An Edwardian mansion bought by late timber magnate Toshio Nakamoto more than 20 years ago is heading to auction next month, but price expectations have dropped “dramatically”.
The 8.53ha Acton Estate, in Hexton, Gisborne, is a category one heritage-protected property. At its heart is a 740sqm house with eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
It hit the market in 2024, four years after Nakamoto’s death, with hopes it would sell for more than $5m.
However, the owners, Junken NZ, the company operated by Nakamoto’s son, failed to find a buyer at that level, and are now keen to get the property off its books.
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Ray White agent Alan Thorpe told OneRoof the owners were prepared to consider all feedback on price, with his listing urging buyers to “forget previous price indications and preconceived ideas around value”.
“Acton Estate is returning to the market with one very clear message: the owners are ready to sell and want to hear what the market has to say,” the listing said.
Parts of the home were rebuilt after the earthquake in 2007, but the renovations were in keeping with its character. Photo / Supplied
A billiard room is one of more than a dozen rooms in the sprawling 740sqm mansion. Photo / Supplied
The mansion at the heart of the property was built by Christchurch farmer Henry White in 1907 on a 160ha section and took two years to construct. It changed hands several times and was subdivided in the 1960s down to its current land size.
Nakamoto paid $2m for it in 2002 to have as his New Zealand base, and spent $1.4m-plus rebuilding and strengthening it after the Gisborne earthquake in 2007.
After Nakamoto’s death, the property was used as a retreat for staff and visiting clients, but the sale of the timber business at the end of 2024 has upped the pressure to sell.
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Thorpe said Juken NZ, which is a subsidiary of Japan-headquartered wood giant company Wood One, had just sold the second of two bare blocks of land near the mill it had once earmarked for expansion and wanted Acton Estate sold next.
“They just now want to see it gone. They are a lot more realistic about where the market is at now. There’s no real purpose to holding onto that property anymore.”
Thorpe said the estate had lots of potential. “Everything is big; nothing is small in the whole house.”
A quaint two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage can also be found on the property. Photo / Supplied
He told OneRoof it could be returned to its previous use as a boutique hotel or could appeal to someone looking for an events venue or a large private home. A developer may also be able to subdivide the 8.5ha into several lifestyle blocks.
“The property would be a lot easier and probably a lot more palatable to the market if it’s on a smaller title because 8.5ha is a lot to run.”
A caretaker lives onsite to care for the house, and contractors were employed to maintain the large grounds and established gardens, he said.
Action Estate has an RV of $4.3m and could still fetch a significant price for the region. The current record for Gisborne is held by a five-bedroom homestead on a 20ha lifestyle block in Makauri. It sold for $4.4m in March last year.
Juken NZ now only runs two mills in New Zealand – in Kaitaia and Wairarapa – following the closure of Triboard Mill in Kaitāia in August this year. It also owns 30,000ha of mainly Radiata Pine forest estates in areas such as Tairāwhiti (East Coast) and the Wairarapa in the North Island.
- 577 Back Ormond Road, in Hexton, Gisborne, goes to auction on November 13
