$5.6m NZ getaway for Carnegie and his aristocratic lady
After five years scouring NZ, Mark Carnegie and his partner have bought a $5.6m retreat.
After five years scouring New Zealand’s countryside for a southern hemisphere bolthole, venture capitalist Mark Carnegie and his UK-based aristocrat partner Lady Katie Percy have finally bought a holiday retreat.
Fresh from the sale of his 3.6 per cent stake in Macquarie Media, Mr Carnegie said the couple had purchased 220 acres (89ha) at Takaka on the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, paying up to $NZ6m ($5.61m) in an off-market deal for the property, which enjoys river and ocean frontages.
A gunsmith and mechanic, Lady Katie Percy is the daughter of Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, and Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, and grew up at Alnwick Castle in the English county of Northumberland, which doubles as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.
The purchase of the lifestyle block, which fronts Golden Bay and Kahurangi National Park to the rear, was in the making for five years, with the couple spotting the site back in 2014.
One year later the couple spent a month helicoptering around New Zealand in search of the perfect Kiwi locale to serve as a holiday holding for their British and Australian families.
“We went from Queenstown in the south up to Lake Taupo in the north four years ago searching for a place,” Mr Carnegie told The Australian on Monday, adding that Lady Percy co-piloted their chartered helicopter.
“This is a workable compromise for us,” Mr Carnegie said, adding that he had paid a deposit, with the sale to settle in December. The previous owner of the site had spent 30 to 40 years restoring the holding with native plants.
Mr Carnegie, a keen fisherman, said the large holding offered several types of fishing, given its prime frontage to Golden Bay and a river that runs through the property.
While there was a fibro shack on the site, the couple are considering a number of different accommodation options in what they say could be a five-year project.
Apart from her passion for restoring motorcycles for Marquass Motorcycles, Lady Percy is also interested in firearm manufacturing. She trained with James Purdey & Sons, the royal gunmakers.
The Takaka property was probably purchased in Mr Carnegie’s name, given the New Zealand government recently banned foreign buyers, except those hailing from Australia and Singapore, amid concerns foreign buyers are behind escalating land prices.
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