Kiwi magazine publisher and DJ Tim Phin has relisted his stylish Auckland home in the hopes he can snare a buyer.
Tim Phin, who famously wooed supermodel Naomi Campbell for a cover shoot for his fashion magazine Remix, put his Grey Lynn villa back on the market last week, almost a year after he pulled it from sale.
Phin's four-bedroom Rose Road property is the ultimate party house, sporting a classic white look at the front and a striking black box at the back.
Phin had only just finished renovating the home with his project partner, digital designer Carl Thompson, when he listed it at the end of 2021. Back then he had just bought a waterfront property in Omaha. Now he's testing the waters in Grey Lynn again.
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The villa has been listed this time around with Wall Real Estate agents Ollie and Andrew Wall, who recently found success with a $20m mansion sale in Auckland eastern fringes.
In their listing, the Walls highlight the unusual contrasts within the house: “Charming Grey Lynn villa meets ultra-modern living”. They also pay homage to Phin's profile as one of NZ's most connected socialites.
Phin with supermodel Naomi Campbell. Photo / Remix
The Nespresso on Ice Pool Party, which Phin hosted at his Grey Lynn home. From left, Phin, Art Green and Carl Thompson. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
The living area is “suspended above the seriously cool outdoor entertaining area, including a sunken fire pit and bar flowing out to the pool and tropical garden backdrop. Party time.”
Ollie Wall told OneRoof that now that Phin was based at the beach and travelling the world – recent jaunts include Bangkok for a diamond launch, Sydney for fashion and New York with model Ashley Graham – the house was crying out for a new owner.
“They've given it a complete update, it's not such a party house. They've updated the kitchen and bathrooms and done some decorating. They've turned it into a 'hands-free house' you don't have to touch anything, it's absolutely immaculate.”
And ignore the earlier price indications of over $6m, Wall said. “We're talking in the $5m now.”
In 2021, Phin told OneRoof that he wanted “someone to fall in love with this house".
Phin and Thompson bought the sweet square-fronted villa in 2014, for $1.175m, intending to do a quick renovation and move on.
But Phin is not afraid of daring himself, having picked up the phone to global names like designer Alexa Chung, “It girl” Hailey Baldwin, singer Ellie Goulding as well as Kendall Jenner and Campbell, and persuading them to appear in his magazine – for free.
So he brought in maverick architect Chris Tate (the clue is in his mantra “to make designs as daring as his imagination will go”) and paired him with architect Evelyn McNamara.
The three-year project, mostly supervised by Thompson, took a typical old three-bedroom workers’ cottage and turned it into a sprawling four-bedroom, three-bathroom magazine-worthy home of 305sqm with a CV of $5.3m.
“It had to be a statement piece of modern design. It was all about entertaining,” Phin said in 2021.
Architects Chris Tate and Evelyn McNamara turned a modest villa on Rose Road into a stylish party house. Photo / Supplied
The stylish living area is a cool white, contrasting with the black kitchen. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve hosted events for Nespresso, Play Station. Jimmy Choo came for cocktails, and gave us an artwork. No Kardashians, but plenty of New Zealand supermodels and celebrities, I can’t name them of course.”
The still-modest facade with lower ground floor double garage hides a striking black two-storeyed glass and steel box on the back that cantilevers over a swimming pool and fire pit.
Upstairs was all about entertaining, albeit with views of an unexpected pocket of Grey Lynn bush, not the Hollywood Hills; downstairs the fire pit area can be enclosed by sliding walls of glass to allow the party to continue even in Auckland’s rainy winters.
Phin and Thompson’s project brief specified a stylish kitchen to be the hub of the entertaining space, with room for work pads or party pads. They added four bedrooms for future family buyers, and electric vehicle charging in the garage (“for the Tesla”, explained Phin).
“This is the most sought-after house in Grey Lynn. We decided to make it the most entertaining house, the most liveable. We love it.”
- 61 Rose Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, is for sale by negotiation
