Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. The exclusive parties, the exotic holidays, the hook-ups, the break-ups, and the high stakes business deals - this new Thursday column pulls back the curtain to reveal how New Zealand’s other half live.
Society Insider: Sally Ridge and new boyfriend John Darby’s house plans; Duncan and Gretchen Hawkesby’s ultimate 50th birthday bash
John Darby has bought into partner Sally Ridge's home, Boris Johnson attended a dinner on ednesday for Auckland's elite and Duncan and Gretchen Hawkesby celebrated their 50ths in style.
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It is understood Ridge split with her former boyfriend, Scott Fitchett, the founder and managing director of AA Smartfuel, at the start of this year.
Ridge and Fitchett bought the rundown 1920s mansion in Auckland’s most expensive suburb at the end of 2022 for $4.9 million – well below its $6m CV.
Recently updated records now show that Ridge and Darby own the home 50/50.
Ridge, famous for her interior design skills, has completely gutted the mansion, put a rear extension on the two-storey villa, and laid foundations for a pool laid on the 1315sq m site.
Ridge told One Roof in March last year, that the house needed “a big bit of love”. An eclectic mix of “eras and details”, she planned to update it to a modern home, with “lots of white, tasteful marble and parquet floors”. She also increased it from a three-bedroom house to five bedrooms, each with an ensuite, and added more living areas.
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Matthew Wilmar was credited with the design and concept and she said she and Fitchett aimed to have the house finished by Christmas last year. After the couple’s split, Ridge continued the renovations. It’s understood Darby took over a 50% share in the last few months.
In between trips away to Darby’s home turf of Queenstown, checking out his golf course design handiwork north of Auckland in Tara Iti and trips together overseas, sources say Ridge went shopping for high-spec interiors, estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Ridge is believed to have visited the best design stores in Auckland, including ECC and Matisse.
Lights from ECC include a bird cage creation by Mathieu Challieres called Voliere Demi-Grande Pendant at $1510 and a blown glass look created by Joan Gaspar called Bohemia Marset which retails for more than $7000.
Among the soft furnishings understood to have been sourced by Ridge from Matisse are two chairs believed to be from the Husk range, designed by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia.
UK and US versions of the chair, finished in canvas, can sell for up to $6000 each. Ridge looks to have opted for a leather finish, which is likely to be more expensive.
A standout piece in the home, although small, is a mustard-coloured side table by designer Naoto Fukasawa. Also available at Matisse, the table, called the Awa, sells in the US for more than $3000.
Ridge’s new pool deck is well set up for summer. Outdoor dining chairs are believed to be “Tuxedo” chairs available locally from Takapuna’s Contemporary Classics with a retail price of $1130 per chair. An outdoor heater, believed to be a Bromic Eclipse Smart-heat Electric Portable Heater, is available locally from Takapuna’s Design Concepts for $7213.
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A day bed complements the deck nicely – similar styles are available at Design Concepts for $9625.
The piece de resistance, a sculpture from NZ artist Terry Stringer, is believed to have arrived last week, with Ridge posting a picture on her Instagram page of it installed on the pool deck.
The sculpture Apollo and Daphne had been listed on Auckland studio Art + Object’s website, with a cost estimate of $45,000 to $65,000. It sold for the latter.
One real estate expert told Society Insider Ridge’s renovations to the Herne Bay home possibly would have doubled her original $4.9m investment.
Twelve years ago, Ridge undertook a renovation of another rundown villa, a 13-bedroom, former boarding house over the hill in Herne Bay. Those renovations were documented on The Ridges, the reality show about her and daughter Jaime, which screened in 2012.
It is understood Ridge still owns the property.
Duncan and Gretchen Hawkesby turn 50 in style
Society couple Duncan and Gretchen Hawkesby celebrated their joint 50th birthday party in style last Saturday evening.
Duncan, the son of one of New Zealand’s most famous broadcasters John Hawkesby, and Gretchen, the daughter of one of the country’s wealthiest men Graeme Hart, held the party at their home in Glendowie.
The couple, who have been married for 23 years, have a modernist clifftop abode next door to the $100 million compound owned by Gretchen’s parents, Graeme and Robyn Hart.
Duncan has served as a managing director of Nature’s Oven Limited and then logistics and transport firm Fliway Limited. Gretchen is known for her charity work, most prominently with the Starship Foundation and the Friends of Starship committee.
There was a giant marquee set up for the 50th bash, complete with fairy lights, bars and neon signs lighting up the deck. One sign spelled out “G&D”, another “Let’s Party”, and a third, “G&D 50″.
It was a family affair, with the couple’s four children Miller, Jemima, Fletcher and Dylan there to celebrate, as well as Graeme and Robyn, and John and Joyce Hawkesby.
Gretchen’s brother Harry Hart was there with his fiancee, Australian heiress Cartier Lee.
Also in attendance were Duncan’s sisters, Jessica and Kate Hawkesby, plus Kate’s husband, Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking.
