Kiwi superstar director Taika Waititi has splashed out on a $10.5 million waterfront pad in Point Chevalier.
Murmurings around the smart, former working-class suburb have circled for weeks that New Zealand’s most famous entertainment export had invested in an Auckland base in their backyard.
Industry sources tell the Herald that Waititi had been searching for a high-end property in the city but he wasn’t interested in typical blue chip suburbs such as Remuera or Herne Bay.
It is understood Waititi splashed out on his luxury home in July and the sale set a price record for the suburb.
The three-story 336 sq m four-bedroom, four-bathroom clifftop home sits on a 620sq m section and has expansive decks with views over the Waitematā to Te Atatū Peninsula and Hobsonville Point.
The home was built in the 1990s and extensively renovated seven years ago. The refurbishment included a pool, new kitchen and bathrooms and a self-contained studio over the garage, which guards the front of the property.
Beneath the pool deck is an expansive lawn wrapped in mature pōhutukawa trees and the private abode has riparian rights and a path to the beach.
Ray White agent Derek von Sturmer, who brokered the sale, would not confirm the purchaser and Waititi’s agent Gail Cowen would not comment.
It is believed it is the first Auckland home the Oscar-winning 48-year-old Wellington-born director has purchased.
The Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit director has been working more in Auckland.
His new pad is not too far from where he filmed the second season of his HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death at Kumeu Film Studios.
Waititi, who married UK popstar Rita Ora in Los Angeles in August last year, has a jet-set lifestyle with the pair travelling constantly between Australia, the US, the UK and Europe.
With close proximity to water fun at the beach, Coyle Park and the Auckland Zoo, it is understood the city base will be the perfect home to spend time with daughters Te Hinekahu and Matewa Kiritapu, who he had with former wife and fellow filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley.
In 2021 Waititi and Winstanley listed their mid-century Los Angeles home for US$2.75m.
Ora, 32, has a charming Victorian brick home in North London’s Primrose Hill neighbourhood.
Last October she gave fans a tour of her £7.5m, Grade II-listed home, showing the stylish interiors in a video for Architectural Digest.
Last month Waititi premiered his movie Next Goal Wins at the Toronto Film Festival. He followed that up with a star turn modelling on the runway for luxury French luxury fashion house Hermes at New York Fashion Week.
Waititi has recently been in Paris supporting the All Blacks during the Rugby World Cup. Before the cup he filmed a six-part short-format series Tour de Rugby, celebrating French culture and passion for rugby for the new NZR+ streaming platform.
Earlier this month Tourism New Zealand unveiled its collaboration with Waititi with the Tourism NZ campaign There’s No Place Like it on Earth.
Last week, Waititi and Ora attended Madonna’s The Celebration Tour at O2 Arena in London.
-NZME