A luxury estate on Auckland rich-listers’ island playground is likely to create this year's New Zealand holiday house record when it sells next month.
NZ Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne, who is marketing the over 5ha estate and luxury house on 729 Orapiu Road, with a tender closing December 12, said Waiheke’s luxury market remains very strong.
“Waiheke is such a special place geographically,” she said, adding that the quality and timeless style of the house overlooking Omaru Bay on the south eastern corner of the island, is very hard to replicate anywhere else on the island. The property is a five-minute drive from Orapiu Wharf.
The vendor, a Kiwi then based in London, bought the property in early 2008 for $4.3 million, after viewing it on the way to the airport to fly back to the UK.
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“We made an offer as we left New Zealand, and by the time we landed in London it was ours,” the owner told OneRoof.
“As we drove down that end of the island to visit the property for the first time, it felt like we were going somewhere very special.
The house on 5 hectares on Orapiu Road, overlooking Omaru Bay on Waiheke's south east, was completely rebuilt in 2008. Photo / Supplied
As well as a helipad, pool, spa and sauna, the house has its own jetty on a secluded beach. Photo / Supplied
“I remember sitting under the pōhutukawa trees on the waterfront, seven months pregnant, just looking at the water and taking it all in. It was time to go – we’d visited the property on our way to the airport to head back to our home in London – but I didn’t want to leave,” she said.
The 956sqm house, completely rebuilt since it was purchased, has an Auckland Council valuation of $8.1m, but is expected to sell for a price that may well break this year's island records.
Last year’s top price was set in December when the 34-hectare estate on Kauaroa Bay, Waiheke Island, which was earmarked for a luxury lodge by the US billionaire Julian Robertson, owner of Kauri Cliffs, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers and Queenstown’s Matakauri, sold privately to a family for $23.5m.
The top price so far this year is $11.75m for an off-market deal for a 1.97ha estate on Dolphin Lane, Waiheke Island, but Milne told OneRoof it would sell for "substantially" above that figure.
The Sumich Chaplin-designed house has accommodated parties of 50 people. Photo / Supplied
The indoor-outdoor dining pavilion. Photo / Supplied
The long-time London-based owners zeroed in on Waiheke as a base for their regular trips home.
“We’d committed to coming home every Christmas and Easter so our kids wouldn’t be strangers,” the owner said.
“But every time we visited New Zealand, we’d spend so much time travelling up and down the country visiting family and friends that by the time we returned to London we were exhausted. Good friends had a beautiful home on Waiheke, and we decided that was the answer.”
The following year saw a total transformation from lodge to architectural masterpiece.
“We loved the home as it was, but we wanted to update the kitchen and bathrooms,” the owner said.
“But when we decided we wanted an infinity pool, the project became a total rebuild. Our builders said it would take two to three years to complete but we said they had 12 months to get it done because we wanted to spend Christmas in it. And somehow, they did it.”
The breath-taking update by award-winning architects Sumich Chaplin Architects, and built by Argon Construction, gave the home seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms – as well as the stand-out floating infinity pool that prompted the rebuild.
The floating infinity pool prompted the complete rebuild of the house. Photo / Supplied
All seven bedroom suites have water views. Photo / Supplied
Its design blends with the landscape while maximising the views across Omaru Bay. There’s a spa, sauna and, if helicoptering isn’t an option, parking for up to 12 guests as well as the four-car garage. There are multiple living and dining spaces, and a chef’s kitchen with scullery. The bedrooms are spread throughout the two-storey home and all have water views.
“While we were in London we communicated with the architects and builders every day. We’d do our day jobs then send emails in the evenings, then wake up the following morning to more emails from them.
“The moment we saw the home in the flesh for the first time was incredible. I remember feeling incredibly nervous as our chopper flew over the Hauraki Gulf towards Waiheke. As we circled over the property and saw the completed project from the air for the first time, it was just surreal. After we stepped inside the home, I remember sitting in absolute silence and shock, just gazing around me, and taking it all in.
“I knew it would be beautiful, but I’d had no idea it was going to be as beautiful as it is.”
While the owner loves the house, it’s the feeling she gets when she’s there that makes it home.
“We’d be the only people in the UK who got excited when the sun started setting at 3pm, because while winter was coming over there we knew it was almost time for us to go home to summer on Waiheke.
“We’d land at the airport, helicopter across to the island, and in 12 minutes we’d be there. It was always a race from the helipad through the bush down to the house to jump in the pool. That was our traditional arrival and the start of our wonderful summer in New Zealand.”
While the property lends itself to total escapism and relaxation, it has also seen its fair share of large gatherings, especially since the owner moved home to Auckland permanently five years ago.
“We’ve had every major celebration you can think of here.
One of the several living rooms. Photo / Supplied
“In June this year we hosted my father’s 80th which ended up being a huge, five-day celebration. Over Christmas we’ve set up yurts and portaloos on the helipad and had sometimes 50 people here for a week. The home easily absorbs people with so many living spaces and so many opportunities to soak up the peace and tranquillity in the bay.”
Moving on has been one of the hardest decision the owner has ever had to make.
“This home is very precious to us. The kids have always said, ‘Mum, this is our real home,’ and certainly for me it’s my spiritual home – there’s something incredibly calming about the property that has always given me a deep sense of peace.
“This has been a really tough decision but now’s the time for this special place to be handed onto the next family and for us to start a new chapter.”
Milne added: “The sense of tranquillity that you feel the minute you come down the driveway is palpable. It really does take your breath away.
“The style of the home allows you to feel relaxed and at home, like you might experience at any beach home, yet it’s the scale both in size and detail that takes this property to the next level.”