Two of Kate’s children, Jackson and Marley Hawkesby-Lyne were also in attendance. Her son Josh is based in London.
In August, real estate agent Jackson made headlines for selling the five-bedroom home of his grandparents, John and Joyce. The property, overlooking Waiheke’s Church Bay, sold for $12m.
At the 50th, John Hawkesby is said to have brought the house down with wit and charm in his speech about his son and daughter-in-law. There were also speeches from the birthday couple themselves, as well as from their four children and Kate.
The birthday girl looked radiant, sparkling in an off-the-shoulder white dress with sequin and ruffle detailing, while the birthday boy wore a black untucked shirt, black trousers and white trainers.
Robyn Hart wore an off-the-shoulder red lace dress with ruffle detail and husband Graeme casually wore a white tuxedo jacket.
Kate Hawkesby wore ruffles too, in an electric blue micro chiffon dress which she sold online the next day on her newly formed selling account on Instagram.
Mike Hosking is said to have worn the Savile Row suit he had specially tailored for King Charles III’s coronation last year.
There are said to have been more than 100 guests in attendance, including family friends the McGoldricks – sports player agent Leanne, and her children, broadcaster Laura and property developer and investor Tim.
Ten years ago, Laura had her wedding to former Blackcap Martin Guptill at the Hart family compound, with Gretchen as a bridesmaid.
While his wife enjoyed the joint 50th, Guptill was in Kathmandu, where he is playing in the Nepal Premier League Biratnagar Kings (NPL). Playing in the season’s opening match against Janakpur Bolts last Friday, Guptill became the first batsman to score a half-century in the league’s history.
Tim McGoldrick was at the party with his long-term partner Morgan Lupton, along with her sister, Monday Haircare founder, Jaimee Lupton and fiance, Zuru’s Nick Mowbray.
Earlier this year Mowbray and brother Mat were named as New Zealand’s wealthiest family at $20 billion, knocking the Hart family’s decades-long first position to number two, at a reported $12b.
Sources tell Society Insider the Harts are more than happy for the Mowbrays to take over the mantle and its associated baggage.
Mowbray and Lupton have been busy travelling in Africa recently, jetting off after their early Halloween party at their soon-to-be-demolished $24m Herne Bay waterfront mansion. They spent time with friends in Rwanda, getting up close with the country’s gorillas in the jungle.
They followed that up with time in Tanzania staying at the luxurious Singita Sasakwa Lodge and viewing the country’s myriad wildlife by hot air balloon and jeep safari.
Mowbray then continued to grow his Zuru empire, opening new company headquarters in London before catching up with the All Blacks when they played Ireland in Dublin. After checking up on Zuru’s growth in the United States, Mowbray caught up with Kiwi F1 star Liam Lawson in Las Vegas, where Lawson was competing in the Grand Prix.
Johnson’s private dinner
After his well-publicised public event at Cordis Hotel to promote his book, former British PM and mayor of London Boris Johnson dined privately with some of Auckland’s elite.
Last night, NZ First MP Shane Jones hosted a dinner at Sid Sahrawat’s French Cafe on Auckland’s Symonds St for Johnson.
He said last night: “Tonight he nourished 20 fellow Kiwis with tales of politics, intrigue and a serving of mirth…"
A source said the dinner was in a private dining room and the party included former leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges, former deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett and former Auckland mayor John Banks.
Johnson was guest of honour at a long lunch at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel on Tuesday. In the country to promote his book of memoirs, the VIP lunch with Johnson came at a cost of between $4000 to $9000 per table, with more than 800 people in attendance.
Newstalk ZB’s MC Kerre Woodham, guest speaker Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, and broadcaster Paul Henry hosted a Q&A session with Johnson.
Esteemed guests from NZ’s political field at the Duco event included Government ministers Mark Mitchell and Chris Bishop, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, Auckland Business Chamber CEO and former National leader Simon Bridges, and former Labour minister Stuart Nash.
Other notable names included property developer John Chow, Champagne Lady and former Real Housewives of Auckland cast member Anne Batley Burton, boxer Joseph Parker, Clare Frances de Lore, Lady McKinnon, mental health campaigner Mike King and SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts.
Drinks were flowing during the lunch, and guests lapped up Johnson’s unfiltered musings on democracy, freedom, market capitalism and New Zealand’s special relationship with the United Kingdom.
Johnson also spoke of the implications of the recent US election and his observations on US President-Elect Donald Trump. Things took a serious turn when he talked about global security, geo-political risks and possible ways forward.
The lunch was a second meeting for Johnson and Woodham - earlier in the day, Johnson couldn’t tear himself away from newsroom staff when he visited NZME to be interviewed on Woodham’s Newstalk ZB show.
The charismatic leader approached reporters, offering to sign books and asked about Newstalk ZB and the Herald’s readership.
It’s understood he even signed a departing staffer’s farewell card.
