A multi-million-dollar Auckland mansion that famously hosted Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards after he underwent life-saving brain surgery is on the market for sale.
Known as Cotter House, the five-bedroom home at 2 St Vincent Avenue, in Remuera, was where Richards spent a month recuperating in 2006 after he fell out of a tree in Fiji at the end of a Stones tour.
Richards later described his time at the house as "great break" from his hectic touring schedule.
In an interview with the New Zealand Herald in 2014, he said: "Because I couldn't do anything, couldn't go anywhere because half my head was shaved off and I wasn't about to go down to 'what wig should I wear?'
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"So I spent a very nice three or four weeks with Gloria [Poupard-Walbridge, Cotter House's then landlady] ... and I just learned how to relax for a bit. You don't often get that time off."
The house has changed quite a bit since Richards stayed there.
The transformed Cotter House is on the market for sale. Photo / Supplied
The house boasts an inviting outdoor swimming pool. Photo / Supplied
The current owners have spent three years transforming the house, adding a new outdoor swimming pool and garage, re-siting the kitchen and renovating and redecorating throughout.
Ray White agent Simon Siddells, who is marketing the home for sale by way of tender, closing March 18, told OneRoof: “This stunning property has been transformed into the ultimate home for modern family living. Brilliant as an entertainers’ home, perfect for children and all their friends and incredibly easily maintained."
Richards leaving Ascot hospital in Auckland in 2006 after undergoing brain surgery. Photo / Getty Images
Boasting nearly 1400sqm of flat land in the prized Double Grammar Zone, the property has a 2017 rating valuation of $4.9 million.
The house was built around 1867 by English colonist and prohibitionist Joseph Newman, later killed after a whiskey hoarding fell on his head. When the Cotter family bought the house in 1892, they reputedly added on the ballroom hoping soirees there would help marry off their three unwed daughters.
The renovated games room has its own bar at Cotter House that catches the eye. Photo / Supplied
Built in the Gothic revival style, the triple-brick and concrete residence is striking: from its finial-topped gables to its wide verandas. Entry into the home highlights its impressive dimensions and new French oak floors.
What was once the barrel-vaulted ballroom is probably most striking. This airy expanse combines heritage and modernity now it’s a kitchen-living-dining room with a capacious scullery.
One of the home's many living areas. Photo / Supplied
New Image Kitchens crafted the sophisticated kitchen incorporating a long marble-top island extending into bar seating and the subtly 1920s-themed full bar within a spacious games room nearby. This level also houses two sizeable lounges, the two offices, a powder room and a guest suite with kitchenette and its own entrance.
Check out the listing below:
