- Two Herne Bay mansions are aiming to break the house price record with $50-$60m sales.
- Graham Wall is selling Simon Herbert’s Cremorne Street home, expected to fetch around $50m.
- Another Herne Bay mansion is also on the market, with a potential $60m deal.
Two Herne Bay mansions are in the running to break New Zealand’s house price record, OneRoof understands.
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OneRoof has heard that two waterfront pads in Auckland’s wealthiest postcode are quietly on the market for sale, and are aiming to snag buyers with $50-$60 million in their bank accounts.
Wall Real Estate agent Graham Wall confirmed that he was selling the Cremorne Street pad for rich-lister property developer Simon Herbert and his wife Paula.
The couple bought the luxury pad in 2018 for $27.5m, the year’s top price, after Wall sold their Remuera home a couple of months earlier for $26m.
Simon and Paula Herbert have broken several house price records. Will they do it again? Photo / Supplied
The couple carried out extensive renovations, although their listing agent is tight-lipped as to how much they spent. Photo / Supplied
The property is expected to break records when it sells. Photo / Supplied
The Cremorne Street house, which has an RV of $28m, was designed by top Kiwi architect Brent Hulena and has its own helicopter pad, beach access, and boatshed as well as media and games rooms and a clifftop pool.
The Herberts are relocating to Monaco as their business “horizons have moved to include Europe, particularly around Monaco and in the south of France,” Wall said.
The couple completely transformed the Brent Hulena-designed house after they bought it in 2018. “It’s now 1075sqm, with a pool on 3000sqm of prime Herne Bay waterfront,” he said.
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“They have blown it to pieces. They’ve added to it, and it’s now seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Even though it was a new house when they bought it, they’ve changed it. It’s bright and white and very, very fancy, it’s so cool. It’s just a very contemporary and sophisticated joint now.”
Wall said the Herberts moved out of the house for over a year while they transformed it, adding a massive master suite with a dressing room “like you’ve never seen before”, as well as its own living room and terrace. “I reckon one room has at least eight chandeliers,” Wall said.
Herne Bay is home to some of New Zealand’s most spectacular waterfront houses. Photo / Chris Tarpey
Chantecler, in Queenstown-Lakes, is currently New Zealand’s most expensive house, selling for $45.5m in 2023. Photo / NZME
“You can land a helicopter right next to the pool. There’s this incredible underground bar and wine room where a dozen people can sit down and have dinner.
“It blows you away. Paula’s an incredible entrepreneur.”
The only thing the couple didn’t do was transform a platform intended for a full-sized tennis court, instead leaving it as lawn, Wall said.
Wall could not be drawn on the price, or what the couple spent on the renovation, but it’s expected the property will be looking for $40m-$50m. If it does, it will be a New Zealand record, beating the $45.5m that the 19ha Chantecler estate, in Queenstown, fetched in 2023. It’ll also be an Auckland record, overtaking the circa $40m that a luxury estate on Arney Road, Remuera, got this year.
OneRoof understands that another waterfront mansion in Herne Bay is in the running to claim the top title. Agents have told OneRoof that the luxury home is also quietly on the market, and that a $60m deal may be in the works, but the owner and listing agent have so far refused to comment.
Earlier this year, rich-lister property developer Kurt Gibbons sold his Herne Bay stunner for an undisclosed amount. When it first hit the market, it was looking for over $40m.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Herne Bay
