At 85, James Farmer KC is downsizing, but that doesn't mean he has stopped working.
The prominent Auckland barrister, businessman and former yachtsman is selling the sprawling Mediterranean-style Parnell home he has owned since the 1990s, a two-title property on Takutai Street that has served as both family base and workplace for more than three decades.
There is plenty he will miss. Not least the terraced gardens, painstakingly maintained by the same gardener since he bought the property.
But it is the library, which doubles as his office and overlooks the gardens, that will be hardest to leave behind.
Start your property search
Countless hours wrestling with complex legal arguments have been spent there over the years. Not every book lining the shelves is law-related, however.
Farmer is also preparing to farewell his garage, which houses part of his impressive collection of classic cars.
The house sits on a 1484sqm site and has an RV of over $12m. Photo / Supplied
Farmer in 2001, when he was acting chairman of Air New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
In total, he owns 26 classic vehicles. Some are kept at Takutai Street; others are stored at his Matakana property. The collection spans marques from Italy, France, Germany and England, and every vehicle is roadworthy.
Maintaining them has become something of a hobby in itself.
“The warrants of fitness and registration are a constant task; it just goes on and on,” he tells OneRoof.
Asked why 26 cars, Farmer replies he has always owned at least two cars. At first people would ask why he needed two cars, but he never had a satisfactory answer “until one day I said to myself, ‘I'm actually a car collector,’ which was a very liberating thing to say to yourself because it then gave me permission to buy more cars”.
Discover more:
- ‘If you ever sell it, I want it’: The ramble that landed mum a $2m garden estate
- 'Must be sold': Liquidation sale of rich-lister family's $22m horse-racing estate
- Why the Queen paid a surprise visit to this Greenlane home ... and why I did too
Farmer bought the masonry home from owners who had occupied it for just a year. At the same time, he acquired the neighbouring section and transformed it into a substantial extension of the property, adding a library, garage, swimming pool, pavilion and extensive landscaping.
Today, the library remains both his workplace and sanctuary.
"I spend a lot of time here. I'm sitting here at the moment, actually. Currently, I'm mostly working from home, which I got used to doing during Covid and quite liked it, and so I tend to go into the city perhaps in the morning and then come home for the afternoon, or I spend the whole day here."
The house was designed by Schulze Poursoltan Architects, who were also engaged to ensure the later additions remained sympathetic to the original architecture.
The Mediterranean-inspired estate has been Farmer's home since the 1990s. Photo / Supplied
The property was designed by Schulze Poursoltan Architects and has featured in magazines and TV shows. Photo / Supplied
The combined RV for the two titles is over $12m.
The house is “very stylish”, and the location is great as Parnell is close to the city, Newmarket, and the motorway.
He believes the additions he has made to the house have elevated it into something special.
The pavilion beside the pool contains a full-sized kitchen, bathroom, sitting room and outdoor entertaining area that has hosted countless summer dinners.
Across the property, pathways, terraces and gardens create a series of different spaces, giving it a scale and flexibility rarely found so close to central Auckland.
The grounds have also hosted some sizeable gatherings.
“Pre-Christmas every year I would put on an evening - get a caterer in, and I'd invite probably up to 80 people and also usually get some entertainment as well,” he says.
The library has been Farmer's sanctuary. Photo / Supplied
The estate comprises three separate buildings: the main residence, the library and garage building, and the pavilion. Guest accommodation includes a bedroom with its own private entrance.
Farmer has enjoyed a distinguished career beyond the law. He made headlines in the early 2000s as acting chairman of Air New Zealand, helping steer the airline through its financial crisis and recapitalisation, and also served as a director of Team New Zealand.
His reason for selling is straightforward.
"I've really loved living here, and it is just the fact of wanting to downsize that's causing me to sell, and having the opportunity to buy my son's house at the same time, but also to stay in Parnell by doing that."
Ray White listing agent Ross Tierney says properties of this calibre and architectural style are exceptionally rare in Auckland.
Among its standout features, he says, are the winding pathways, terraced landscaping and the sense of escape they create.
"It really feels like you could be on the French Riviera."
Tierney's listing describes the property as a private world where architectural ambition meets the tranquillity of a secluded sanctuary.
"Created in solid concrete and plaster, with Totara joinery, marble finishes and soaring native timber ceilings, this is a residence of substance, character and enduring individuality.
"Beyond the main residence, the architecture continues into the landscape. Iranian-paved courtyards, Hinuera stone walkways and terraced gardens weave between three distinct buildings, creating an intimate, village-like setting."
Bayleys agent Fleur Denning, who also has the listing, says the property is at the upper end of the Parnell market by virtue of its value and land size.
More broadly, she says demand remains strong for high-quality homes in the suburb.
"A lot of the villas in Parnell and the cottages that have been renovated, whenever we go to sell those, we have more buyers than what is available. Overall, the really good quality product in Parnell has been very tightly held, but whenever something has come up there has been demand for it."
- 30-32 Takutai Street, Parnell, Auckland, is for sale, price on application
