Rich-lister financier Martyn Reesby got $23.8 million for his Auckland mansion, which sold last year in a "hush-hush deal".
The six-bedroom house on Victoria Avenue had been listed for sale by Bayleys agent Gary and Vicki Wallace in early 2022, and sold at the end of last year, but the deal only settled in July, with the details being made public last week.
Gary Wallace told OneRoof that such long settlement times for high-end sales were not uncommon, particularly if buyers were returning Kiwis or required Overseas Investment Office approval.
He could not reveal details of the buyer. “Obviously $23.8m is a pretty rarefied number - it doesn’t come along every day.
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“But we’ve got another four or five properties coming to the market in the next month, and they’ll all sit around the $8m to $10m price range,” he said.
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The 1000sqm five-bedroom home and guest house, which sits on a 3234sqm site and is known as Cambridge Manor, last changed hands 18 years ago for $5.2m, and has undergone almost $8m worth of renovations since.
The owners are rich-listers Martyn and Jacqui Reesby. Martyn, one of Auckland's leading financiers, said they had spared no expense in upgrading the property.
The owners, Martyn and Jacqui Reesby, bought the property for $5.2m in 2003 and spent $8m upgrading it. Photo / Supplied
“We never cared about the expense, I just wanted the absolute best,” he told OneRoof.
“There isn’t a surface on the house that we haven’t touched, some twice, we’ve completely remodelled, extended, upgraded.
“The boys grew up here and the house was set up for them. We put in a professional basketball set-up, re-astroturfed the tennis court and added another swimming pool – a 25-metre outdoor one.”
The Reesbys made property headlines in 2019 when they bought a palatial retreat with vineyard on Waiheke Island, said to be one of the biggest sales that year.
The 864sqm house on Victoria Avenue was built in the 1990s by well-known retail family the Normans, owners of Farmers and Pascoes. The property had a 2021 CV of $17.25m.
The Reesbys commissioned architect Matt Chaplin of Sumich Chaplin to refurbish the property in a series of projects. They brought in blue-chip landscaper Suzanne Turley to overhaul the grounds, which include electronic systems for lights and watering.
Over the years they upgraded the pools, added a 140sqm guest house, completely rebuilt the kitchen and dining area and added an indoor/outdoor loggia room, made over bathrooms (there are six altogether, plus powder rooms), retiled the roof and upgraded all the technology (an ongoing project, Martyn noted).
The Horace Massey-designed house, commissioned in the 1930s by the Yates family, of garden seed fame, has been completely refurbished and is now expected to sell for around $10m. Photo / Supplied
“These are legacy properties that rarely come up. And when they do, they’re quite private and stay in the family for years,” Wallace said.
“In my 20 years selling real estate, I haven’t had the privilege of selling such an amazing home, no expense has been spared, everything is done on a sensational scale.”
The sale beats this year’s Auckland price record set in May when an architecturally designed house on Burwood Road, Remuera, went for $20.6m.
The city’s only other $20m sale this year was for a country property on Strathfield Lane, Whitford, that sold for $20m in February.
The Wallaces are currently listing two $10m-plus properties, including a penthouse apartment with beautiful views across Auckland which also comes with a 12-car private garage bigger than most homes.
The garage that goes with 8/464 Remuera Road is about the size of an average three-bedroom house – it’s quite something, Wallace earlier told OneRoof, and, yes, some people really do have that many cars.
“There’s one guy I met, I think he had eight supercars and they’re probably worth about anywhere between half a million and $1m each. They’re like works of art – they are collector’s items.”
The biggest problem for the owners of car collections is where to house them.
“With this particular property you’ve got the luxury of going in your lift and going straight to your private garage and there they are, you decide which one you’re going to drive today.”
The garage is part of a boutique apartment development at 464 Remuera Road built six or seven years ago. Wallace said the vendor was in the car business and bought it off-plan so was able to design the apartment and garage how he wanted.
The extra-large garage for a penthouse apartment on 464 Remuera Road was built to house the vendor’s car collection. Photo / Supplied
And while the garage is great, the two-level 340sqm penthouse itself is pretty special, Wallace said. “The views over Auckland and out to the gulf are sublime.”
In nearby Kohimarama, Wallace also has listed a Horace Massey-designed house that was commissioned in the 1930s by the Yates family, of garden seed fame.
The current owners undertook “a massive renovation” and extension of the 564sqm home, gutting and rebuilding the house and adding a big kitchen/family area.
“They’ve completely upgraded the home. It’s like walking into a brand-new home, it’s amazing what they’ve done.
The ballroom was converted and now has a wine cellar and bar.
The house is on about 2300sqm of land. There’s a big lawn, a “magnificent” swimming pool and a barbecue area.
“It’s a legacy property, stunning. The CV is $9.3m, we’re looking at buyers circa $10m for that,” Wallace said.
Wallace said that buyers and sellers were more confident this week.
“The phone is ringing. Confidence is really important, I think [the election] was a very important time ... people are saying ‘let’s get on with it’.”
- Click here to see more properties for sale in Remuera
