A Northland estate on its own island peninsula has already attracted overseas interest just one day after going on the market. It is expected to sell for around $15 million.
The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house sprawls over 2000sqm on a 27-hectare estate at 43/39 Tongatu Road on the Ngunguru Peninsula, five minutes from the popular diving mecca of Tutukaka. It has 360-degree views over the inlets, rivers and harbour to the Pacific Ocean beyond, and comes with three modernised guest cottages.
It would be a record price for residential property for Northland, according to OneRoof records.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, who is marketing the property with Richard Bull, said the house alone would cost $20m to build today.
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“Just the living room is 17m by 15m, that's the size of many houses," he said.
“The property is virtually an island, linked to the mainland with a causeway with security gates and CCTV cameras. It is rare to find a compound that’s completely blocked off from the rest of the coast.
“The pent-up demand from Covid lockdown is playing into lifestyle property in Northland. Instead of travelling overseas, people are now wanting to own New Zealand destinations.”
The house has living rooms the size of most kiwi houses, all with views of the ocean. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen has views across the estate to the Pacific Ocean. Photo / Supplied
Hawkins told OneRoof that the $5m sale just before Christmas of a 60-year-old beach house on 5ha coastal land on Landowners Lane, near the entrance to Tutukaka Harbour, prompted the owner to re-list his larger estate after it failed to sell two years ago.
“Landowners Lane had more than 70 enquiries, a quarter of them from overseas, and sold for three times its rating valuation to an Australian buyer who hadn’t seen it," he said.
Stonemasons took five years to build the three-storey house. Photo / Supplied
“We only sent out Ngunguru to our database yesterday and we’ve already had enquiries. You have to have New Zealand residency as foreigners, not from Australia or Singapore, would need OIA approval.”
Retired British couple Brian and Christine Angliss started construction on the house in 2005. It was completed in 2010, and at the time was said to be one of the most expensive residential constructions in the country.
The dramatic atrium staircase at the centre of the 2000sqm house. Photo / Supplied
Engineer Brian, who for a decade in the 1980s and 1990s owned the British AC auto company, home of the classic Cobra car, sourced for the house Chinese granite, schist from around New Zealand, and 40 cubic metres of kauri and 20 cubic metres of rimu for the interior. A stonemason worked on the walls for nearly five years, and seven to nine contractors were on the site non-stop for two years.
“The house was built to last, with half-a-metre wide solid concrete walls,” Brian told OneRoof. “We had to get the biggest crane on one side of the house and the second biggest crane on [the] other side of the house to wrench the seven-tonne ceiling beams up.”
An original 1970s house on just 5ha at Landowners Lane in nearby Tutukaka sold for $5.5m before Christmas last year. Photo / Supplied
There is a high security room, indoor parking for eight cars, a theatre and 180sqm conference room. Computers control lighting and indoor climate.
A circular stairway and internal elevator provide access to three extensive ‘walkout’ areas from where guests can soak in panoramic views, and there are spacious lounges and an atrium.
The heated salt-water pool and spa elevated above the waterways has extensive landscaping with native and exotic planting.
Brian told OneRoof that a lot of the design decisions were made on the go. “We didn’t set out to do it, but it had to be set up in proportion. The house had to be compact and make sense within itself, but it just ended up big,” he says. “Every time he called me, the architect would say ‘Brian, it's getting bigger!’.”
The estate on a secure island peninsula includes three refurbished cottages. Photo / Supplied
Hawkins estimates the cost to build the house today would be around $10,000 per square metre. He and Bull suggest the estate could become a high-end lodge, wellness or conference centre.
“It’s got a jetty and boat ramp, a theatre and conference room - it would make a great film-making facility,” Hawkins said.
- additional reporting, Daria Kuprienko
