Sir Graham Henry sells St Heliers mansion

Sir Graham and wife Raewyn say they are very happy with the sale. Photo / Doug Sherring

Sir Graham Henry and wife Raewyn have sold their waterfront Auckland mansion in a private sale.

The Cliff Rd home, perched above St Heliers Beach, is understood to have sold for $4.33 million with the private sale saving the Henrys an estimated $66,000 in real estate fees.

The former All Black coach confirmed he and his wife had sold their house and said they were happy with the sale but did not want to comment further.

"We would prefer not to comment, it's a private matter and that is how we would like it to stay," Sir Graham said. Raewyn Henry joked they would be "homeless" but said they hadn't yet moved from their home.

The Henrys built the house six years ago after asking admired Hamilton architect Peter Chibnall to design a home for the bare site they had bought in 2002 for $1.4m.

Chibnall designed a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home. Guest accommodation, with a separate kitchen and its own entrance, is joined to the rest of the house by an elevator to all three levels.

Views from the master bedroom balcony sweep from the city to the west, across to the North Shore and on to Rangitoto, Motutapu and Browns islands.

The sprawling home also boasts a walk-in, temperature-controlled wine room.

The home was for sale in 2008 but was taken off the market when it failed to sell at auction.

The recent Auckland Council revaluation saw the property's value jump to $4.15m from $2.2m in 2008.

A real estate agent said a private sale in the high-end market of the Henrys' home would save ten of thousands.

"With high-price properties the agent would usually negotiate a fee, but it would normally be 1 or 1.5 per cent on the total rather than the standard 4 per cent."