- An American buyer paid over $10m for a luxury estate on Ngunguru Peninsula.
- The buyer plans to expand the 2000sqm house by another 1000sqm for his extended family.
- The estate features 360-degree views, guest cottages, a pool, and extensive landscaping.
An American buyer has paid just over $10 million for a luxury estate on an exclusive island peninsula in Northland.
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The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house is over 2000sqm in size and sits on a 27ha estate on Tongatu Road on the Ngunguru Peninsula. It has 360-degree views over the inlets, rivers and harbour and comes with three modernised guest cottages.
Bayleys listing agents Roi Iri-Smith and Tracey Dalzell declined to comment on the deal, which was inked last year, but the buyer’s agent, Grant Alexander from Barfoot & Thompson, told OneRoof that his client planned to turn the estate into a compound for his extended family.
Alexander said his client was from the US but was now a New Zealand resident. He had been working with him on property deals over the last eight years.
“He is a very private person. He has already brought a lot of money to New Zealand and is looking to set up big manufacturing plants in Northland to stay close to his new home,” he told OneRoof.
The estate sits on the estuary on Tongatu Road and includes four houses, the main one clocking in at nearly 2000sqm. Photo / Supplied
The house has living rooms the size of most Kiwi houses - and all with views of the ocean. Photo / Supplied
“He has had lots of meetings with council, right up to [Prime Minister Christopher] Luxon. We have had lots of meetings with Shane Jones and different politicians over the [past] two years.
“We’re not going to talk about numbers, but it is a large amount.”
Alexander said that his client had considered buying land and building new, but decided that the gated Tongatu Road estate better suited his family’s needs. “He was determined to buy it and he’s one of these guys - if he wants something, he’s going to own it. He does not muck around,” he said.
“He is going to expand it and make it multi-generational,” he said, noting that it would house the buyer’s family, including his grown-up children, their partners and kids, plus his and his wife’s mothers.
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“It is 2000sqm now, and he is adding another 1000sqm. I would say he is probably looking at spending $5m.”
Alexander said his client and his family were “here for the long-term”. “He has got a boat at the [Tūtūkākā] marina. They’re into their fishing and the outdoors. They have fitted in really well.”
The property was first listed in late 2021, and was courting overseas buyers with $15m budgets.
When OneRoof spoke to the previous owners, Brian and Christine Angliss, in 2021, Brian said construction on the house started in 2005 and took five years to complete. At the time, it was said to be one of the most expensive residential builds in the country.
Brian, who for a decade in the 1980s and 1990s owned the British AC auto company, home of the classic Cobra car, sourced Chinese granite, schist from around New Zealand, and 40 cubic metres of kauri and 20 cubic metres of rimu for the interior. A stonemason worked on the walls for three years, and seven to nine contractors were on the site non-stop for two years.
Stonemasons took five years to build the three-storey house. Photo / Supplied
The dramatic atrium staircase at the centre of the 2000sqm house. Photo / Supplied
“The house was built to last, with half-a-metre wide solid concrete walls,” he told OneRoof. “We had to get the biggest crane on one side of the house and the second biggest crane on [the] other side of the house to wrench the seven-tonne ceiling beams up.”
He said that a lot of the design decisions were made on the go. “We did not set out to do it, but it had to be set up in proportion. The house had to be compact and make sense within itself, but it just ended up big. Every time he called me, the architect would say, ‘Brian, it is getting bigger!’.”
He said the house included a high security room, indoor parking for eight cars, a theatre, an 180sqm conference room, a circular stairway and an internal elevator. The estate also featured a heated saltwater pool, a spa, and extensive landscaping with native and exotic planting. Bush and farm walking trails led to a private jetty and boat ramp to the estuary, and there is an array of farm buildings.
A five-bedroom architect-designed home, asking $18m, is the first property to be publicly marketed on the exclusive Te Arai Links or Tara Iti golf estates, north of Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Manawaora in the Bay of Islands is attracting wealthy foreign buyers. The main residence, which sits high on Karaka Point headland, was conceived by the owner and detailed by Italian architect Misa Poggi. Photo / Supplied
The $10.25m sale price for Tongatu Road was beaten last year by a pair of properties in the gated Ōmarino estate on Parekura Bay, near Russell, that sold for a combined price of $28m.
The 7ha and 12ha sites are part of the 142ha gated community established 25 years ago by Sky TV founder Craig Heatley, which includes a marina for large yachts, shared communal grounds and security.
Northland price records could be smashed by a few luxury estates currently on the market.
A brand new Julian Guthrie-designed ‘bach’ overlooking the dunes, ocean and golf course at the exclusive Te Arai Links has an $18m price tag.
On the market with Jim Rohrstaff of Legacy Partners, who created Te Arai and the neighbouring members-only Tara Iti with American private equity investor Ric Kayne, the 542sqm house on a 5332sqm, sits in a neighbourhood of local and international rich-listers.
Also in that top price bracket is a 487ha coastal estate in the Bay of Islands, at Manawaora Bay.
The property, owned by an international rich lister with close Kiwi connections, includes a striking architecturally-designed 540sqm house, another luxury beachfront guest house, two farmhouses, a private boat ramp and jetty.
Guests can fly into one of two helicopter landing pads or the private 300m fixed wing landing strip.
Bayleys agent John Greenwood, who is marketing the property, called it a “hero property” on the Bay of Island’s “Golden Mile”.
“This is the largest waterfront property that will ever become available in that area. It is made up of 14 separate freehold titles and that also offers major value,” Greenwood said.
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