- A Waiheke Island estate at 40 Rothschild Terrace is entering the open market for the first time in 45 years.
- The property, once purchased as a Cold War bolthole, has attracted interest from Hollywood buyers.
- Agent Caleb Paterson expects it to be one of Waiheke’s top residential sales this year.
A Waiheke Island estate, said to have been used as a private refuge during the Cold War, is entering the open market for the first time in 45 years.
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The agent marketing the multimillion-dollar mansion at 40 Rothschild Terrace, in Ōakura Bay, said the property was expected to become one of the island’s top residential sales this year.
Paterson Luxury director Caleb Paterson said the 4.95ha property, which included access to two private islands, had already attracted interest from Hollywood buyers.
However, Paterson said he had signed Non-Disclosure Agreements with the two Hollywood stars and was not able to disclose their identities.
The agent selling the estate expects it to fetch top dollar for the island. Photo / Supplied
The agent has already been contacted by two Hollywood stars about the property, but he is unable to reveal their identities. Photo / Supplied
Paterson said the Hollywood buyers found out about the property listing, which is due to go live on Friday, through his connections with other movie stars who had been filming in New Zealand.
He expected the four-bedroom property, which has an RV of $6.4 million, to sell for top dollar.
“Given the rarity of 40 Rothschild Terrace, encompassing nearly 5ha of waterfront land and ownership of private islands accessible at low tide, we anticipate interest from the very top end of the market,” he said.
“My gut feeling is it will be one of the premium sales on Waiheke Island. It just comes down to what someone is willing to pay.”
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According to property documents, the kauri villa was believed to have been built in the late 19th century by the Dewitt family as a wedding gift using bricks fired in Auckland and returned by barge to the bay.
In 1981, John Bollard, who worked as a NASA consultant, and his wife Eve restored the villa and planted a 2ha organic vineyard producing syrah, malbec and chardonnay.
The estate was later acquired by New York philanthropists Maurine and Robert F. Rothschild, who fled to New Zealand during the Cold War and bought land further along the bay in 1963.
The estate was once owned by a New York couple who fled the US in the 1960s. Photo / Supplied
The couple’s son, Peter, told the New Zealand Herald in 2014: “It was during the height of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis and nuclear testing were consuming the world’s attention. My parents thought of finding a safe haven from what might develop into World War III. At the time, nuclear war may have seemed ‘escapable’ in the Southern Hemisphere.”
In 2014, the estate was inherited by the Bollard family who still own it today.
Paterson said the appeal of the property, which was now entering the open market for the first time in 45 years, was in its legacy, scale and rarity.
“This is one of one on Waiheke. It is a statement property with every element of a world-class estate and a story that stretches across a century.
The $23.5m sale of a luxury estate on Gordons Road in 2021 is still the highest on Waiheke Island for a residential property. Photo / Supplied
“It’s a private sanctuary that gives anyone a playground to do what they want with.”
Paterson said international interest in the country’s high-end property market had been building in the past year as global instability and political division drive wealthy families to look for security beyond traditional centres such as Europe and the United States.
“We are seeing a definite shift in sentiment. High net worth buyers are drawn to New Zealand’s geographical isolation and stable political environment.
“They see it as one of the few remaining places where you can own land, enjoy privacy and still have world-class amenities within easy reach. That sense of distance from global unrest is now viewed as a premium in itself.”
Former All Black Dan Carter with his old coach Sir Graham Henry. Sir Graham bought a swish home on the island in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
OneRoof also spoke to other Waiheke Island agents about the island’s property market.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Waiheke principal Chris Jones said the company held the island’s record residential sale price of $23m-plus in 2021 for a property on Gordons Road.
Jones said the challenge for overseas buyers looking at luxury property in New Zealand, especially on sensitive land, was gaining approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
“Whoever is looking to buy property like that will have significant hoops to jump through. But it’s not impossible. It certainly happens.”
Demand for luxury Waiheke Island property was coming from wealthy Kiwi families, Australia and Singapore, he said.
The architect-designed estate at 62 Park Point Drive, in Church Bay, Waiheke Island, has been priced to sell. Photo / Supplied
“There’s a lot of interest in New Zealand at the moment. Waiheke is a world-famous destination. People will have heard about it.”
Tobias Roebuck-Ward, of Waiheke Homes, said 40 Rothschild was an iconic property and a “rarity” on the market.
Roebuck-Ward said while he hadn’t heard of any Hollywood stars buying on Waiheke, it was a “magical place”.
“Who wouldn’t want to buy here? It’s the most beautiful place in the world.
“One of my favourite things about Waiheke is you could be drinking $8 rose at the local bowling club alongside The Mad Butcher and Graham Henry, and we’re all existing in the same room as if we are all exactly the same.
“We are just a community of people that love each other regardless.”
Roebuck-Ward said he knew of homes selling on Waiheke selling for $10m-plus, and the company currently had a property listed on Park Point Drive for nearly $8m.
While he said there had been a steady amount of overseas buyers, inquiry was mostly from New Zealanders in Queenstown and Auckland.
Ray White Waiheke principal Matthew Smith said he was seeing interest from overseas buyers, including from Hong Kong and Singapore, and residents moving around the island.
“It’s been a real mix. There have been a lot of people looking for holiday homes on Waiheke Island.”
While the company’s biggest sale this year was $7m, he said, buyers were not getting carried away and paying premium prices.
- Click here to find more properties for sale on Waiheke Island
