Auckland’s streets of gold offer some luxurious living with tennis courts, swimming pools and even helipads thrown in.
The doyenne of them all is Arney Road. The 1.3km street that sweeps down the steep northern slopes of Remuera to Hobson Bay has the highest concentration of expensive homes in New Zealand, accounting for 27 of the 500 top settled house sales since 2000.
It’s closely followed by neighbouring Victoria Avenue, which accounts for 26 of the biggest sales, and Remuera Road which lays claims to 20.
Paritai Drive, in Orakei, widely viewed as New Zealand’s most prestigious address, has just 13 of the biggest sales - 14 if you count the record-breaking $38.5 million sale of 4 Huriaro Place, which borders the street.
Start your property search
The Herne Bay street with the most expensive homes is Marine Parade, which claimed 15 top sales, including this year’s biggest, $23.5m paid for a huge waterfront property, while on the North Shore the place to watch is Takapuna’s Clifton Road, which has nine.
And while Herne Bay is New Zealand’s most expensive suburb, boasting an average property value of just over $4m, Remuera is the best place to land a luxury home. The suburb, which has an average property value of $3.16m, is home to more than 25% of the 500 top house sales since 2000 while Herne Bay has just 61, with Takapuna and Waiheke Island next in the rankings, accounting for 27 each.
OneRoof figures show houses on Wairangi Street, in Herne Bay, have the highest average CV, at $9.7m, although the street is home to just three properties and is only 130 metres long. Nipping at its heels is the nearby and slightly longer Cremorne Street, where properties have an average CV of $9.59m.
Paritai Drive's average CV is $4m while Arney Road's is just over $5m.
The figures also point out New Zealand’s most valuable streets.
The total value of the 877 residential properties on Remuera Road is just shy of $2 billion, although the average CV is just $2.2m. Next is Victoria Avenue, where the total value of properties is $1.435bn, followed by clifftop Riddell Road, in Glendowie, Auckland where the total value of properties is $1.32b.
Rod Duke's former home on Arney Road, in Remuera, Auckland. He sold it last year for more than $14 million. Photo / Supplied
Briscoes boss Duke now lives in Auckland's Herne Bay. Photo / Dean Purcell
The most expensive home on Arney Road, by sale price, sold last year for $14.4m, but more than a few homes on that road have the potential to sell for $20m or more if they came to market. Two could even fetch $30m: one which last sold in 2011 for $11.25m, has a 2017 CV of $25m and offers 5112sqm of prime land, a six-bedroom home, tennis court and swimming pool, while another which last sold in 1996 for what was then a record $6.55m, has a CV of $24.5m and sits on a massive 12,581sqm corner section.
Many famous names have graced Arney Road. Briscoes boss Rod Duke lived there before he quit Remuera for Herne Bay. His grand Victorian home had six bedrooms, a six-car garage, tennis court, swimming pool and golf practice area.
Properties on that street are sometimes owned for generations. When the historic six-bedroom home known as St Ann’s went up for sale in 2019, it had only two previous owners. Built in 1914, the property sold in November last year for $14.15m.
The original owner was Charles Isaac Nathan, from the merchant and brewing family that founded LD. Nathan & Co.
The historic house on Arney Road known as St Ann's. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Inside the grand house, which sold last year for $14.15m. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Another famous resident was the brother of artist Charles Frederick Goldie. More modern famous owners have included former Dragons’ Den star Paul Webb, who was convicted of tax evasion in 2018.
Arney Road residents don’t have to go far for some upmarket shopping. David Jones is a short walk away at Westfield Newmarket and there are numerous boutique stores at nearby Teed Street.
And for those needing to restock, Glengarry’s wine shop is at the top of the hill on the corner of Basset and Remuera roads. With residents unable to travel abroad, the Remuera shop has been selling more top wines from Europe than other branches.
The northern end of Arney Road is served by local dairy owners Ilyas and Jarina Patel, who have watched an entire generation of Arney Road children grow up. The suburb is much like any other, they say, and their customers buy pretty much the same stuff anyone else does – although they are more likely to pull up in a Lamborghini.
Shore Road Suprette sells the same lines as any other diary in the country, except for the occasional nod to higher class tastes like posh pies and American sweets. When the community wanted a café, the Patels converted their living quarters into what is now the Shore Road Café next door.
The café, which is leased to operators by the Patels, is the scene of many a business deal, and when OneRoof visited, there was an intense discussion at the next table about whether Bouclé or Chesterfield chairs would be more suitable for the customer’s home.
Kiwi businesswoman Diane Foreman has lived in houses on some of New Zealand's most expensive streets. Photo / Richard Robinson
Arney Road itself is quiet. It sports immaculate gardens and wall-to-wall personalised number-plates in the driveways. No-one is out in the middle of the day except tradespeople and dog walkers.