Kiwi motoring superstars celebrate Thanksgiving
Kiwi IndyCar legends Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin, and F1 star Liam Lawson, have been celebrating Thanksgiving in very different ways.
McLaughlin and New Yorker wife Karly Paone enjoyed their first Thanksgiving with their new daughter at their home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The couple, who married in Malibu in 2019, welcomed Lucy Violet McLaughlin on October 10.
McLaughlin, 31, signed a multi-year contract with IndyCar Team Penske in 2022 and in March had a $583,000 payday at IndyCar’s Thermal $1 Million Challenge. This season was his best finish in IndyCars, coming third overall.
In September, McLaughlin had his third victory of the season at Milwaukee Mile 250 and led six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon across the finish line making it a New Zealand 1-2 finish.
Dixon, who has raced for Chip Ganassi Racing for 22 years, may have finished sixth overall this season but is still reportedly the third highest-paid driver on the circuit and the most successful driver on the IndyCar grid.
Yesterday, the Herald estimated Dixon’s 12-month earnings at more than $2.6m, making him New Zealand’s eighth highest-paid athlete in 2024, and numerous motoring websites report his career wealth at more than US$35m.
Dixon and his Welsh wife of 16 years, Emma Davies-Dixon, have been enjoying time in Europe since the IndyCar season finished in Nashville in September.
First visiting Greece, they then went to Spain to follow the America’s Cup action in Barcelona.
In early November, the couple were hosted by the All Blacks at Twickenham in London. There, they mixed with the team, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, and America’s Cup-winning skipper Peter Burling. Dixon was also in Dublin to support the All Blacks, where he mingled with New Zealand’s richest man Nick Mowbray.
Dixon made time to pop back over to the US last week and check out Lawson and the F1 action in Las Vegas, before heading to Scotland to spend Thanksgiving at the luxury Gleneagles Hotel.
He and Dixon-Davies were joined at the famous golf resort by longtime friends and fellow racing legends Dario Franchitti, a Scottish IndyCar champion, and Jimmie Johnson, an American Nascar star, along with their families.
Meanwhile, Lawson, who drives for team Red Bull, is believed to have enjoyed early Thanksgiving celebrations with his American girlfriend, pre-med student Hannah St John. The pair were spotted three days before the holiday with St John’s family at the Philadelphia Eagles v Los Angeles Rams NFL game at LA’s SoFi Stadium. The day before, Lawson had finished 16th out of 20 in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
On Thanksgiving itself, Lawson is believed to have been in transit for the Qatar Grand Prix, where he finished 14th on Sunday. This week Lawson and St John enjoyed some pool time in Dubai ahead of his six-race stint of this season’s Formula One championship in Abu Dhabi this weekend, after which Red Bull decides where his future lies.
A good week for...
William Waiirua and Taylor Sutherland
Business entrepreneur, content creator and up-and-coming corporate lawyer Taylor Sutherland had a lot to celebrate this week, in both career and personal life. Sutherland was named as an Excellence Awardee for Young In-House Lawyer of the Year (Under 35) at the New Zealand Law Awards last Thursday, in recognition of her role with Perpetual Guardian.
Outside of her law career, Sutherland runs her own business, supplying makeup artists with lash accessories, as well as developing her own custom sleep products. Her company, It Was All a Dream developed customised eye masks for women who wear eyelash extensions – the masks protect lashes when wearers sleep on their sides.
Her new fiance William Waiirua didn’t join her for the glitzy black-tie Law Awards and gala dinner at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre but is said to be full of pride for his partner. The couple, who first met at Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne seven years ago, became engaged in late November.
Waiirua, a former youth worker turned TV presenter, comedian and self-described “full-time morale booster”, proposed to Sutherland on a wharf in Taupō‘s Two Mile Bay. The place had significance for the couple – Sutherland says it’s “more or less where they first met”. Returning there in late November, Waiirua got down on one knee and presented Sutherland with a beautiful diamond solitaire engagement ring.
The celebrations continued when the couple flew business class the following weekend to Samoa to mark their engagement.
PARTY PEOPLE OF THE WEEK
Perrier-Jouet at Botswana
Last Thursday evening, guests attended a pre-tasting of Botswana Butchery’s Enchanted Eden Perrier-Jouet December lunch on the terrace at the Ferry Building on Quay St.
Good Group Hospitality’s chief operating officer Hamish Klein hosted guests including Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck; fashionistas Lizzie Leuchars and Michiko Hylands; celebrity celebrant Francieli McWilliams and husband Guy; ladies about town artist Daniella Hulme and psychiatrist Dr Sylvanya Hulme.
Tasting standouts included Te Matuku Oysters and the Garden Petit Fours which featured beetroot, goats cheese macaron, sundried tomato tartlet, pea eclair and spiced pumpkin pie.
The Perrier-Jouet $80 lunch is being served every day at the waterfront establishment throughout December, followed by Eden Hour from 4pm–6pm featuring $18 flutes of Perrier-Jouet or a bottle for $105.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
