The Irelands have been reported elsewhere to have developed the house after spotting the section in 2010. Peter Ireland was reported to be a Dunedin-born accountant who has worked as a finance director and chief operating officer at large corporate law firms in Sydney.
CoreLogic said today the South Island's most expensive residential sale of 2017 was a property on the shores of the picturesque Lake Hayes near Queenstown, which went for $7.1m.
Nick Goodall, CoreLogic's Wellington-based head of research, said while the property at 89 Arrowtown-Lake Hayes Rd fetched this sum, its CV was only $4.4m.
It was bought by Maryanne Owens and Mark Andrew Owens, records showed. Maryanne Owens is the eldest daughter of the late wealthy businessman Hugh Green and the Green family appeared on this year's NBR Rich List with an estimated $550m fortune.
The most expensive Queenstown property sold this year was a $24m deal reported in March for billionaire Graeme Hart to purchase a six-bedroom home at the exclusive Closeburn Station, just over 10km outside Queenstown.
The house was designed by Auckland architect Lawrence Sumich and built by local construction firm Triple Star. Spice was also reported to be the agent involved in that sale but said he could not comment.