Net mogul’s party mansion for sale
The sprawling north Auckland home of a late tech multimillionaire, complete with private airstrip and nightclub, has gone on the market.
The 363-hectare property near Wellsford was home to internet mogul Tony Lentino before his death last year.
Lentino was the founder of web registration company Only Domains and also founded the V8 supercar syndicate Super Black Racing.
He rose to greater prominence after he came to the assistance of Kim Dotcom following Dotcom’s arrest in 2012, becoming an investor in Dotcom’s new venture, Mega.
Lentino’s lifestyle estate, Springhill Farm, is now for sale by tender through Bayleys Real Estate.
It includes an 870-metre airstrip, capable of landing small propellerdriven commercial aircraft and hosting drag races.
One of two hangars has been converted into the ‘‘Springhill disco’’ with a sound and lighting rig, stage, bar and lounge. It was capable of hosting 200 partygoers.
The other hangar has room for three aircraft.
Other buildings on the site, which was run as a sheep farm, include a two-bedroom cottage, four-stand woolshed and stockholding pens.
Blogger Cameron Slater, a close friend of Lentino’s, said Springhill was a ‘‘magnificent’’ property.
He remembered duck shooting at the property – the Hoteo River runs through it – and doing burnouts on the airstrip.
Lentino’s friend and former Super Black driver Andre Heimgartner had many fond memories of concerts there.
Lentino’s wife Emily, an accomplished singer, often performed in the hangar.
Former colleague Greg Hahn said Lentino was a generous host, and the spacious property held ‘‘a lot of really, really great memories’’ of spontaneous fun gatherings.
‘‘People would come and visit by plane, by helicopter, by car.’’
Bayleys spokesman John Greenwood said the property was believed to be the only one of its type in the country.
Lentino was ‘‘a down to earth Kiwi sort of bloke’’ and the property reflected that, he said.
‘‘Many of Tony’s good friends remember him as a lad. He loved fast cars, aeroplanes, and having a beer or two and a dance with his friends in the Springhill disco.
‘‘It was a dream of Tony’s to create a very laid-back and peaceful enclave of like-minded people who may have enjoyed his love for not only nature and the countryside, but also flying and partying.’’