pastors’ luxury Coatesville mansion sells for $10m

The pastors of one of the country’s biggest Pentecostal churches have sold their Coatesville mansion for $10 million.

The sale, which settled in December, is the highest sale price for the North West Auckland suburb last year.

The sprawling 601sqm mansion owned by City Impact Church’s founding pastors Peter and Beverley Mortlock sold in September, OneRoof records show.

The Mortlocks purchased the Screen Road property for $2.050m in 2017 and since then, OneRoof records show, a new home has been built and a swimming pool added to the 1.81ha lifestyle section.

Pastor Peter Mortlock told OneRoof that it was his understanding that the sale had a confidentiality clause so it would be “inappropriate to comment” about the property any further.

However, he said he had worked hard for his money including working as one of the top new housing salespeople in the 1970s bringing in a very good income at the time. Mortlock and his wife then started the church in 1982.

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“At 72 years of age, having worked hard all my life since becoming a Christian over 50 years ago, no longer drinking, smoking, gambling, (and never been divorced) which I say are all expensive habits.”

Mortlock said for 40 years he has encouraged people to work hard, live a righteous life, be generous in every area of life and you will reap what you sow, adding that people often “presume or jump to conclusions”.

“Apart from the above, as far as one knows, one may have inherited wealth from their parents, or one may have even won lotto – lol.”

In 2014, the New Zealand Herald reported the Mortlocks were selling their luxury mansion on Pinecrest Drive, in Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland, for $1.88m. The next recorded sale since they listed it for sale was in 2017 for an undisclosed sum.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home had three living areas, a heated pool and spa and was at the time described in promotional material as having a "feeling of grandeur and opulence".

Last year the couple stepped down from being City Impact Church’s lead pastors and took up the position as founding pastors.

City Impact has churches around the country including four in Auckland.

The Coatesville mansion bought by ZURU Toys billionaire Nick Mowbray for $32.5m. Photo / Supplied

The main North Shore Campus has a purpose-built church facility that seats up to 2000 people, the City Impact Church School, two childcare centres, an arts academy and TV studios.

In October 2021, the New Zealand Herald reported City Impact claimed nearly $1.08m, including $869,944.80 for 131 employees in Auckland, $75,866.40 for 12 staff in Balclutha and $133,562.4 for 19 employees in Queenstown under the government’s wage subsidy scheme.

High-end properties like the Screen Road mansion in Coatesville are not uncommon and the most well-known and highest sale in the suburb was when siblings Anna, Mat and Nick Mowbray – who are the founders of global toy company ZURU – purchased the Mahoenui Valley Road mansion formerly tenanted by Kim Dotcom in June 2016 for $32.5m.

A large five-bedroom, seven-bathroom “American styled super home” in the gated Goldflats Lane, in Coatesville, is currently for sale with an asking price of $11.75m.

A five-bedroom luxury home on 2ha at 60c Goldflats Lane, in Coatesville, is on the market with a price tag of $11.75m. Photo / Supplied

A stunning estate for sale at 59 Hartway Grove, in Coatesville. Photo / Supplied

The recently renovated property is described in the New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty listing as a “prestigious home” designed for large families and entertaining guests complete with “sweeping staircase and opulent Moooi chandelier”.

Telos Group director Caleb Paterson, who sells a number of luxury homes in the area, said so far this year there has been a lot of interest from both overseas buyers with between $6m and $10m to spend and local people looking around the $4m and $8m mark in or around Coatesville.

A number of offers have been made in the last week and he has had two offers accepted on properties in Coatesville priced just over $6m and another for just over $4m.

“There’s still being an adjustment needed from vendors’ expectations and where buyers are at.”

A number of vendors are also requesting more discreet or off-market showings.

While Coatesville remains popular for the lifestyle it offers, Paterson is also seeing a lot of people looking to relocate from Coatesville to Okura because it has better access and is also coastal.

He’s currently selling three properties hovering around the mid-range mark for Coatesville including a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 59 Hartway Grove, another luxury five-bedroom, four-bathroom property at 136a Glenmore Road and a five-bedroom, five-bathroom private country oasis on the border of Coatesville and Riverhead.

Precision Real Estate agent Nicky White said good properties in areas such as Coatesville and Omaha are still selling well and are in demand especially as people look at moving away from central Auckland for a larger property with more privacy.

White recently sold a property near the Mortlocks’ home on Screen Road for a similar price in an off-market sale last year.

And she has listed a lodge-style property at 232 Mahoenui Valley Road, which she describes as probably being “one of the best in Coatesville”, and a centrally-located six-bedroom, five-bathroom home with a large, flat land holding at 11 Mahoenui Valley Road. Both would suit those looking for luxury homes in the higher end of the market.

White said there was interest from Chinese buyers who are re-entering the market as well as expats who are returning from overseas when their children hit high school age and want to send their children to the nearby private Kristen School.

“It’s just the way that northern motorway access to Matakana and the beaches and everything. As far as being in Auckland that North Shore lifestyle pocket is a really good place to be because you are on the cusp of everything, but you feel like you are a world away.

“Covid has really played into the hands of making these lifestyle properties reasonably more popular and that is certainly what I’m finding at the moment with these overseas purchasers.”