The sprawling six-bedroom home at 66 Mahoenui Valley Road, in Coatesville, has been pitched as the "ultimate luxury country lodge" and comes with a tennis court, wellness centre, and a hidden panic room.

The property had been given a celebrity-grade makeover by the previous owners, reality star Michelle Blanchard and her husband David, and even featured in Blanchard's show.

The Blanchards sold the Coatesville mansion for $8.8m in 2020. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

The dramatic under-lit onyx bar, the luxurious pool and porch swing, and the large dining and living rooms made appearances in several episodes of the Real Housewives of Auckland, which first aired in 2016.

However, it turns out that the current owners, Phil and Michelle Richards, were unaware of the mansion's celebrity pedigree.

The couple had been living on Australia's Gold Coast and were looking for a new home back in New Zealand. “The agent told us the home was on the Real Housewives of Auckland, so we watched the show,” Phil told OneRoof.

“It’s a world-class home and we knew it would be very popular so we bought it quickly, sight unseen to secure it. We were lucky to get it, there’s nothing in Coatesville like this,” he said.

“It was pretty risky, but we just loved the hero image with the reflection of the pool. I just fell in love with it,” Phil said.

The couple bought the mansion off the Blanchards for $8.8m and then set about making it their new home.

When they set foot on the property for the first time, they realised just how much work was ahead of them to bring the 2.66ha of grounds up to the same standard as the house.

“When we arrived at the property, we got off the plane at midnight and got here about 1am, and slept on a mattress on the floor,” Phil said.

“We woke up and discovered the property for the first time. We didn’t know the layout of the land around, it’s much bigger than we thought."

The new owners were drawn to the luxurious renovation which includes a travertine-marble lobby and wine room. Photo / Supplied

The marble kitchen is one of two. The house includes a wellness centre, media and games rooms and a panic room. Photo / Supplied

Michelle added: “We spent nearly $1m and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears getting the outside up to the same standard. So now we’ve got complete wow on the outside as well as the inside,”

Phil takes credit for the cricket-green quality of the lawns (his special touch: mown stripes) and the tennis court has had heavy use for big family competitions. “We put a lot of love in.”

And while they loved the extravagant use of stone and brass through the house, the Richards remodelled the master bedroom to include a giant walk-in wardrobe from top Italian brand Poliform, and recarpeted and re-curtained some of the rooms.

The Blanchards had bought the property for just $2.05m in 2014 before spending millions of dollars on their luxurious refurbishment that trebled the size of the property, added a pool and pool house, a spectacular lobby of travertine marble and brass, a wine room, two new kitchens, a media room, music room, and games room.

The current owners spent a lot of money on the grounds. Photo / Supplied

There are four fireplaces, a sauna, gym, a spa in the wellness centre and extensive garaging.

The Blanchards had put the house on the market in 2016, and again in 2017, with a price indication of $12m. At the time, they told the Herald, they planned to get a city apartment and travel more after David had sold his family business. It didn’t sell then, so they re-listed in March 2020, just as Covid lockdowns began.

The Richards are selling the Coatesville mansion to return to the Gold Coast, where their children now live.

“Our son just came home from university and he said, ‘It’s really like a resort here’,” Phil said.

More Australians might be the next buyers too.

Listing Natalie Newton, from New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty, said there had been a lot of interest in the mansion from across the Tasman, with buyers flying in to take a look.

She said she expected the property would sell for more than its $10.85m CV.

- OneRoof