It’s America’s most expensive listing. A mega-mansion in the elite Hollywood suburb of Bel Air has hit the market for sale for US$400 million – the highest asking price for a residential property in the US.
Dubbed the “Crown Jewel of Los Angeles” by the listing agency tasked with selling it, 1201 Chalon Road is, according to The Times of London, the home of a Qatari power broker and is possibly on the market because of the war in Iran.
For $400m, buyers get 39 bedrooms – 13 of which are for the staff – three swimming pools and “resort-level wellness and fitness amenities”. According to the listing, the 6503sqm estate was designed by architect Peter Marino, who is better known for creating the shopfronts of Louis Vuitton and Tiffany’s, and was completed in 2018.
It’s an extreme example of what money can buy when money isn’t in short supply, underscoring the divide between New Zealand’s luxury property market and that of the wider world – especially relevant now that foreign buyers can once again shop for real estate in Aotearoa.
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US$400m is around $700m in Kiwi dollars, and given that New Zealand’s highest settled sale price is $45.5m (although there are potentially two $50m-plus sales that could take that crown), Kiwi trophy homes have a long way to go.
Looking at the data, NZ$700m could buy a fifth of all the houses in the country’s most expensive suburb, Auckland’s Herne Bay. It could also easily cover the bill for the eight record-breaking Kiwi homes below.
Over $50,000,0000? | Andersons Cove, Langs Beach, Whangarei
Bayleys Real Estate confirmed the sale of Andersons Cove, a multimillion-dollar coastal estate north of Auckland, over the weekend. The real estate agency put the sold sticker on the luxury resort on Bream Tail Road in Langs Beach, Whangarei, on Saturday – two weeks before the offer deadline expired and less than a month after taking the property to the open market. The sale was first reported by the New Zealand Herald and chimed with what OneRoof heard about the sale: that an expat had bought the property and that the sale price was over $40m, possibly $50m. The resort was owned by Kiwi entrepreneur David Nathan, who died at the end of last year, and his wife Pamela.
The 48ha estate at Andersons Cove, in Northland, has reportedly been snapped up by an expat. Photo / Supplied
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Over $50,000,0000? | Cremorne Street, Herne Bay, Auckland
OneRoof reported last month that the Auckland mansion of rich-listers Simon and Paula Herbert had been withdrawn from the market, a week after the offer deadline passed. The couple were looking for over $50m for the lavish 1075sqm, six-bedroom home, designed by celebrated architect Brent Hulena and occupying a prime waterfront position on Cremorne Street, in Herne Bay. The listing was with Wall Real Estate agents Graham and Ollie Wall. When OneRoof asked Graham Wall if the property had sold, he could not confirm or deny the sale. “I cannot say a single word about it,” Wall said.
Could this be Auckland’s most expensive home? The Herberts’ mansion on Cremorne Street, in Herne Bay, was seeking over $50m when it was on the market this year. Photo / Supplied
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$45,500,000 | Lower Shotover Road, Dalefield, Queenstown-Lakes
The country’s top price is the $45.5m paid in 2023 for Chantecler, the 19ha Queenstown estate that boasts impressive gardens and a grand French-style mansion. Hamish Walker, of Walker & Co, brokered the deal two years ago, with OneRoof first to report its significance. The sale was in two parts: the trophy home and gardens, built over 20 years by Aucklanders Mike and Maureen Henry, and a second piece of land zoned for subdivision. It sold to parties associated with Australian multi-millionaire Karl Jameson, a construction entrepreneur. Walker said that stretch of Lower Shotover Road was earmarked for housing and commercial development, making the land extremely valuable.
Chantecler was established by Aucklanders Mike and Maureen Henry and sold to parties associated with Australian multi-millionaire Karl Jameson. Photo / NZME
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Circa $40,000,000 | Arney Road, Remuera, Auckland
OneRoof reported last year that a mansion on Arney Road, in Auckland’s Remuera, was snapped up by a mystery buyer for circa $40m. The 1ha, five-bedroom property overlooking Auckland Harbour features a large four-car garage, tennis court and swimming pool. The Remuera estate was previously owned by Hugh Wright, founder of the menswear clothing chain, and entrepreneur Diane Foreman and her then-husband Bill Foreman. The agency involved in the off-market deal declined to comment when OneRoof reached out at the time of sale. The vendor could not be reached.
