Kiwis have been rivalling Barbie actress Margot Robbie’s childhood wish of having a slide from her bedroom to her swimming pool and have created their own dream homes with covered pools, waterslides, multiple games rooms and even medieval castles.
Kiwi cinema-goers will be able to take a peek into Barbie and her friends’ homes in Barbieland when the movie is released in cinemas this week – but there are also some pretty fun houses already in New Zealand.
A Campbells Bay homeowner made his kids’ dreams come true when he added a slide going into the inground pool. There’s also a playground with a sandpit, second slide and a path purposely built on a slope to create a minibike pump track at the property at 306a Beach Road, which is for sale.
Harcourts Cooper & Co salesperson Brianna Kerridge says it is a “kids’ heaven”.
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The owner is already planning a hydro slide in their next house that goes from the top level straight into the pool – just like out of the Barbie movie.
But Kerridge says there is also potential to do a similar thing at the Beach Road property as the balcony off the master bedroom looks straight over the swimming pool.
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The house has an undercover BBQ area with a TV, bar fridge and an outdoor shower. It’s probably the most fun house she’s marketed so far, adding she’d love to sell a house with a bowling alley.
Ray White agent Marilyn HongMa says she and her colleagues have fallen in love with a property at 189 Point View Drive, Dannemora, which will make grandparents, parents and kids very happy.
While HongMa has sold plenty of houses with pools before, this is the first with a water slide that runs into the 12m-long heated pool.
Along with the impressive pool, there’s a boatshed, games room, movie room, and a teppanyaki grill. “They have a lot of fun ideas,” she says.
Meanwhile, several TV crews have jumped at the chance to film at a Whitford home with an impressive heated inground pool and retractable pool roof and have been paying big bucks for the privilege.
The owner of this Beach Road property, on Auckland's North Shore, is planning to build a longer hydro-slide at his next home. Photo / Supplied
A water slide runs into the large 12m heated pool and there's even a shed to store the boat at this Point View Drive home. Photo / Supplied
The Point View Road home also has a colourful bar. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Paul Sissons says the owners built it as their forever home about five years ago, but have returned to Europe so have put the property on the market. Buyer interest has been over $7 million.
The property is currently rented out as a holiday home to both overseas visitors and a local TV crew who have been using it as a film location.
The large 740sqm home on Whitford Road also has a tennis court, media room with massive TV, and two games room – one set up for table tennis and the other for pool. Beautiful chandeliers give it the bling factor.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home has everything you want including a huge scullery and chef’s kitchen, he said.
“It’s set up really as a very, very big sort of entertainer's home ... there are nine TVs throughout the property so every bedroom has a TV in it,” he says. “When you go inside the house you go, ‘wow, this is a bit different’."
On the other side of Auckland, NZ Sotheby’s International Realty is also marketing a property at 878 Ridge Road, Riverhead, that has a pool with a partially covered roof, a billiard room and – perhaps the perfect place to watch the Barbie movie – a ‘Gold Class’ home cinema with seven relaxer chairs.
The most fun house Bayleys Remuera salesperson Sarah Liu has ever sold is also one with star quality, so much so that it was rented by Hollywood action star Jason Statham to live in while filming The Meg in 2016.
A luxury home on Rawene Avenue, Westmere, that was favoured by celebrities sold for $17.68m in 2021. Photo / File
Former Olympic gold medalist Eric Murray got a lot of use out of the putting green at his home. Photo / Supplied
Ex-Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell’s former home on Rawene Avenue, Westmere, sold for $17.68m in 2021 and was the backdrop for numerous star-studded events with Prince Albert of Monaco among the famous guests who have walked through its doors.
Liu says it is a “unique and special” home with everything an A-lister celebrity could dream of including a home theatre, sound-insulated music room and an infinity pool overlooking the waterfront.
She is also selling 9 Karori Crescent, Orakei, a property which she describes in her listing as “Hollywood glamour”. The one-of-a-kind home has statuesque Roman columns, lots of gold detailing, hand-painted ceilings, and a mosaic pool and spa.
While Lowe & Co managing director Craig Lowe says a castle on Helston Road in Paparangi is a “pretty cool” and the most “unique” house his agency has sold.
The castle has a moat, drawbridge, turrets and even secret rooms. It sold in 2019 for $375,000 along with the armour, swords and shields.
Meanwhile, a five-level castle at 39 Moxham Road in Te Awamutu is for sale priced by negotiation and features a main house with a striking turret tower. There’s also a pool, summer house, outdoor fireplace on the deck, a ladies’ shed and even an outdoor bathtub on the roof for romantic soaks under the stars.
The Sefton castle, which featured on Grand Designs NZ last year, now has an asking price of $2.69m after failing to sell at auction earlier this month.
A home in Mount Maunganui is one of a few houses in the country with an indoor slide connecting the top level to the living area. Photo / Quinn O'Connell
Olympian Eric Murray sold his three-bedroom home on Vogel Street, Cambridge, for $1.05m at the end of last year after adding a lavish, heated mineral pool and putting green.
Murray told OneRoof at the time that adding the luxury items paid off as they were two places his family spent a lot of time in.
While an award-winning Mount Maunganui property is one of the few homes with an indoor slide in the country after grandmother and artist Pip Kay decided she needed a slide taking people from the first floor to the living room.
Kay told NZME last year that she wanted the home to have an artistic flair and a sense of humour, which is why she also included lemon, lime, and raspberry windows at the front of her home.
Pocketspace Interior creative director Laura Heynike says interiors such as cushions and using bright colours can make a house fun and for those looking for a Barbie-themed home there’s no shortage of pink fashion and furnishings in stores.
While New Zealand interior design is generally quite conservative, Heynike has had fun curating some more outrageous requests.
One client was a single woman professional who loved pink so opted for pink kitchen cabinets with brass handles.
“She was excited to have a kitchen that she loved every day and didn’t have to please anyone else! Others have prioritised their prized pooch and gone all out on dog-washing laundries.”
Another homeowner loved hosting parties so had her home decorated with oversized horse sculptures, disco LED lighting, bold and vibrant artwork, coloured leather sofas, shaggy piled carpet and a botanical wall display of glass-encased butterflies.
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