- A Japanese businessman sold his Glendowie mansion for $10.64m to a New York-based expat.
- The four-bedroom house on Riddell Road was sold after a 20-minute WhatsApp call.
- Designed with feng shui principles, the home features elegant curves and a curved pool.
A Japanese businessman has sold his clifftop mansion in Auckland's Glendowie to an expat for over $10 million.
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New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Greg Dennerly brokered the $10.64m sale of the four-bedroom house on Riddell Road and told OneRoof it came about after a 20-minute WhatsApp call with the New York-based buyer.
“A family member came, and we just walked around the property, showed him all the views and down to the beach,” Dennerly said.
“He was just asking a lot of questions. And after 48 hours there was an offer.”
The resort-style, solid masonry house was designed with the help of a feng shui master for its Japanese owner. Photo / Supplied
The four-bedroom house is curved to protect privacy while maximising sea views, supported by a barrier pile wall. Photo / Supplied
The agent said that the Riddell Road home was only the second property he had shown to the buyer, who was looking for something modern near the beach. The sale price was nearly $700,000 above the RV.
When the solid masonry property first went on the market in March last year, the owner, a Japanese businessman, told OneRoof that it was so private “you can walk inside the house, garden or pool naked”.
He collaborated with Mark Wilson from MDS (Masonry Design Solutions) to build the home, which adhered to the principles of feng shui.
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The process, he said, was overseen by a Japan-based feng shui master, and noted that aspect of the ancient Chinese art could be seen in the elegant curves of the house and in the meticulously considered floor plan, which allows clean air to circulate and enhances positive energy, vitality and flow.
Wilson told OneRoof at the time that the project was both interesting and challenging. “There was huge consultation backwards and forwards from Japan. Feng shui was a major driving force in the design process, but [the owner] was very keen to use permanent materials, hence the concrete, which is what we typically specialise in,” he said.
The overseas-based buyer was drawn to its seaside location. Photo / Supplied
“It was a challenging site when we started. The barrier pile wall that went in not only stabilised it, but we also used it to our advantage and increased the usable land size. It gave us the space to create the beautiful curved pool.”
The vendor told OneRoof last year that the home was spacious, modern, and easy to maintain. “It’s easy to look after and live in, and is controlled by a home automation system for lights, music, and TV. Because the view is so special, I always feel so relaxed and forget about my stress as soon as I come home.”
