Quietly Extraordinary

Wakarara Country Estate stops visitors in their tracks. Sitting on a 24-hectare landholding, the 2,286sq m home is quite possibly New Zealand's largest single-storey residence. Designed by Paris Magdalinos, the home features eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Extraordinary in scale, yet somehow it never forgets to feel like home.

Built more than two decades ago, the estate was conceived by its globe-travelling owners as a place to host the world, and a place to retreat from it.

The rare trick this estate pulls off, again and again, is making grandeur feel personal – nowhere more so than the formal entertaining wing, which unfolds across multiple beautiful spaces generous enough for a wedding reception, yet intimate enough for relaxed family dinners.

Throughout, restraint gives way to opulence: French oak floors, soaring ceilings, marble bathrooms. The master suite is the kind of retreat you linger in on slow weekends. The recreation wing tips the balance the other way – a tropical pool atrium, gym, sauna, snooker room, and media room, built to easily entertain a house full of people.

A separate two-bedroom cottage sits apart from the main residence, ideal for guests, extended family, or live-in staff.

Outside, manicured gardens, sweeping lawns and a sunken BBQ terrace that seats 20 are made for long summer evenings. Beyond, elevated pastoral views capture the essence of Hawke's Bay: rolling hills, native bush, and endless sky.

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