But they have bought yet another clifftop mansion - paying $5.15 million last year for a four-bedroom, 435sq m Sunnyhills home in Fisher Parade - and are now selling the sprawling half-completed Bleakhouse Rd property, which is being billed as "unquestionably one of New Zealand's prime residential sites".
"The [Fisher Parade] house we've bought is pretty spectacular and we're just loving living here," Mr Peterson told the Herald.
"We just decided after 12 months that we've changed our minds."
Gone is the former five-bedroom, 280sq m brick and tile house with large pool the couple paid $4 million for in November and which was still standing late last year.
In its place is a massive concrete building footprint and plans for a luxury four-bedroom home designed by award-winning architect Julian Guthrie.
The 448sq m two-level house will span the entire site and feature a library/office, home theatre complex, two garages, extensive decking and lawns.
Auckland Council approved consent for earthworks and the proposed dwelling in November and a listing on realestate.co.nz shows dramatic images of the completed foundations precariously perched on the near-vertical 50m-high cliff edge.
Mr Peterson, who is 59 and a former Warehouse executive director, said the couple had spent more than $1 million preparing the Bleakhouse Rd site, which included extensive retaining walls to ensure the house did not topple down the cliff.
The planned home featured its own fire pit, floor-to-ceiling glass, with twin uninhibited clifftop views, he said.
"So it's got, if you like, no neighbours. It's a pretty amazing site."
He said the new owners could build the planned mansion or construct their own unique vision, but he hoped they incorporated his beloved viewing platform. "It was going to be pretty cool."
The Petersons used to own 243 Bleakhouse Rd, which they bought for $3.6 million in 1995. But a wealthy Chinese buyer reportedly took a fancy to the property last year and made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
The five-bedroom luxury property, which sits on massive grounds and features a tennis court, swimming pool and putting green, is now owned by Lijun Sun. Its $17.4 million price tag set a residential property sale record for 2014, according to CoreLogic.
Asked if he missed the property, Mr Peterson said: "It was really nice, but it's 10,000sq m of land. It's a massive house. We've only got one child still at home and you're rattling around there. It was just time to downsize."
The couple's half-completed property is being marketed by Bayleys agent Angela Rudling.
