- A Hamptons-style waterfront mansion in Takapuna has sold after hitting the market for $30 million.
- The undisclosed sale ranks among the North Shore’s highest residential deals, with local buyers.
- The six-bedroom rebuild was expected to challenge the North Shore record of $28.888m, set in 2017.
A Hamptons-style mansion that hit the market late last year with a $30 million price tag has found a new owner.
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Precision listing agent Andrew Dorreen confirmed to OneRoof that he had sold the waterfront spread on Minnehaha Avenue, Takapuna, this month.
He declined to reveal the sale price but indicated that the transaction "represented one of the highest residential sales ever achieved on Auckland’s North Shore".
"Sales at this level are extremely rare, and it has been an absolute privilege to represent such an outstanding property," he said.
"Results such as this reinforce just how special this location remains and the depth of demand for genuinely exceptional property."
Dorreen declined to reveal the identity of the buyers, but noted that they were not “offshore-based”. He said all but one of his sales this year had been to local buyers despite the “hype of others talking the contrary”.
Listing agent Andrew Dorreen said the owners wanted the best, "and they got it”. Photo / Supplied
The home boasts a top-class cinema. The only other one of its kind in New Zealand is owned by Sir Peter Jackson. Photo / Supplied
The agent, who specialises in prestige homes on Auckland's North Shore, has closed eight deals at the upper end of the market this year, according to OneRoof records.
OneRoof got an exclusive tour of the renovated six-bedroom mansion on Minnehaha Avenue last year.
At the time, Dorreen told OneRoof that the property would set a new record for waterfront sales on the North Shore. His vendors bought the property in 2021 for $13.25m, but unforeseen circumstances mean they are unable to move into their dream home.
“This is the best of the best. This rebuild took over three and a half years,” he said. “Its classical architectural design, high-end fixtures and fittings, technology and amenities place it at the uppermost end of the luxury property market."
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Even the media room boasted a world-class cinema. “The only other one like this in the country is at Peter Jackson’s home,” Dorreen said.
"It’s a professional-grade home cinema, one of only three certified in New Zealand. It has over $1m of equipment and tiered seating for eight guests. The supplier must come in and certify the room’s acoustics and building before you are allowed to put in their equipment.”
The vendors pulled back to the studs, Dorreen said of the renovation, noting that the tech underpinning the security, lighting, air conditioning and sound alone would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While the original footprint of the house, built over 25 years ago by architect Ron Dijkmans, remained pretty much the same, Dorreen said the house was “unrecognisable”.
Architect Jack McKinney, well known for his luxury makeovers of character homes in Remuera and Ponsonby, supervised the re-design.
The private estate is on the Milford to Takapuna walk. Photo / Supplied
The makeover was supervised by top architect Jack McKinney. Photo / Supplied
“There was zero consideration of budget. That didn’t even come up. The owners said, ‘Quite simply, we want the best’, and they got it.”
The main kitchen has a leathered stone bench with a built-in hob from Bora, double Wolf ovens and Liebherr fridges, plus two wine fridges (there are more in the separate wine room). The secondary kitchens - one in the ground-floor entertainment space, the other in the self-contained studio - have appliances from Fisher & Paykel and Miele.
Dorreen said that the over 1000sqm waterfront site was rare enough, but the fact that there was a pohutukawa-filled council reserve on the property’s northern boundary meant its views and sun would never be built out (empty land sits to the other side).
A key part of the rebuild was that, despite its location on the popular walking trail, the house is designed so that people cannot see in. “The pool, lawn and terrace are designed to be above eye-level from people walking past. The house is above the rock shelf, which is well above sea level," Dorreen said.
Dorreen also sold this Daniel Marshall-designed home overlooking Lake Pupuke, on Takapuna's Lake View Road, for an undisclosed price. Photo / Supplied
“If you were trying to find a site to do this again, well, there are no such sites. These days, you’d be looking at least $15m just for the land, and it would cost you $15m to build. Buying this would save you all that effort. It’s got everything,” he said.
Dorreen's website notes that he has also recently sold a 622sqm Daniel Marshall-designed home on nearly 3200sqm of land overlooking Lake Pupuke, on Lake View Road. The property has an RV of over $16m.
Records show that the house next door to Dorreen's Minnehaha listing sold for over $10m in February this year. The home never hit the open market, suggesting the deal was struck behind closed doors.
The North Shore's record price is $28.888m, achieved in 2017 for a beachfront house on neighbouring O'Neills Avenue.
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