A striking trophy home, dubbed the 007 house by its creator, has broken Christchurch’s auction sale record.
The five-bedroom home, designed by Darren O’Neil, of O’Neill Architecture, sold under the hammer for $8.34 million – $620,000 above its RV.
The listing agent for the home on Glandovey Road, in the wealthy suburb of Fendalton, was Alison Aitken, from Harcourts Grenadier, who also holds the record for Christchurch’s biggest house sale.
Although the property is officially called the Cantilever House, O’Neil said on his website that he actually took inspiration from cinema’s most famous spy. “The contemporary sculpture has a tongue-in-cheek reference to a childhood ‘James Bond style 007’ home,” he wrote on his website.
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The architect-designed house sits on a 2500sqm site on Fendalton’s iconic Wairarapa Stream and has a pool, spa, media room and a dedicated Pilates and yoga room. Photo / Supplied
The glass pavilion has full-height electronic sliding doors opening to terraces. Photo / Supplied
That’s visible in the striking trio of steel “prongs” that support the cantilevered master suite, heavy-duty steel and concrete engineering and the sleek glass and white finishes.
Less visible is the sophisticated home automation and temperature control, the six-car basement garage with a lift to the scullery above and the electronic sliding glass doors that open the glass living pavilion to the garden terraces.
The property features finishes in Italian tile and Timaru stone, while the kitchen and pantry have Gaggenau appliances. Extras include a pool and spa, media room and a dedicated Pilates and yoga studio. The master suite alone clocks in at nearly 60sqm, larger than many Auckland apartments.
The auction price shattered the previous record-holder, a heritage home on Glandovey Road, which fetched $6.83m in 2018. However, it is still short of the New Zealand residential record of $12.8m, which was set two years ago for an Arts and Crafts house in Auckland’s Orakei Road, Remuera. That property is now back on the market.
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The auction opened at $7m and immediately paused for negotiation with the sole bidder in the room. The auction then resumed, and the property was announced on the market and sold for $8.34m.
Aitken told OneRoof that her lovely vendors and purchasers were “very, very happy” with the result.
The vendors had been living in the large home after their son moved to Auckland, and Aitken said it was nice that a local family with three children were moving in and could make the most of what the property had to offer.
Of the 15 groups through the home, 14 were from Christchurch and one from Auckland.
The house features Timaru bluestone, and Gaggenau appliances in the kitchen and scullery. Photo / Supplied
The six-car garage has a lift to deliver groceries to the scullery. Photo / Supplied
Aitken said it was a “gorgeous looking” architectural home on a rare but sought after 2479sqm section on the river boundary.
“It was just an opportunity for someone to buy something that someone has spent a few years of their life creating,” she said. “To rebuild that house, who is going to do that today?”
Aitken said that $8m-plus house sales were becoming more common in Christchurch.
“The market has moved with the cost to build and the cost of land. You’ve got to remember there are some amazing houses in Christchurch, but they are not for sale.”
However, Christchurch was still trailing well behind Auckland and Christchurch’s high sales, she said, adding that a sale breaking Christchurch’s elusive $10m mark was likely within the next few years.
“There’s plenty of money here,” she said. “There are plenty of people in Christchurch with big cheque books, and they are already living here and are just upgrading. And they only come out when you get a listing like that, they are not actively looking until something like that pops up on the market.”
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