- Two Remuera mansions, 81 Arney Road and 56B Arney Crescent, are listed with Sotheby’s.
- Nick Grayston’s renovated five-bedroom home on Arney Road has an RV of $8m.
- Mark Darrow’s Arney Crescent mansion, with harbour views, has an RV of $6.3m.
Two multimillion-dollar homes, two business leaders, two wealthy streets: it’s Arney Road v Arney Crescent, with a retail high-flyer in one corner and the chairman of TSB in the other.
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No one’s actually trading blows, but there will be a fight for buyer attention with the recent listing of 81 Arney Road and 56B Arney Crescent. Both Remuera mansions are listed with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agents and are prime examples of executive-class homes in the suburb.
The five-bedroom home at 81 Arney Road is being sold by executive Nick Grayston and his artist wife Hélène Bizouerne. The US couple snapped it up in 2017 for just over $6m after shifting to New Zealand with their family the year before.
81 Arney Road was the home of renowned New Zealand architect Edward Mahoney. Grayston and Bizouerne were won over by its "incredible sense of space". Photo / Supplied
They had lived in a series of modern homes overseas, and told OneRoof that renovating a historic Auckland villa wasn’t at the top of their to-do list - until they saw 81 Arney Road.
The house was originally the home of renowned New Zealand architect Edward Mahoney, and French-born Bizouerne told OneRoof it had an “incredible sense of space”.
Grayston wanted a family home that offered privacy and was close to the city’s top schools.
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“Our first home here was in Takapuna, but we really wanted to be on the other side of town for the children’s schooling, and this property in Remuera felt perfect,” he said.
The couple have modernised the home and recounted their renovation adventures in previous interviews and profiles. They assembled an expert team of architects and builders to realise their vision, which can clearly be seen in the listing photos on OneRoof.
Three of the five bedrooms enjoy ensuites, and the overall layout of the house lends itself to use in various other configurations to provide accommodation for guests or extended family.
The listing photos for 81 Arney Road highlight some of the couple’s unique touches, including a Moooi Horse Lamp. Photo / Supplied
The property has an RV of $8m and is for sale by deadline private treaty. Photo / Supplied
“What we really appreciated about this house was the upstairs-downstairs aspect as our children reached their teens and needed their own space,” Bizouerne told OneRoof.
Both Grayston and Bizouerne are currently living in France, and told OneRoof the home meant a lot to them. “Those were important years in the children’s lives – and ours – so, in many ways, we’re all very sad to be finishing this particular chapter.”
Listing agents Margaret Bao and Natalie Newton are selling the property by deadline private treaty, closing June 4, and while they have declined to speculate on price, the house has an RV of $8m, putting it in the top tier of homes on the street.
56B Arney Crescent sits on a prime spot in Auckland’s Remuera. Photo / Supplied
56B Arney Crescent owner Mark Darrow in 2013. He has had the home on and off the market since the end of 2021. Photo / Sarah Ivey
About 250 metres away is the five-bedroom, three-storey mansion at 56B Arney Crescent. The trophy home, which last changed hands in 2017 for $4.5m, has been on and off the market over the last three years and has recently been relisted with NZ Sotheby’s agent Greg Dennerly.
In 2022, OneRoof talked to owner Mark Darrow, who is chairman of several institutions, including TSB and the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.
“We didn’t really know what we were looking for,” he said of the family’s shift from a lifestyle block to Remuera. “It was one of those ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ situations.”
The view from Darrow’s home is impressive. Photo / Supplied
Arney Crescent ticked all the boxes and offered the family clear views of the harbour, Rangitoto, and North Head. Darrow said his favourite spot was the master bedroom. “It has the best views, two balconies, and it’s massive.”
Darrow said in 2022 that the home was slightly too big for empty-nesters, so they were selling up. The property, which has an RV of $6.3m, has been upgraded since Darrow last talked to OneRoof and is for sale by negotiation.
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