$16 million Wānaka house sale to Australian couple sets new local record
By Debbie Jamieson
A new Wānaka property record has been set with the sale of a home for $16 million to an Australian couple.
Built in 2012 and known as Te Kaitaka House, the, four-bedroom, four-bathroom home has won Stevens Lawson Architects several awards and featured on the BBC programme The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes in 2018.
It was bought earlier this year by Sydney-based couple Andrew and Emma Gray.
Andrew Gray is a co-founder of the tech sector investment firm Potentia Capital and a former chairperson of MYOB.
The previous owner was Mark Gray, a cosmetic surgeon and founder of the national Skin Institute chain.
The house sits on Buchanan Rise, Roys Peninsula, part of the “millionare’s row” in west Wānaka, near Glendhu Bay.
It is the same area in which PayPal founder Peter Thiel is fighting to build a lodge, and where another family has just won the right to build an enormous $20m, partly subterranean, 2000m² home.
Colliers Wānaka director Craig Myles said the $16m paid for Te Kaitaka was the highest individual price achieved by a lifestyle property in Wānaka, though some earlier sales might have reached higher values.
There were some premium properties available around Wānaka, including one section he recently sold for $10m and a property he had just listed, a 5.5ha section at John’s Creek, near Hāwea.
“It’s all testament to the sought-after location that Wānaka has become,” he said.
Some buyers were from overseas, but the majority were New Zealanders, he said.
The west Wānaka area was sought after because of the outstanding natural landscape, its proximity to skifields and the lake, and for the privacy of the location.
The Te Kaitaka property was quite unusual with a “floating, origami-style roofline” and its south-facing aspect, he said.
“It looks out into the bay area, which is quite spectacular.”
The property was originally listed with Sotheby’s Realty and was described as stunning.
Building materials including natural cedar wood blended into the surroundings. The roofline directed light into the home via skylights, “all the while creating a spiritual atmosphere with its sculptural form”.
It was priced at $18m at the time.
Little is known about buyers Andrew and Emma Gray, but The Australian Financial Review reported in February that they were selling their Sydney mansion seven months after buying it for NZ$18m.
Prior to that, they sold another Sydney home for NZ$40m in May last year.
Andrew Gray’s LinkedIn page says he has more than 25 years of experience working in the technology private equity investment industry.
He holds a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School and a bachelor of aeronautical engineering with first-classhonours from the University of Sydney.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Would you like a free copy of our February 2025 issue?
Kia ora neighbours. We give away free copies to readers whose recipes are used in our magazine. We're still on the hunt for tomato recipes, so send your family's favourite way to use up your homegrown harvest, to: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. If we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of the mag
On the range
Venetian plaster finishes are on-trend at the moment, so why not recreate this look at home and cover that unsightly rangehood at the same time? Find out how to create your own with Resene Sandtex and these easy step by step instructions.
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