One advantage Arney Road has over other top streets is its proximity to top-notch schools. No need to bus or drive the children to exclusive schools if you live on Arney Road: St Kentigern Boys’ School, Baradene College and King’s School are all within walking distance and the road is within the prized double grammar zone. And if your offspring play sport, then you’ll find the Parnell Cricket Club at the bottom of the road.
Argyle Street, in Herne Bay, which boasts eight of the top 500 sales, isn’t as showy as Arney Road. Apart from the Sultan of Brunei’s former property, Waimanu estate , the best homes are hidden away down long driveways, sitting on the cliffs that overlook the harbour. The most interesting house on show is a castle designed by architect Brian Trubovich for himself. He grew up three doors from the property where his castle now sits. Trubovich told the New Zealand Herald in 2012 when he was selling the home that he designed it for the child in him. Every architect likes to build at least one house for themselves in their lifetime, he said.
This waterfront home on Marine Parade in Herne Bay, Auckland was snapped up for $23.5m - this year's highest settled residential sale price. Photo / Supplied
Above and below, grand homes in Herne Bay, Auckland. The suburb has the country's highest median property value, at just over $4 million. Photos / Fiona Goodall
Argyle Street has housed many famous people.
Earlier in its life, Waimanu estate was rented by pop star Rod Stewart and model Rachel Hunter when they visited New Zealand with their children. It later passed into the hands of the Sultan of Brunei and subsequently to Gary Lane, of Healtheries and Hansells fame.
One advantage Argyle Street has over Arney Road is that it is only a few minutes’ walk to the beach. Nor is the neighbourhood suffering the empty-shop disease of Remuera Road. Argyle Street’s local strip along Jervois Road still has a full contingent of cafes, designer clothing, interior design, and other high end shops.
A harbourside home on Argyle Street in Auckland's Herne Bay that sold this year for $22m. Photo / Supplied
The North Shore’s most expensive street, Clifton Road, is lined with waterfront houses that have views out to Rangitoto. For those who don’t have direct water access, it’s a short stroll to the bottom of the road and onto Takapuna Beach, where you can walk your dog or meander along to Takapuna’s growing stable of good restaurants and laneways.
The most expensive home on the street, Chateau de La Sur Me, sold to Carmel and Hugh Fisher, of Fisher Funds, in 2016. The house, which is more than eight times the size of the average home in New Zealand and sits on nearly half a hectare of land, was originally on offer for $35m, but sold for $22m.
Waimanu estate, on Argyle Street, Herne Bay, was once owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Photo / Michael Craig
Rod Stewart in the 1990s with his then wife Rachel Hunter. Stewart stayed at Waimanu estate with Hunter in 1992. Photo / Getty Images
Clifton Road has been the preserve of some of New Zealand’s top businesswomen. A stone’s throw from the Fisher mansion is a house previously owned by Diane Foreman, who moved on to an 1880s-style homestead on Arney Road.
More infamous, than famous, is legal highs king Mr Kronic, aka Matthew Wielenga, who bought a house Clifton Road which he subsequently bowled. The plot is currently a building site.
Just because you can buy chandeliers from Italy, balustrades from France, doesn’t mean your local shops will be opulent. The strip of shops just up from Clifton Road at Hauraki Corner is low key. Steamheads restaurant, which replaced LoneStar, closed due to Covid. The only eatery left sells $8.99 curries for lunch. If you want a drink, The Rudder on Hauraki offers pokies, which hopefully you don’t need. If the mortgage is causing pain and you can’t afford a washing machine, you’ll find a laundromat and Lotto shop. And don’t get the locals started on the Countdown, which according to the community Facebook group doesn’t cater to their tastes.
Hugh and Carmel Fisher bought Chateau de La Sur Me in 2016 for $22 million. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
In all fairness the butcher and artisan bakery shops aren’t bad, and the green market is adequate. All nestled, however, around a miserable car park spotting a dank public toilet.
The good news for Clifton Road is that the nearby GoodFor Wholefoods Refillery is heaven with a halo. If money is no object, you can stock your pantry with posh, packageless everything from four varieties of fancy rooibos tea to pour your own Kombucha.
The shopping experience comes with lashings of style and sustainability. Simply walking into the immaculate environment feels great. Customers fill their baskets spending up to $200. Next door the Winsome Coffee and Plants café is a popular stop after refilling your pantry.
By car it’s a short hop from Clifton Road to the centre of Takapuna, or onto the Northern Motorway. Buses to virtually all of Auckland’s top schools including Kristin, Pinehurst, St Cuthbert’s, Kings and more pass the top of the street each morning and afternoon taking the children to the parents’ choice of private schools.
