A mysterious landmark house on the north-western fringe of Auckland has finally found a buyer.
But that’s about all OneRoof can disclose as the buyer and sale price remain under wraps.
The half-finished mock Tudor mansion on Kaipara Lake Road, South Head, hit the market last November with Ray White agents Jasmine Sergeant and Nicole Redman.
The pair had played up the enigmatic nature of the property, with their listing declaring it the “mystery house on a hill”.
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“For well over a decade, the mystery of the iconic house on the hill has been the subject of conjecture, table talk and intrigue,” the listing said.
“It’s not hard to see why. The house has languished in a field with cattle for well over a decade, capturing attention for its mock Tudor design and late-addition gargoyles, including serpents, on the roof.
“But, contrary to rumours, there have been no murders – no one has died here.”
While dead bodies aren’t a problem, pigeons are. “We have had a drone go through, which shows a carpet of pigeon poo and holes in the floor and stairwells.”
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Sergeant revealed the story behind the listing to OneRoof last year.
“A former owner relocated it from Orakei and then kind of went a bit crazy without resource consent,” she said. The brick house had some Tudor-style additions, but the interior is now a wreck.
Sergeant said the former owner was “told to stop doing what they were doing”, and then they sold it “as a fire sale” 10 years ago to her Auckland-based vendors, “who just land-banked it”.
When the property was first listed it had no power and no plumbing, and had holes everywhere. Both agents were upfront about the state of the house, making clear in the listing that health and safety rules were in force. No one was allowed to access the property without an agent, with “24/7 monitoring in place”.
Health and safety rules prevented buyers from accessing the property without an accompanying agent. Photo / Supplied
The inside of the mansion shows how much work there is to do. Photo / Supplied
However, when Sergeant talked to OneRoof last year, she was excited about the property’s potential. The property, which has a 2021 CV of $1.75 million, is part of the exclusive Tupare Farms estate and is the only one in the subdivision allowed a two-storey dwelling. “Grand Designs have shown an interest. The programme would like to talk to the buyer when it sells,” she said.
Back in November, Sergeant gave hints around price, telling OneRoof: “We think a base of $1 million-plus. There are properties up here I would value at $2.5m.”
Buyers who missed out on the Kaipara Lake Road property shouldn’t feel too downhearted. Still for sale on OneRoof is a half-finished mansion in nearby Coatesville.
The sprawling half-finished house sits on an overgrown 1.02ha section that borders the luxury estate owned by the billionaire owners of ZURU Toys.
For those who missed out, another unfinished mansion, in Coatesville, is available to buy. Photo / Supplied
Artist's impressions of a completed dream home hang from the wall frames in some of the listing photos of the Coatesville property. Photo / Supplied
The vendors bought the property in 2007 for $845,000 and obtained consents to start building work in 2015. Ray White listing agent Catherine Liu told OneRoof that construction began before Covid, but the project was never completed.
When OneRoof asked why the house was never finished and was being sold now in an “as is” state, Liu said: “It is a change of situation. And it is not suitable for their family.”
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