KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's richest man has hired dozens of workmen to gut his clifftop mansion and add some fun features, in a million-dollar-plus renovation.
Graeme Hart's sprawling home in Auckland's Glendowie is undergoing major renovations, including the demolition of vast sections of the ground floor.
When the work is
complete, guests will have a choice of playing in the games room, having a drink at a new bar, or enjoying a Japanese meal cooked in front of them at the teppan-yaki table.
About 25 men are working on the project, which started in early December. Asked how many rooms were being renovated, one builder laughed and said "all of them". Another said the work involved "extra rooms and re-doing the gib and walls".
Hammering and sawing could be heard from the street, and utes waited with their motors running for several minutes before turning into the tree-lined drive through the electric gates.
Hart and wife Robyn bought the property in 1993 for $930,000.
According to Quotable Value, it was worth $20 million at the last review in 2005. Auckland City Council rates are $44,000.
The estate contains the main house, guest quarters, summer house, sleepout, pool, tennis court and spa.
The council's resource consent approves internal renovations, removal of downstairs walls and construction of a new laundry and a canopy over the courtyard.
Downstairs, as well as the games room, bar and teppan-yaki table, the work will see the creation of a powder room and scullery. Upstairs, Hart's office will be replaced with two new rooms, a spare bedroom for his grandchildren and a reading room.
One neighbour said the work was a nuisance. She said that builders' cars filled the street every day, making cyclists and joggers harder to see.
She said neighbours hadn't been told about the work.
"I think they have a policy of not talking to the peasants."
Last year, Hart was the highest-placed New Zealander in Forbes magazine's list of the top 40 richest Australasians.
He was third overall with an estimated individual wealth of $4 billion, outranked only by James Packer, son of late media magnate Kerry, and Frank Lowy, a deli owner turned Westfield mall midas.
Hart left Mt Roskill Grammar aged 16 without any qualifications and worked as a towtruck driver. He completed an MBA at Otago University in 1987 while running Rank Group.
Last December he added to his international packaging empire with the purchase of American aluminium giant Alcoa's packaging business.
The acquisition gives him a strong presence in North America.
As well as the Glendowie estate, Hart also owns a 58m yacht called Ulysses, which is worth about $124 million.
Ulysses has seven staterooms to accommodate 14 guests, plus nine crew cabins.
A spokesman for Hart declined a Herald on Sunday request to discuss the renovations.
