- A Japanese-inspired home in Tamahere, designed by Tane Cox, sold for $3.55m.
- The 10-year-old cedar home featured in design magazines and the 2019 Hamilton Fine Homes Tour.
- Two other high-end homes from the tour are still for sale, seeking new owners.
An award-winning home sold under the hammer last week for $3.55 million, smashing Waikato’s auction price record.
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Two buyers, one a local family and the other an Auckland family, went head to head for the Japanese-inspired house on Newell Road, in Tamahere.
The 440sqm four-bedroom, two-bathroom property, dubbed Shibui House, was designed by Tane Cox, of Red Architecture, 10 years ago and has featured in countless design magazines.
The bidding at Bayleys auction in Hamilton opened at $3m and quickly escalated to $3.4m, before there was a pause for negotiations.
The contemporary four-bedroom, two-bathroom home has a separate self-contained studio catering for extended family or guests. Photo / Supplied
A house has been featured in several design magazines. Photo / Supplied
However, the Auckland family had left the auction by the time the property came back to the room 40 minutes later. Auctioneer Stephen Shale promptly announced the home was on the market at $3.55m - just shy of the property’s $3.65m RV - and brought the hammer down to the delight of the buyers.
Shale told OneRoof he believed the $3.55m sale price was the highest achieved at auction for a single titled residential property in Waikato.
The Newell Road home was taken on by Bayleys after failing to sell at the end of last year. The owners had worked carefully with the architect on the build and were only selling because they had moved out of the region.
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Bayleys listing agent Rachel Waldegrave said it was great to be able to bring two cash buyers to the auction room and get a result.
The property had attracted a range of interest, she said, both locally and from around New Zealand. “I am really happy for the buyers. They are absolutely thrilled.”
Waldegrave told OneRoof last month that the house was a standout listing. “This one is different to the more traditional-looking homes you get in Tamahere. Sometimes you get ostentatious designs and I think Newell Road is the complete opposite of that.”
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home for sale at 3 Dalbeth Place, in Matangi, spans 800sqm and features concrete block walls and polished concrete floors. Photo / Supplied
A cedar and Australian red brick home at 290A Boyd Road, in Horsham Downs, was on the Fine Homes Tour. Photo / Supplied
Waldegrave said she seeing more Auckland buyers in her patch. “Aucklanders are still seeing Waikato as a really lovely place to come in and live and raise a family. I think lifestyle properties here offer them something they just can't get in Auckland.”
Tamahere was particularly popular because they could get a high-quality home on a larger section with a pool and even sometimes a tennis court for a price they could afford, she said.
Meanwhile, two other star properties with serious architectural credentials are still up for grabs in the area.
A four-bedroom home at 3 Dalbeth Place, in Matangi, is almost double the size of the Newell Road and is priced by negotiation. The current owners commissioned legendary Kiwi architect Terry Hitchcock to design their dream home in 2005. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom concrete block home has all the extras, including a saltwater pool, spa, floodlit tennis court, pétanque court, pool house, boatshed, purpose-built gym and outdoor covered room.
Harcourts listing agent Grant Shackleton told OneRoof last month that while the home was the largest single-level property he was selling in his 28-year career in real estate, the size of the home wasn’t overwhelming and the design itself was timeless.
A modern four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 290A Boyd Road, in Horsham Downs, nicknamed the Cowshed, is also still for sale.
The Australian red brick and cedar home was designed by Hamilton-based Edward White Architects and built by Steve Ross Master Builder for the vendors 10 years ago.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty salesperson Kristen Gould earlier told OneRoof that homes of this calibre did not come up for sale very often and this was one of the best homes she had ever listed. “It’s a stunning piece of art that suits people wanting a modern lifestyle with that lock-up-and-leave ability.”
- Click here to find more lifestyle properties for sale in the Waikato
