- Beer legends Mike and Anna Nielson are selling their Kapiti Coast estate.
- The Nielsons, who sold Panhead craft beer in 2016, bought the property in 2019.
- They are focusing on their new business, Boneface, and no longer need the large home.
The couple behind one of New Zealand's best-known craft beers are selling their luxury Kapiti Coast estate.
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Mike and Anna Nielson, who created Panhead craft beer and sold it to Lion Breweries in 2016 for a reported $15m, told OneRoof that their trophy home at 2 Otaihanga Road, in Paraparaumu Beach, was now surplus to requirements.
The couple bought the 1.46ha lifestyle block and the neighbouring three-bedroom bach in 2019 for $4.85m and moved from Upper Hutt to the beach spot with their two daughters a year later.
“We really loved the area, and the different lifestyle it gave us compared to living in the Hutt,” Mike said. “The estuary area, the whole surrounds, the accessibility to walking and running tracks. It is close to the beach, so we can launch our boats.”
Anna and Mike Neilson at Boneface, their craft brewery and eatery in Brewtown, Upper Hutt. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The couple's five-bedroom house has shist and timber finishes, a media room, outdoor fireplaces and a CV of $4.82m. Photo / Supplied
The striking main living area is finished with timber and cathedral-style ceilings. Photo / Supplied
Mike said the 595sqm, five-bedroom house suited their life at the time. “It was the style and the scale of the place - the extra high stud heights, the cathedral style.
“The house is pretty perfect. We love every aspect of it.”
The lodge-style property has a huge open-plan kitchen with a Falcon cooker and European appliances. There is a formal dining room, a media room, a primary suite with a fireplace, and another fireplace in the outdoor living space.
The Nielsons particularly loved the 14m pool, which is partly covered by the loggia roof. “It is pretty cool. When we first moved there, we thought it should be a swim-up bar,” Mike said.
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Fencing regulations put paid to that idea, but the couple loved entertaining in the roomy formal dining room or hosting parties around the 16-seater outdoor dining table with a new pizza oven and Brazilian-style asado barbecue. Christmas dinners for 30 fit comfortably.
Hot rod collector Mike added a 284sqm garage and workshop to the property, but said as part of his downsizing push, he was back down to three cars.
Mike said the couple were now busy growing their new business, the Upper Hutt brewery and hospitality spot Boneface, and didn't have time to look after such a big home as well.
“We still want to stay up the coast. We will miss the house,” Mike said.
The Nielsons love the 14m pool, which joins the entertaining loggia. Photo / Supplied
A large shed was added to the property to house Mike’s hot rod collection. Photo/ Supplied
Property Brokers listing agent Rebecca Noble, who is marketing the lifestyle estate with colleague Rachael Steinmetz, was reluctant to discuss the price but said the $4.8m RV was “a reference point".
“This is an amazing property. Properties of this calibre are rarely offered in the Kapiti market,” Noble told OneRoof.
“The uniqueness of the scale, the quality, the privacy, the location. There have been no recent sales that could compare. [It] is something we don’t see come to market very often.”
Noble said the house had attracted good interest since the listing went live at the end of last month, including from buyers from Wellington and Auckland.
“We have already seen encouraging enquiry from buyers who recognise the rarity of the opportunity. Properties of this nature attract a different buyer pool," said Noble.
- 2 Otaihanga Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Kapiti Coast, is for sale, tender closing July 8
