The $9m penthouse includes New Zealand's highest swimming pool and panoramic views. Photo / Supplied
The $9m penthouse includes New Zealand's highest swimming pool and panoramic views. Photo / Supplied
One of New Zealand's most luxurious penthouses, which once played host to America's Next Top Model and has stunning views over Auckland harbour, has been sold for $9 million.
It is among the highest prices ever paid for a New Zealand apartment and is equivalent in value to buying nearly 10 median-priced Kiwi homes.
In 2018, a Parnell penthouse sold for $9.25m in what the Real Estate Institute said was the most expensive apartment sale on record.
Perched on the 29th floor of the Sentinel building, the Takapuna apartment sports the nation's highest swimming pool, sprawls over two-levels of nearly 700sq m of floor space, and takes in gorgeous 360-degree views.
Kiwis Brendon Thomas and Katrina Thomas, who initially made their fortune in freight, will now enjoy the views after buying the property in late January from American multimillionaire Ronald Patrick, according to property records.
US-born Patrick, whose family business is in vitamins, told the Herald last August when the apartment was listed for sale he was hoping to get a minimum $11m for it, having paid $7m in 2017.
"This is the only apartment [in New Zealand] with a pool and spa on the rooftop," he said.
"I don't even have to get out of bed to see the America's Cup [in 2021]. I can see it right in my bed."
American Ronald Patrick's penthouse sits at the top of the Sentinel building. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Interior designer Juliette Yarrell was called in to decorate and upgrade the apartment prior to its sale and was also blown away by the "jaw-dropping" views.
"When you spend time here, there are so many different moods, it makes the day very interesting," she said.
"Sunrise over Rangitoto is breath-taking, or when you're above the clouds in the storm, you're higher than a plane. It's difficult to beat that."
After Yarrell's makeover there's now a 10–person couch and fireplace in the surround-sound home theatre and room for a personal gym.
This opens onto a 247sq m rooftop deck with spa and lap pool, while most rooms offer offers captivating views of the Hauraki Gulf, North Shore beaches, Rangitoto Island, the Waitākere Ranges and Auckland's cityscape.
Wake up to some of Auckland's best views. Photo / Supplied
Indoors, the main living area alone is 25m long and 12m high, separated from the theatre room by giant sliding doors.
The two-storey penthouse was also earlier used to film Tyra Banks' show America's Next Top Model in 2009, when bikini-clad models were spied peering over the balcony two days after they arrived in New Zealand.
The Sentinel apartment building comes with 24-hour concierge services and has been billed as one of the best seats in New Zealand for the upcoming 2021 America's Cup.
Penthouse seller Patrick is a dual US-New Zealand citizen, who earlier bought a North Shore beach home which he sold in 2017.
Five years before that he saw life in New Zealand as a bolthole getaway from the US and its politics.
"Nobody's going to bomb New Zealand," he told the Herald in 2017.
The $9m penthouse includes New Zealand's highest swimming pool and panoramic views. Photo / Supplied
"I flew over here twice and looked at every single oceanfront property I could find. I looked at Takapuna, all over. New Zealand has good food, a good way of life, good education."
