The multi-million-dollar Auckland mansion that will always be remembered as the place where Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards recuperated after brain surgery is on the market.
The five-bedroom house on 2 St Vincent Avenue, Remuera, which sold for $8 million in mid-2021 after a major renovation, is back on the market now that the new owners face an empty nest.
The purchase of the grand 1860s house with a lively history was almost accidental.
Kim McWilliams, who bought the house with partner Tom Bowden, said that they’d first visited the house to see the renovations.
Start your property search
“We love historical homes and at first just came to see the renovation as we had both been to events at the house. We fell in love with it, and our kids were super excited,” McWilliams told OneRoof.
Read more:
- ‘Bulk buy of the century’: Developer selling off 18 West Auckland townhouses in one go
- Kiwi’s glamorous Karl Lagerfeld apartment snapped up in three weeks
- From drought to deluge: It’s raining mansions in NZ, but where are the buyers?
“The house has such a rich history, so many interesting owners who have had very interesting uses of the property.”
However, the couple’s hosting of get-togethers for the Remuera Heritage society, Parnell Heritage Rose society, the House and Garden Festival and many family and charity events will forever be overshadowed by the glamour of Richards’ stay in 2006.
The house at 2 St Vincent Avenue, Remuera, will forever be remembered as hosting Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards when he recuperated from surgery in 2006. Photo / Getty Images
At that time, the property, known as Cotter House, was owned by colourful hostess Gloria Poupard-Walbridge, who bought it with her French diplomat husband in 1995.
By the time the Rolling Stone member stayed there for a month recuperating from head surgery, a night’s stay cost between $605 and $1200. It was only when the house went on the market that Poupard-Walbridge could divulge details of Richards’ stay with wife Patty Hansen and children.
More recently, McWilliams said, the house had been used as a location for a local television series. It has yet to appear on our screens, so the family have to keep mum on the name of the show.
But it is its role as a special home for the family that has mattered. The house has been popular for pre-school ball parties – between them the couple have six daughters, aged now from 16 to 28 – and the generous lawn on the 1399sqm property has been great for hockey practice.
“Try as we might to discourage hockey playing on the back lawn, we managed to emerge with a representative hockey player still keen as mustard and no broken float-glass windows,” she laughed.
The 1860s house was extensively renovated, with the former ballroom, added in 1910, now a modern kitchen, dining and family room opening to the pool. Photo / Supplied
The ground floor games room includes a glamorous wet bar. Photo / Supplied
“But now we’re down to the youngest one, she’s only here half the time and we have a place up north. We do everything ourselves, the garden, the pool, the spa,” she said, adding that the couple had worked on planting the grounds, adding irrigation for the over 100 palms, a vege garden and a pond that was once home to two turtles (well known locally for their great escape habits).
McWilliams said that the 565sqm mansion had two distinct parts – the older part of the house, which the girls have designated ‘the oldies’ area’ and the modern part, transformed a few years ago. She said the older half of the house accommodates the couple’s collection of antiques and art in a formal sitting room, study and dining room, complete with enormous Victorian sash windows still with their original panes.
The new part was claimed by the girls.
“One of the drawcards that brought us here was seeing that the recently completed renovations had been done to a very high standard, with great effort made to match the original architectural style. Having previously renovated old houses, we would not have been keen on embarking on yet another renovation, especially one of this size,” she said.
The swimming pool, surrounded by some 100 palms, opens off the family room area. Photo / supplied
The formal dining room, living room and study feature original sash windows. Photo / Supplied
The ballroom, which was added to the house in 1910 by Thomas Cotter as a venue to launch his daughters to society, is now an open-plan kitchen, dining and family room which merges into the patio and swimming pool.
As suits a grand house, there is still a butlers pantry, a favourite of McWilliams for morning coffee while contemplating the garden. A further sitting room has a glamorous full bar, room for a billiards table and sitting area that opens to the pool, garden and lawn.
A self-contained bedroom with a kitchenette completes the ground floor, while upstairs are four further bedrooms and three of the six bathroom and powder rooms.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Leila MacDonald, who is marketing the property with David MacDonald for auction on April 4, said the combination of the incredible original house with the renovations would appeal to buyers wanting the big family home and roomy gardens.
“It’s so full of character, it has great indoors, a massive pool, all the living rooms, and five bedrooms. I’m already speaking to people who know it is coming up.”
MacDonald would not be drawn on the likely price of the property, but said it would be “way, way above” the CV of $8.2m.
- 2 St Vincent Avenue, Remuera, goes to auction on April 4
