This newly renovated house at 103 Te Awa Rd in Tamahere, Waikato, boasts river views, a heated indoor swimming pool and a private boat ramp. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Photo / Supplied
This newly renovated house at 103 Te Awa Rd in Tamahere, Waikato, boasts river views, a heated indoor swimming pool and a private boat ramp. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Photo / Supplied
Dozens of inquiries have started pouring in for what is possibly Waikato's largest and most luxurious mansion.
The 1309sq metre riverside house at 103 Te Awa Rd, Tamahere, boasts breathtaking river views, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, an indoor heated swimming pool and a private boat ramp to the Waikato River.
With a government valuation of $3.1 million, it is likely to fetch one of the region's biggest sale prices.
The property's estate agent, Aaron Davey, of Harcourts, said there had been at least a dozen phone calls and as many email inquiries since it was listed on Tuesday.
"There's been some genuine interest, but it's still very early days," he said.
All but one of the inquiries had been from locals, with the only overseas query so far coming from Australia.
The most common questions related to the property's capital value.
"It's an incredible place - It's one of the premier properties of the Waikato and we're always really proud to market properties like that," Davey said.
The property, possibly the Waikato's largest mansion, has a government valuation of $3.1m.
The gated property, built in 1995, also has two kitchens, four living areas, a theatre room, library and bar, office, gym, sauna and two dining rooms split over three levels across an 8425sq m section.
Developers Nigel Smith and Jason Barnes, of Saint Properties, purchased the property through a mortgagee sale in May 2016 and have spent the last year doing it up.
"When we bought it the place was really run down. So the people had owned it but not really done anything with it ... We bought it to bring it back to its former glory," Barnes previously told the Herald.
They had spent about $1m renovating the property, with international buyers in mind.
The makeover included installing bi-fold doors in the living area, gutting the master bedroom and ensuite and installing twin showers and a large bath overlooking the river, heating the pool and replacing the round columns on the outside of the house with bricks.
The original small fireplaces had been replaced with large stone gas fireplaces and there was new carpet and flooring throughout.
He said they had also lightened it up.
"It was really dark and horrible ... There were some really bizarre things."
The mansion's indoor pool.
The property is bigger than previous record holders 11 Riverlinks Lane in Flagstaff which was 942sq m and sold for $2.95m in December 2014, and 353 Pencarrow Rd in Tamahere which was 856sq m and sold for $3.6m. Both properties made headlines for being the most expensive houses to be sold in the Waikato at the time of sale.
The property, once referred to as the Te Awa Hilton, was built by an Asian couple in 1995 and was the biggest house in New Zealand at the time. They sold it to Victor Rutherford who had planned to turn it into a lodge, but later abandoned those plans. Rocky Cribb, a former New Zealand snooker player, purchased it in May 2000 and the property was sold by mortgagee sale last year.