Arney Road, in Auckland’s Remuera, is one of New Zealand’s wealthiest streets and is home to the city’s most expensive home. Photo / Alex Burton
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$38,500,000 | Huriaro Place, Orakei, Auckland
The $38.5m sale of the home built by financier Mark Hotchin on Huriaro Place, was brokered in 2013 by rich-lister agent Graham Wall, who runs Wall Real Estate with sons Ollie and Andrew. The imposing mansion, which now has an RV of more than $70m, was scooped up by Chinese businessman Deyi “Stone” Shi and for almost 10 years it was New Zealand’s most expensive house. The 2600sqm property was designed by top architect Lawrence Sumich and overlooks Paritai Drive and the Waitemata Harbour. It has an indoor pool and underground parking for 12 cars. At the time it was completed, the build was reported to have cost $43m and kept Aucklanders entranced for the nearly eight years it took to complete. A OneRoof reporter got a tour of the grounds in 2021, noting: “The house is over-scaled, and OneRoof’s photographer has to stand right at the edge of the lawn to capture the full length of the 4m-high ground floor.”
Deyi Stone Shi’s mansion on Huriaro Place, in Auckland’s Orakei, was New Zealand’s most expensive house for 10 years. Photo / Fiona Goodall
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$38,000,0000 | Marine Parade, Herne Bay, Auckland
The waterfront mansion on Marine Parade, in Herne Bay, was snapped up a year ago by Kiwi entrepreneur Simon Butler, with the deal brokered by Bayleys prestige agent Edward Pack. Luxury property developer Kurt Gibbons bought the five-bedroom property more than four years ago for $23.5m and commissioned architects Fearon Hay to renovate it. The luxury waterfront home includes a pool and a tennis court.
The New Zealand Herald’s Society Insider column reported that the house’s new owner likes to keep a low profile and made his money in minerals and technology. It is understood he co-founded software company eOne Solutions in Australia in 2000, before expanding into the US market. Contivio, a global leader in cloud-based contact centre solutions, followed later that decade in California. Butler, Society Insider said, attended Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes, a school known for educating students from a diverse range of backgrounds. There, he was head of house, head prefect and captain of the First XI football team.
Rich-lister property developer Kurt Gibbons sold his waterfront Herne Bay mansion last year for $38m. Photo / Supplied
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$35,000,000 | Sentinel Road, Herne Bay, Auckland
The next big transaction was the sale of Kiwi rich-lister Ben Cook’s Auckland mansion for $35m in September. Records show the three-level, six-bedroom home, with private beach access and a helicopter hangar, was transferred to Trustee Services Ltd. Wall Real Estate agent Ollie Wall confirmed the company brokered the deal but could not comment further. OneRoof also contacted Cook’s company, Cook Property, for comment.
Rich-lister property developer Ben Cook sold his mansion on Sentinel Road, in Auckland’s Herne Bay, for $35m. Photo / Alex Burton
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$32,500,000 | Mahoenui Valley Road, Coatesville, Auckland
The mansion on Mahoenui Valley Road will forever be associated with its former resident – but never owner – Kim Dotcom. The sprawling 12-bedroom, three-swimming-pool home on over 22ha was built by Chrisco Christmas hamper multi-millionaire Richard Bradley in 2006. Dotcom rented the property reportedly for $1m a year, and claimed to have spent millions of his own money decorating the place in Versailles-style. It made headlines when police raided the place in 2012. After Dotcom and family vacated in 2015, it was bought by Zuru Toys magnates, siblings Anna, Mat and Nick Mowbray, in 2016 in a secret deal brokered by Barfoot & Thompson agent Christina Tang. The Mowbrays later announced they were the buyers, and shared their plans for the mansion as a retreat for them and their staff. It has undergone substantial renovations, and now makes different headlines for its huge celebrity parties and fundraisers.
The former Dotcom mansion on Mahoenui Valley Road is owned by the rich-lister founders of Zuru Toys. Photo / Supplied
