- A prestigious Herne Bay villa sold for $14m, previously owned by Karl Urban and Greg Loveridge.
- The off-market sale was brokered by Graham and Ollie Wall, who cited buyer and seller privacy.
- Loveridge had planned a super-mansion but sold the properties after demolishing an old villa.
A prestigious Auckland home that’s had a string of celebrity owners, including Hollywood actor Karl Urban, changed hands at the end of last year for $14 million, OneRoof can reveal.
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The vendors had bought the sprawling villa on Bella Vista Road, in Herne Bay, in 2016 for $11m.
Their $14m payday was brokered by the same agents who sold them the house in 2016, Graham and Ollie Wall, of Wall Real Estate.
Actor Karl Urban has recently picked up awards for his starring role in the Amazon hit series The Boys. Photo / Amazon Studios
Cricketer and property tycoon Greg Loveridge, who bought the place from Urban in 2014. Photo / Jason Dorday
The 2024 deal was off-market, with the Walls telling OneRoof they were bound by non-disclosure agreements so were unable to comment on the sale.
“A large percentage of the transactions we complete at this level are under the radar,” Ollie said.
“It’s very important that we respect the privacy of the buyers and sellers and therefore we don’t comment on specifics.”
The vendors bought the property from rich-lister former cricketer Greg Loveridge, who famously fractured his knuckle in his one and only Test match for the Black Caps. Loveridge had bought the house from Urban in 2014 as well as an old villa on an 834sqm section next door.
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He made headlines in 2016 when it was reported that he planned to combine the sites and build an eight-bedroom super-mansion that was to include a wine cellar, a guest house, a swimming pool and spa, and a pool house, all designed by architects Sumich Chaplin.
However, after demolishing the old villa on the 834sqm site, he pulled the pug on the project and sold the two properties. The new owners didn’t pick up the mega-build, but they did landscape the empty section and added car parking.
Loveridge’s purchase in 2014 was big news at the time, as was Urban’s. Urban, who is now starring in the hit Amazon series The Boys, had been in the limelight for decades, appearing in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy alongside Matt Damon and the rebooted Star Trek film series.
Urban moved to the Bella Vista villa after selling his house, pictured, around the corner on Jervois Road. Photo / Supplied
He bought the Bella Vista villa in 2012 for $5.25m with his then-wife Natalie Wihongi. They had upgraded from a smaller house a few blocks away on Jervois Road, which they had sold for $2.8m.
At the time, Urban told the New Zealand Herald he was often asked by fans if he would move overseas. “I often get asked if I’d move to LA. I just absolutely love living in Herne Bay. It’s got a great school, awesome cafes, and really lovely, interesting people,” he said.
Bella Vista Road still holds the sale price record for a non-waterfront property in the suburb. In an off-market deal, also brokered by Wall Real Estate, a mansion on a massive 2634sqm section sold for $17.75m in 2016. The overall Herne Bay record was set in 2018, when developers Simon and Paula Herbert bought a property on Cremorne Street for $27.5m.
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