A semi-retired scientist is ditching his house in the big smoke and moving to a Northland commune to turn water into power.
The potential to generate power from the exceptional natural streams was the big attraction to the large bush property for the new owner who is moving to Russell Road, in Whakapara, with just one other family member.
Ray White agent Alex Smits said the Auckland man first viewed it 10 months ago before it was listed for sale and loved that it had 21 waterfalls and freshwater streams running through the 80-hectare property.
“The flowing streams and the natural geography of the place was I think what captured him the most,” he said.
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“He wants to harness nature’s potential to draw the energy from the whenua ... just because he can.”
Even though he was the first person to view the property at the start of the year before it went online, Smits said it had taken him that long to sell his West Auckland property and get into a position where he could make a cash offer.
“Everyone who came over fell in love with it, but no one wanted to pull the trigger until this guy did so to speak.”
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The property attracted a wide range of interest ranging from eccentric businesspeople, people wanting a property with freshwater streams and large groups wanting to continue the current owners’ plans to create modern day communal living.
However, for a lot of buyers the most enticing aspect of the property – which had everything from a 50m flying fox to a Japanese garden – were the freshwater streams.
“Water is gold,” Smits said.
“If you’ve got a flowing stream it increases the attraction to the block. It may not increase the value [unless you’ve got several people wanting it], but it increases the attraction to it.”
The exact sale price could not be revealed before settlement, but Smits confirmed it was north of the $1.7 million the owners’ paid for it in March 2022.
OneRoof earlier reported that the owners had planned to build multiple cabins on the private sanctuary for family members. However, they had aborted their plans after renovating just one cabin and building one other due to a change in circumstances.
The three flowing streams and 21 waterfalls were a unique selling point. Photo / Supplied
The new owner may rent the cabin out as an Airbnb. Photo / Supplied
They had invested $100,000 in planting a 8000sqm food forest complete with citrus trees, avocado trees, banana trees and berries as they prepared the property for off-grid living. There was also a chicken coop and cattle grazing on the land.
“I sell a lot of property in that region, but that one was unique in terms of its layout, its natural beauty – it was 83ha but not a productive farm. Probably half or a third of it was in grazing so there’s multiple aspects to the property.”
Smits earlier told OneRoof that the diverse property was not only for off-grid living, but could also make a great home and income property, Airbnb or venue for corporate retreats.
“It’s a farmlet really and once the food forest starts to produce it will provide economic returns as well. If you have a number of cabins on a property like that, [it] will provide more return per hectare than farming.”
The current owners had built two cabins on the property – one which they would leave for the new owner and the other which they would take with them.
Smits said it was likely the new owner would run the cabin as an Airbnb, which he had previously estimated could return about $250 a night.
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