Two landmark properties have sold for a total of just under $9 million, providing evidence that the luxury market is still flourishing.
The palatial Malulani, at Taupo's Acacia Bay, fetched more than $5 million, and a large house and garden at 7 Pere St, in Remuera, sold for$3.7 million.
Malulani, at 13 Sylvia Place, formerly owned by Lesley Shelly, was marketed by Bayleys as "the ultimate lake-front sanctuary".
The house was designed by American architect Charles R. Sutton. Also on the 6000sq m (1 1/2 acres or 0.5ha) landscaped property are a detached one-bedroom staff quarters, a heated swimming pool, a floodlit tennis court overlooking the lake and a nine-hole golf putting green.
The 750sq m schist stone and cedar homestead - with a Quotable Value rating value estimate of $3 million - is almost eight times larger than the average house.
It has four bedroom suites, a large separate office, designer lime-washed oak kitchen, self-contained casual entertaining areas, spa and sauna room, and breathtaking lake and garden views.
Neil Prentice, of Bayleys, said an Auckland business couple had bought Malulani and intended to operate it as a luxury lodge. The deal went unconditional this month and is due to settle soon.
The Remuera house, previously owned by Majorie Bond and Gillian Willoughby, marketed as "a grandstand position", sold last month for more than its Quotable Value estimate of $3.4 million.
Bayleys described it as: "an outstanding estate, positioned on 3210sq m of land with a 460sq m residence, pool, pool house, summer house, tennis court and large garaging facilities".
The house, built in the 1920s, has five bedrooms, a study, three bathrooms, formal and informal living areas, sunroom and billiard room.
The property shares a boundary on two sides with the Mt Hobson Reserve. The views from the house are said to be among Auckland's best. stretches to the Waitakeres and Coromandel and includes the city and harbour.
