KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's biggest and most expensive house is getting neighbours.
All 11 1ha lots of Parkgate, an exclusive rural gated estate in Coatesville, north of Auckland, that looks down the valley at the estimated $30 million, 20ha property of Richard and Ruth Bradley - founders of the Chrisco hamper empire - have now sold or are under contract.
The lots were priced from $715,000 to more than $900,000.
The Bradleys subdivided the Parkgate property on The Prom, off Ridge Rd in Coatesville. The Herald on Sunday understands that a few lots went to Bradley relatives.
Townies have flocked to rural Coatesville in the past five years, transforming farmland into substantial country homes. It is the first real green belt area just beyond metropolitan limits and is also popular with the affluent, since the retail and entertainment centre of Albany is just minutes away by car.
Professionals Classic real estate agent Mark van Lent, who is marketing Parkgate, said that it was unusual to find 1ha lots in the upmarket area because of rural zoning restraints. "It's what many who are looking for land in the country really want," he said, pointing out that buyers could create "a park within a park" - rural lifestyle living without the responsibility of more common 2ha or 4ha lots.
Van Lent said the owners' overall vision was for a small, park-like rural community offering privacy and security. An electronic gated entrance gives entry to the private road servicing each of the lots. Building on some of the sections is expected to start in a few months.
The Bradleys are a private English couple who emigrated to New Zealand in 1993. They moved into their grand 2323sq m, Mediterranean-style house on park-like grounds - reportedly complete with life-sized statues of giraffes and at least one elephant - just a few weeks ago. Their home, designed by Parnell architect Greg Noble, has taken more than a year to build. It also cost the life of a tradesman, who was killed on site in February last year after being struck by a steel boom while two co-workers were trying to dismantle a crane.
Dubbed "the house that Christmas built", the Coatesville mansion, believed to be New Zealand's biggest and most expensive property, is nonetheless expected to be eclipsed in size and possibly in value by two yet-to-be completed private homes.
Businessman Mark Hotchin is building a 2800sq m mansion on Auckland's elite Paritai Drive which, taking into account the $17.5 million he paid for the land, will cost him more than $30 million by the time it is finished.
Meanwhile, work continues on Canadian singer Shania Twain's massive South Island high-country retreat near Wanaka.
Local real estate agents estimate the total value of her investment now stands at about $25 million - for the home and land where she and her record producer husband will only spend six months of the year.
