The owner of a "post-modern" castle that starred in Grand Design NZ last year has put his property back on the market with the promise it will sell “significantly below cost”, just a month after announcing he would turn it into luxury accommodation.
The seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion at 30 McLeods Road, in Sefton, Canterbury, is to be auctioned next month by Ray White and, according to the listing, “the vendor has no plan b and must sell”.
This is the second time Bella Castello’s owner Phil Metaxas has put the property on the market. Just after his dream project featured on Grand Designs NZ at the end of last year, he put it up for sale looking for $2.875m-plus.
He told OneRoof at the time that the total renovation would end up costing "in excess of $1 million" - double what he had initially budgeted. He paid $692,000 for the site in July 2021.
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But last month he told Stuff that he had pulled the property from the sale because of lack of interest, and announced he instead planned to convert it into boutique accommodation and an events venue.
“I have flashes of Basil Fawlty in the English TV comedy series Fawlty Towers, making sure the castle is always looking as good as it should,” he said last month.
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The property, marketed as Castle Stays Sefton, was advertised last month on accommodation websites Booking.com and Bachcare, but those links are now been deactivated.
The master suite can still be booked on Airbnb for up to two people for $429 a night with the guests still having full use of the entire house.
When contacted by OneRoof the self-described jack of all trades said he was “hedging his bets” by auctioning off the property and that he was still running it as a luxury Airbnb.
The auction campaign was his last shot at selling it, he said, and was aimed at “getting people interested and thinking that it may not be out of their price range”.
“The agents are saying there is no plan B, but in reality there has to be one... They are trying to put the point in saying we are really serious about this, and plan b is not ideal for me – it's not really what I want to do.”
Phil Metaxas, left, with Grand Designs NZ host Tom Webster outside his post-modernist castle. Metaxas told OneRoof last year that the total renovation would end up costing "in excess of $1 million". Photo / TVNZ
Bella Castello was originally looking for $2.875m-plus when it was first listed at the end of last year. Photo / Supplied
When asked about selling the property below cost, Metaxas said it would sell for “significantly less” than its replacement cost of $12m.
“There’s always a figure in my mind and no one knows what it is except for me and that’s a figure it will sell for and if it goes for less than that then we will go full steam ahead into the boutique Airbnb.”
He added: "I changed my mind (about not selling it). I was tongue-in-cheek talking about being Basil Fawlty - I'm not sure if you were familiar with Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers. I thought it would be kind of funny.
"Ideally I've always wanted to sell, but the reality is if I'm going to be in the boutique industry, I will just give it one more shot with a slightly different angle and see what happens."
Ray White agent Phillipa Gill said her instructions from Metaxas were that he wanted the property sold and he had signed off on all the marketing for the property.
"He's told me he wants it sold and he wants it in capital letters ‘MUST SELL’ so I will stick to what he has said unless he says otherwise."
There are multiple living areas in the sprawling 1170sqm mansion with unique windows that look out to the property's 4.3 hectares of land. Photo / Supplied
Since the property went live, she had already received interest from potential buyers and had Canterbury people lined up to attend the open home at the weekend. However, it was just as likely to sell to someone outside the region, she said.
Gill said the vendor was open to all offers and she was telling those who asked for a price indication that he wanted "something with a two in front of it”.
In the meantime, people had the next few months until a possible settlement for what could be a “one time” opportunity to stay in the property, he added, because there was a chance it could be purchased as a family home.
Metaxas took over the dream of finishing the castle from builder Merv Higgs who started the project in the early 2000s with plans to build his forever property showcasing his impressive concreting skills. However, his work came to a halt after the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 due to soaring building costs and he eventually sold his unfinished dream a decade later.
Bella Castello has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, multiple living areas, an internal courtyard, generous kitchen and formal dining room. There is also a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. The 1170sqm floor plan runs over four levels from the wine cellar in the basement to the top tower.
- 30 McLeods Road, in Sefton, Waimakariri, goes to auction on July 8
