{"id":467403,"date":"2026-06-08T21:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/467403\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T21:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T21:33:16","slug":"why-whangareis-famous-castle-on-a-hill-is-for-sale-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/467403\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Whang\u0101rei\u2019s famous \u2018castle on a hill\u2019 is for sale again"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Northland\u2019s \u201ccastle on a hill\u201d is relisted for over $3m, after selling for $2.5m.<\/p>\n

– The four-bedroom chateau in Whang\u0101rei proved too large for the Auckland buyer.<\/p>\n

– Built by Stuart and Nanette Cains, the home features imported materials and handcrafted details.<\/p>\n

Northland\u2019s famous \u201ccastle on a hill\u201d has been relisted for sale<\/a> \u2013 15 months after an emotional Auckland buyer picked it up for $2.5 million.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Sotheby\u2019s International Realty agent Sandy McKenzie told OneRoof that her client loved the four-bedroom chateau at 99 Parakiore Road, in Ngararatunua, Whang\u0101rei<\/a>, but had found it too big to handle.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just fell in love with the whole thing. The romance of it. It ticked all her boxes. But the realities are different,\u201d McKenzie said. <\/p>\n

McKenzie is inviting buyer interest over $3m for the three-storey trophy home, which has sweeping views of Whang\u0101rei and sits on a 3.49ha lifestyle block. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 776sqm home has multiple lounges, a library, workshop, a sauna and spa room. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The house was snapped up last year for $2.5m. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The property sits on a 3.46ha lifestyle block. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no comparable sales,\u201d McKenzie said when asked about the $500,000 leap in price. \u201cIt has an insurance valuation of $8m. This [$3m] is where [the vendor] wanted to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie\u2019s listing describes 99 Parakiore Road as an estate of rare distinction. \u201cWhang\u0101rei\u2019s most talked-about residence – and every bit as extraordinary as its reputation suggests,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment you pass through the wrought iron security gates and ascend the sweeping asphalt drive framed by Paradise Stone retaining walls, it is clear this is a property unlike any other.\u201d <\/p>\n

The chateau had been the decades-long labour of love for retired master builder Stuart Cains and his wife, Nanette.<\/p>\n

Nanette told OneRoof in 2025<\/a> that they had been bowled over by some of the properties they had seen while travelling around Europe and in Atlanta in the late 1990s, and decided to build something similar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never meant to be a castle, but unfortunately, people call it that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discover more:<\/p>\n

– Family ‘moves heaven and earth’ to buy ‘Aspen on steroids’ mansion<\/a><\/p>\n

– 90s TV star’s rundown South Auckland home sells for $855,000<\/a><\/p>\n

– Herne Bay waterfront home bought for $3.9m now seeking $20m-plus<\/a><\/p>\n

The couple were both working full-time when they started the project, so everything was done after work and during time off.<\/p>\n

They completed the first stage of the build in 2000, producing a two-bedroom home, with a bathroom, laundry, two toilets and a kitchenette. Over the next two decades, they added two more bedrooms, a library, a workshop, multiple lounges, a state-of-the-art kitchen, spa, and sauna room.<\/p>\n

Nanette said they spent hours looking for the right fixtures and fittings to complement the home. \u201cWe kind of had a style, and I guess we have carried it through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette said they spent numerous weekends driving to Auckland to pick up various materials, including an ornate fireplace.<\/p>\n

They also rescued several leadlight windows that the Quest Hotel in Brisbane had discarded, flying them back from Australia to use as the windows in their upstairs hallway and library.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were beautiful. We couldn\u2019t let that go. So we bought that back, and that\u2019s all in the house now,\u201d Nanette told OneRoof.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The original owners sourced the marble on the staircase from Spain. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Game of chess? The house has a distinct European flavour. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

They also imported marble for the staircase and around the fireplace from Spain. \u201cWe had so much fun doing this over the years. We used to go away and bring stuff back and get ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stuart spent countless hours in his workshop, crafting the intricate staircases, banisters, and architraves from Australian Jarrah wood.<\/p>\n

The couple sold the property to an Auckland buyer, who told OneRoof that the house meant a lot to her. <\/p>\n

She said she had come up from Auckland to look at the home on impulse. “I stopped on the hill and looked over the city, and I thought, \u2018Wow, I’m never going to see anything like this again.’ It was so beautiful. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you drive up the road, you come round a corner and poof, it’s there in front of you, this magnificent palace. Everybody knows it, it’s amazing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just thought, whoa. I was standing there, dumbstruck because this entrance is just superb. The gates are like Buckingham Palace gates. I looked up at these little balconies that look over the entrance, and I immediately thought, \u2018I would love to hear opera voices singing\u2019. The acoustics are fabulous. It sang to my European soul.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: “I came from London and then never really got out of Auckland, and I was thinking, oh dear, can I really live in the country? But I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

– 99 Parakiore Road, Whang\u0101rei, Northland, is for sale, enquiries over $3m<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Northland\u2019s \u201ccastle on a hill\u201d is relisted for over $3m, after selling for $2.5m. – The four-bedroom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1258,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-467403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}