The former Auckland home of the wealthy James Hardie family sold last month for an undisclosed sum.
The five-bedroom manor overlooking Mahurangi Harbour, on Auckland’s northern fringe, was picked up after attracting interest from buyers from as far as Monaco and Hong Kong. It had been listed with a fixed price of $4.599 million.
Ray White agent Sue Hatton brokered the deal, but could not disclose to OneRoof the sale price or identity of the buyer.
“It was a special property and has riparian rights, so it appealed to people who wanted the water and boating lifestyle,” she said.
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“We had a stream of people looking at it since it went on the market in summer. For some, it was a pipe dream, but others were serious buyers,” she said.
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Hatton was able to tell OneRoof that the buyers were New Zealand residents and knew the area.
The stately mansion, which has a CV of $3.85m, first hit the market seven months ago. It once belonged to the James Hardie family and sat in the heart of Auckland’s Remuera, before it was cut up and relocated 83km north to its new location on Ridge Road in 2002.
The vendors, Sharon and Marius Laffan, had bought the property in mid-2022 for $4.9m after missing out on it five years earlier.
Sharon, who owns Living Edge home staging company, told OneRoof they were "thrilled" with the sale. “We’re very happy. We can move on to our new adventures,” she said.
Many of the mansion’s original features, such as the grand entry and staircase, were retained and restored. Photo / Supplied
Landscape designer Xanthe White updated the entry gardens and has made plans for the rest of the 4115sqm property. Photo / Supplied
The couple told OneRoof earlier this year that they were selling up to be closer to their offices in central Auckland.
They carried out an extensive upgrade of the property before bringing it to market.
As well as painting the interiors, the Laffans added sisal runners to the grand staircase, had the original wide-board kauri floors downstairs refinished, updated the gas heating before adding her designer furniture and styling.
Many of the original details like the grand staircase, stained glass windows, three working fireplaces, and door hinges managed to survive the house’s later incarnations as a hospital and then a boarding house before it was shipped north. The previous owner used it primarily as a summer residence.
The couple’s main move was to hire star landscape designer Xanthe White to rework the 4115sqm grounds.
The downstairs living room and dining room share marble fireplaces and fine timber work ceilings. Photo / Supplied
The swimming pool overlooks the Mahurangi Harbour and the house came with a path to the jetty. Photo / Supplied
Stage one - a grand front garden - was completed at the start of summer, with the plans for stage two - a kitchen garden and orchard - sold with the property.
Sharon had thought the house would make a great luxury hotel or wedding venue. “We’ve had photo shoots here. You could do corporate retreats, I thought of doing design classes here,” she said in January.
“A house is, it’s a feeling, isn’t it? This captures you as soon as you walk in the door and it’s just got this presence about it. It’s that property that everyone goes away thinking it’s memorable. You’re sitting on the deck and you’ve got this incredible view.”
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