A grand Italianate stone mansion on one of New Zealand’s wealthiest streets has hit the market with price expectations well in excess of its $15 million CV.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Paul Sissons is pitching the 813sqm five-bedroom house on 84 Paritai Drive, in Auckland’s Orakei, to high-end local clients and international buyers.
“We expect there’ll be huge interest locally and internationally. It’s never been on the market since it was finished in 2002 and we’ll only be showing it to qualified buyers by appointment,” he said.
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Sissons would not speculate on the likely price for the property as it is being sold by an international tender that closes on March 14, but said the expectation was that the property would fetch more than its 2021 CV.
OneRoof records show the place changed hands in November 2009 for $10.5m in an off-market deal.
The five-bedroom house was designed by name architect Robert Railley of Swan Railley Clapham, who worked closely with interior decorator, the late Linda Reid.
But central to the build, Sissons said, was the work by stonemason Steve O’Connor, of Hinuera Stone.
“This was a more than two-year build, and every detail is classic – the stone terraces, the architraves, the molding. Steve still comes back to maintain the house, it’s one of his most timeless jobs,” Sissons said.
The house boasts clear views of the Waitematā. Photo / Supplied
The stone work is by Hinuera Stone specialist Steve O'Connor. He worked on the house on site for a year. Photo / Supplied
O’Connor told OneRoof that the house was one of the biggest private homes the company had worked on.
“Things like the cappings on the columns, the corbels, even the window sills and architraves, we had to shape the solid stone, but also drill holes for steel supports to meet New Zealand building code,” he said.
“Then the walls and facade were a 70mm-thick veneer. We were on site for a year.”
The house is arranged around a striking two-storey lobby, boasts a sweeping staircase and is lit by a circular skylight.
Floors are a mix of marble, stone and mahogany laid in intricate parquet-style patterns. Windows and French doors are steel, finished to a bronze colour that was repeated in the hundreds of doorknobs around the house.
The lobby leads to the formal and informal living and dining rooms, which in turn open out to the north-facing patio and views of the Waitematā Harbour, Rangitoto Island and the city.
The sweeping staircase in the lobby is a standout feature. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is packed with luxury fittings. Photo / Supplied
A finely-detailed kitchen with granite benchtops has a gaggle of luxury brands: a brand-new Falcon cooker, Gaggenau steamer, double Miele dishwashers, Liebherr wine fridge, as well as Fisher & Paykel fridge-freezer and a coffee machine. An adjacent scullery takes care of the cooking mess, and there is a laundry on this floor too.
The ground floor includes an oak-panelled library and a second casual sitting room which both open to the swimming pool. The sitting room can be closed off from the rest of the house with pocket doors to create a self-contained suite with a bedroom and bathroom.
Upstairs is the huge master suite (the bedroom alone is nearly 33sqm) that opens to a terrace with more grandstand views.
The basement floor has garaging (for up to eight cars, Sissons said) and opens to another generous lobby. There’s a wine cellar as well as masses of storage on this floor, service rooms for the tech and even a staff bathroom for visiting tradies. A second bathroom is next to the gym, which doubled as a playroom for visiting grandchildren.
Another home for sale on the exclusive street is 31 Paritai Drive. It includes its own art gallery. Photo / Supplied
The listing joins several other high-end buildings for sale on Paritai Drive including a luxury modern four-bedroom home at 92 Paritai Drive, which the listing agent, Michael Boulgaris, expects to sell for $30m.
Also up for grabs is a three-bedroom 918sqm house at 31 Paritai Drive, which was commissioned by renowned art collector Dame Jenny Gibbs. NZ Sotheby’s agents Gavin Pollard and Klara Kozak have described the property, which boasts its own art gallery and has a CV of $12.75m, as a “waterfront collectible”.
Paritai Drive is home to the property that still holds Auckland’s house price record, the mansion formerly owned by disgraced financier Mark Hotchin, which sold in 2013 for $38.5m.
More recently, a renovated mid-century home next door fetched $20m when it sold in 2022, one of the most recent seven-figure sales on the street.
- 84 Paritai Drive, Orakei, is for sale by way of tender, closing March 14
