A seven-bedroom mansion in Auckland’s lifestyle fringe is on the market for sale along with the owner’s collection of contemporary New Zealand sculptures.
Listing agent Nicky White, of Precision, told OneRoof the 5.2-hectare Coatesville estate was one of the city’s standout properties, describing it as “perfection at its finest”.
The owner bought the estate in 2007 for $3.35m and had initially planned a refurbishment of the 1980s-era home located at the address.
However, architect David Ponting, of Ponting Fitzgerald Architects, convinced him to start again. “Once the architects got hold of it, they basically demolished the whole thing and we got down to ground level,” he told OneRoof.
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He said that the previous owner of the home still lived next door and wasn’t best pleased that his old home was demolished. He did, however, manage to convince the architects to keep some mature nikau palms that his neighbour had planted.
The owner worked with Ponting to create a home that was centred around the estate’s water features and the light that bounces off them.
The build involved re-orienting the new home to face the lake creating a pond on the terrace.
“You couldn’t really see the lake from the [original] house because the kitchen was at the back. So, I moved the kitchen forward,” he said. The master bedroom and living areas open onto the large wrap-around terrace and face the reflection pool and lake.
The seven-bedroom home sits on a 5.2ha lifestyle block overlooks a large lake and comes with a super-long outdoor pool and spa. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is out of this world. Photo / Supplied
“You really can’t see the pavilion,” he said. “You just see the reflections. At night, there are lights on the lake that point down, but also up to the forest behind. If the lake is windy, it shimmers, and you get this reflection on the trees behind.”
Ponting also designed the home to showcase the owner’s growing art collection, with Paul Baragwanath, of ARTTFORM, advising him on the pieces he should highlight.
He added several notable sculptures to complement the home and its water features and the pieces can be included in the sale for the right price. They include a David McCracken sculpture set in the reflecting pond and a piece by Gregor Kregar, who made headlines in 2015 for his phallic mesh sculpture at Auckland’s New Lynn railway station.
Over and above the artwork and the stunning home, the owner lights up when discussing the estate’s extensive lawns, which he takes pride in maintaining, telling OneRoof he regularly jumped on his ride-on mower after a hard day’s work.
The estate, which was designed as a gallery for the owner's art collection, is spacious, stylish, and comfortable. Photo / Supplied
White said the sheer size of the property and its privacy were highlights in the current market. “You’re not on one hectare versus the next hectare. This is five hectares of total privacy,” she said. “There aren’t many properties that have over five hectares of land in central Coatesville. It has a bush backdrop, [and] it has an enormous lake, which the home itself sits up above,” she said.
White said the home was the perfect gallery for a remarkable collection of contemporary New Zealand art. “The outdoor sculptures complement the landscape,” White said.
- The Coatesville estate is for sale by way of price by negotiation
