- The Wellington castle known as Woofington’s is up for mortgagee sale, heading to auction on July 17.
- The property was bought for $3.2m last October, below its RV of $3.68m.
- A TVNZ documentary covers a 2019 police raid, revealing allegations of animal mistreatment and other crimes.
The iconic hilltop Wellington castle at the centre of a new true crime documentary has hit the market as a mortgagee sale. However, the owner claims the property is not for sale.
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The former luxury dog retreat, known as Woofington’s, is heading to auction on July 17, almost a year after it last sold.
The property, a distinctive yellow chateau at 430 Hawkins Hill Road, in Brooklyn, was snapped up in October last year for $3.2 million - below its RV of $3.68m. It is now listed with Harcourts agents Paul Yianakis and Ken Dentice.
The listing follows the release of TVNZ’s new true crime documentary about the property, What the Hell Happened at Woofington’s?
The documentary covers the police raid at the castle in 2019 and the subsequent charge of a man after officers discovered "an improvised explosive device” on the premises.
TVNZ journalist Baz Macdonald charts allegations of animal mistreatment, drugs, kidnapping, and armed burglary, and includes harrowing testimony from two women who worked at Woofington’s.
Holly Fordham, managing director of Harcourts Wellington Central, declined to talk about the sale when contacted by OneRoof. "There is no comment we can make. We are not legally obliged to say anything, so there is no story from us," she said.
The owner, Travis Mackay, told OneRoof that the property "is not actually for sale”.
“We signed up with a second-tier or third-tier bloody lender, and they’ve jumped the procedure by a whole heap of things. My lawyers are on to it.”
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Mackay added that he was “only two months, well, a month behind now”, and that he had tried to stop the mortgagee sale listing from going ahead.
“We tried listing it with a different company just to put it under contract to see if that would work, just to slow things down. But that didn't work either, so my lawyers are sorting it out,” he said.
OneRoof asked Harcourts about Mackay's claims, but the agency declined to comment.
Mackay said that, while he hadn’t seen the TVNZ documentary, he’d been sent it “about 1000 times. “I haven’t watched it, no. I already know all that because I’ve known Brian for 30 years, I’ve been trying to buy [the property] off him for about 25 years.”
Mackay said he is still trying to run the accommodation business, which he also advertises on Huntable to hunters who like to hunt “down the back” of his privately owned 89 ha bush property, where he also has a mining license.
The castle looks out over the capital city and toward Cook Strait. Photo / Supplied
The previous listing agent told OneRoof that the castle could be turned into an ambassadorial residence. Photo / Supplied
It is one of several businesses he runs, including earth-moving, scaffolding, construction and property.
The property had been listed on Airbnb as Brooklyn Castle. It also appears on the website Wellington Castle Estate, which advertises rates of $1495 per night in peak holiday season for exclusive groups of up to 10 guests in five bedrooms.
Mackay made headlines last year when media reported that MBIE had granted him a two-year permit to prospect for gold in the surrounding hills with his teenage son. The permit was for a one-square-kilometre section of land south-west of the Zealandia nature reserve and Brooklyn wind turbine.
Mackay told reporters he planned to "much around in the creeks" with a shovel and pan, and may upgrade to a hobby mining permit. But Mackay, who said he owned a company that makes mining equipment, said that was completely separate from the prospecting and that the area was too steep for any commercial operation.
OneRoof previously reported on the castle when it was listed for sale in 2025. Then listing agent Glen Jones, from New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, told OneRoof that the property was one-of-a-kind.
“We’re thinking it could be an ambassadorial residence, a corporate retreat or a wellness centre. It’s ideal for hosting large parties,” he said in March 2025.
The property was being sold by Wellington developer and financier Brian Willman, who picked it up in 1998 for $241,875, according to a report in the New Zealand Herald.
Back then, the main building on the 4028sqm section was a large concrete compound, which had started life as a radar bunker for Airways Corporation.
Willman turned the bunker into a medieval castle, from which he ran several businesses, including Woofington’s, a luxury hotel for dogs, which closed in 2021.
Jones told OneRoof the transformation of the property had been a labour of love for him. “It’s amazing, and you know, Wellington weather being Wellington weather, it’s often called Castle in the Clouds because it’s right up there above it all.”
Jones was unable to comment on the November sale when OneRoof contacted him.
- 430 Hawkins Hill Road, Brooklyn, Wellington, goes to auction on July 17
