The Auckland mansion of rich-lister financier Martyn Reesby has sold for more than $24 million in a “hush hush” deal, OneRoof can reveal.
Bayleys agent Gary Wallace, who had been marketing the six-bedroom home on Victoria Avenue, in Remuera, confirmed that Reesby had sold the property.
“We had been asking circa $25m for the property and I can say that we met expectations. The vendor is very happy that the buyer found its value,” he said.
The New Zealand Herald reported in March that Reesby was in the midst of a divorce from his wife of nearly 20 years when he put the Remuera property on the market.
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Martyn and Jacqui Reesby had spared no expense in upgrading the property after buying it in 2003 for $5.2m.
OneRoof reported in March that the couple had done $8m worth of renovations on the 1000sqm home, which sits on a 3234sqm site and is known as Cambridge Manor.
“We never cared about the expense, I just wanted the absolute best,” Reesby told OneRoof in March.
“There isn’t a surface on the house that we haven’t touched, some twice, we’ve completely remodelled, extended, upgraded.
“The boys grew up here and the house was set up for them. We put in a professional basketball set-up, re-astro turfed the tennis court, and added another swimming pool – a 25-metre outdoor one.
Jacqui and Martyn Reesby were reported to be in the midst of divorcing when they put their property on the market. Photo / NZ Herald
The pair bought the property for $5.2m in 2003 and spent $8m upgrading it. Photo / Supplied
“I don’t know how many thousands of hours have been spent on the tennis court – although mostly cricket and soccer, everything except tennis."
The Reesbys made property headlines in 2019 when they bought a palatial retreat with vineyard on Waiheke Island, said to be one of the biggest sales that year.
Their Victoria Avenue home was built in the 1990s by well-known retail family the Normans, owners of Farmers and Pascoes, out of double brick with a concrete in-fill (the sound-proofing is superb, Reesby says).
After initially plastering the exterior and later adding shutters, the Reesbys commissioned architect Matt Chaplin of Sumich Chaplin to refurbish the property in a series of projects. They brought in blue-chip landscaper Suzanne Turley to overhaul the grounds, which include electronic systems for lights and watering.
Wallace said that the top end of the Remuera market was strong, with buyers quick to spend $5m to $10m. The $10m-plus market was property specific, however.
“Up around $20m, if you have the right property it’s really interesting. People are not active in the market, but they’ll pop up if the right property appears and then disappear again,” Wallace said.
