– Debbie and Dennis Simpson have listed their renovated St Marys Bay villa, initially bought for over $5m.
– The transformation included a $500,000 marble and steel spiral staircase and a travertine-floored garage.
– The property, marketed by Ray White, is expected to attract buyers with budgets over $6.5m.
An Auckland media couple have listed the multimillion-dollar St Marys Bay villa they share with their vintage Porsche.
Debbie and Dennis Simpson, who founded the award-winning ad agency Magnum, teamed up with their friends, architect Jack McKinney and builder Cameron Ireland, to transform the tired three-bedroom house they bought in 2020 for more than $5 million.
Their efforts resulted in a striking two-bedroom city pad that features a marble and steel spiral staircase that cost close to half a million dollars, a garage showroom, a library, and a bedroom suite that takes up the entire top floor.
The three-storey villa is a Tardis full of surprise and delight, owners Dennis and Debbie Simpson told OneRoof. Photo / Supplied
The show-stopping garage floor, made of herringbone travertine, was to showcase Debbie’s vintage 1963 Porsche 356. Photo / Supplied
The Simpsons told OneRoof that Ireland had come to them with a proposal. He had just bought 16 Dunedin Street to turn it into something special, and thought the couple would want to buy the end product.
But the Simpsons didn’t want to wait around for the keys. They had definite ideas of their own, and the renovation became a joint project.
“We were a bit of a pain in the butt, but we’re still friends,” Dennis said.
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He estimated they spent another “seven figures” on the build, which took over 18 months. “We created a bit of a Tardis – a villa that matches the rest of the street but when you walk through the door, you have surprise and delight.”
The Simpsons are no strangers to good buildings. Their Waiheke house won the NZ Institute of Architects top award for Auckland in 2019.
“We work in a creative industry, so architecture is just another extension of that,” he said. The couple’s clients include Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari, McLaren, and Emirates Team New Zealand.
Even the garden gets travertine and marble finishes. Photo / Supplied
The creative couple were hands-on to redesign the floor plan, replacing a third bedroom with a book-lined library. Photo / Supplied
The couple supervised every detail of the build, rearranging McKinney’s floor plan from three bedrooms to two and carving out a back terrace.
The Simpsons put in what might be the city’s only travertine-floored garage to display their car collection (Dennis told OneRoof that Debbie’s rare 1963 Porsche 356 is the centrepiece of the 100sqm garage).
“When the garage door is open, I’ll always have somebody walk past and just stand there in awe,” he said.
Showing off the precious car also prompted the couple’s biggest intervention to McKinney’s original plan – replacing a modest open spiral stair with a massive steel and marble spiral sculpture that threads through all three floors of the property.
The staircase was designed so the couple can sit at their breakfast table and look down onto the badge of Debbie’s Porsche. “That was my ultimate goal,” Dennis said. “You can admire that lovely little 356.”
Other highlights include six Turkish marble wall panels running through the spine of the house that weigh 250kg each and indoor and outdoor kitchens with Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances (the barbecue has a bar fridge).
He said they were selling up to find a four-bedroom place, big enough to accommodate their grandkids when they stay over. “You hear about people our age who are empty nesters and downsizing, and we are the other way around. It is pretty special when you have got that next generation.”
Ray White agent Patrick McCarthy, who is marketing the property with Mike Simpson, said he was expecting buyers with budgets of more than $6.5m to take interest.
“Homes of this calibre rarely reach the open market. Crafted as a personal legacy, they are usually held like treasured pieces of art,” he said.
“Given the time, energy, and cost involved in creating something of this standard today, I imagine buyers will recognise the opportunity.”
– 16 Dunedin Street, St Marys Bay, Auckland, is for sale, deadline closing August 27