New Zealand pharmaceutical scientist and inventor Sir Ray Avery sold his Auckland home at auction last night for $2.55 million.
He is leaving his striking home on Matipo Street, in Mount Eden, to move to Australia with his family – wife Anna and two daughters – and plans to split his time between New Zealand and Australia
Sir Ray called his five-bedroom home a cross between a museum and an art gallery, and said he didn’t want developers altering his 40 years of work.
“It was not about being a real estate mogul who wants to make money in real estate. The family who bought it needed to carry on the philosophy of the house,” Sir Ray said.
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“The buyers are from Malaysia, they understand my Asian style and want to carry on the legacy. We put a lot of heart and soul into it.
“We sold it to the right customer, they’ll carry on the whole thing,” he said, adding that the buyers asked to keep the sculptures and garden lamps he’d made for the house.
The entrepreneur, who is not averse to hitting headlines, is best-known for his work with the Fred Hollows Foundation providing life-changing cataract operations in Nepal and around the world, and, more recently, for his economical LifePod incubator for premature babies and as a judge for the James Dyson innovation awards. He was Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year 2010 and awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit Knight of the Grand Companion in 2011 for services to philanthropy.
Two years in Kyoto inspired Sir Ray's love of Japanese design. He created the teahouse (far right) and barrowed the rocks into place. Photo / Supplied
Ray White agent Rick Mozessohn, who marketed the property with Matthew Phillips, said interest had been huge in the house, with over 100 people viewing it during the month-long campaign, and three bidders registered for the auction.
“People fell in love with it, loving the whole aura around Sir Ray,” he said.
“The key thing was that whoever bought the house would love it as much as he does. The buyers are an awesome family. At their last viewing they spent two hours looking around.”
Sir Ray used the garage in his Mount Eden home as a laboratory to create products such as the LifePod baby incubator. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Mozessohn said really good properties in Mount Eden in the $2.5m-plus price range get jumped on straight away because there is not a huge supply.
Sir Ray said 40 years ago the home started as a typical brick-and-tile three-bedroom bungalow until he and architect Jeff Bonner transformed it, adding a new two-storey wing for garage, offices and the principal bedroom. Special touches include the bedroom based on the presidential suite from Sir Ray's favourite hotel in Kuala Lumpur, a double garage fully fitted-out as a laboratory and an office for his six staff working on his social enterprise Medicine Mondiale.
The upper floor office was used for Sir Ray's enterprise. Photo / Supplied
Sir Ray commandeered the kitchen for his food science, cooking for his wife and daughters. Photo / Supplied
Two years at a university in Kyoto inspired Sir Ray’s love of Japanese design, resulting in a 20-year project to transform the yards into contemplative gardens of gravel and rock and adding a backyard teahouse. The kitchen was Sir Ray’s domain to practice food science, and he carefully oversaw lighting, furniture and the flow of the rooms.
Ray White auctioneer John Bowring said bidding for the house, which had a 2021 CV of $2.875m, reached $2.1m before negotiations with the buyer brought the price to $2.55m.
Bowring said that auctions for the more expensive stock were still working well because buyers at higher prices were not so reliant on banks.
