- Niki Caro and Andrew Lister sold their West Auckland bach on Karekare Road.
- The property, with an RV of $925,000, was withdrawn in January and marked as sold.
- Ray White’s Maria Fontes noted West Auckland’s coastal market recovery post-2023 cyclone.
Kiwi film-maker Niki Caro and her architect husband Andrew Lister have sold their West Auckland bach.
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The couple listed the stylish two-bedroom home on Karekare Road, near Karekare beach, which featured in Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning film The Piano, at the end of last year.
The property, which has an RV of $925,000, was withdrawn from market at the start of January and noted as sold by the listing agent, Ray White’s Maria Fontes.
Niki Caro and Andrew Lister in 2006. Photo / Olivia Hemus
The couple's West Auckland home was stylishly presented and had an RV of just under $1m. Photo / Supplied
Fontes’ listing said the 1950s house was originally owned by a “skilled drain-layer and keen gardener, and lovingly updated by an architect and a filmmaker”.
“This home is a modern Pacific interpretation of the quintessential Kiwi bach,” Fontes said, adding that the original owners were interviewed by award-winning writer Bob Harvey for his 2001 book Rolling Thunder.
Fontes declined to talk about her vendors or identify them.
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Wellington-born Caro, who made her name as the director of the Oscar-nominated Kiwi film Whale Rider and the big-budget live-action remake of Disney’s Mulan, is linked to the property in public records and has in the past spoken enthusiastically about Karekare.
She told Conde Nast Traveller in 2017 that she considers the spot, on the edges of Waitakere Ranges, as her spiritual home. “It’s the beach where Jane Campion shot The Piano. Also, the place where I bought my first house. The day we moved in, I knew I had found my home, my place in the world.”
Lister’s work regularly graces the pages of house and architecture magazines. One of his designs is on the market for sale near Karekare. The two-bedroom “coastal sanctuary” at 8 Erangi Place, in Te Henga / Bethells Beach, has an asking price of $1.499m.
The Oscar-winning film The Piano was shot nearby at Karekare Beach. Photo / Supplied
Caro's Disney epic Mulan. Caro is one of few female directors who have helmed movies with budgets of more than US$100m. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof has reached out to the couple for comment.
Fontes told OneRoof that West Auckland’s coastal market had picked up for the first time since the 2023 cyclone tore through Piha, Karekare and Muriwai.
“It was a bit of a rough patch in all the communities. But that is behind us now, somehow, and things are returning to normal,” Fontes said.
“A lot of properties in Karekare were taken away, so that’s had an impact on the community. But I want to sound really positive, it is slowly coming back to normal.”
8 Erangi Place, Bethells Beach, was designed by Andrew Lister and is for sale for $1.499m. Photo / Supplied
Up for grabs at neighbouring Piha is a modern beach house. 20 Piha Road is for sale by negotiation. Photo / Supplied
Fontes said busy beaches and bush walks had translated into new buyers looking at homes in the area, mostly to make the beach towns their permanent homes. Most places now go for $1m or more, she said, but there have been recent sales from $1.45m to $1.6m for a good house with views.
“Karekare is more a niche market, a little bit exclusive. Piha has more amenities, so it is different.”
Fontes currently has a renovated three-bedroom house at 20 Piha Road, in Piha, for sale and said more upscale properties will be coming to the market in February.
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