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A  central-city penthouse apartment packed to the rafters with fine artworks and highly collectible antique furnishings procured from around the world over a century is up for sale.

Owned by a well-known businessman, the two-level, New York-style top-floor 403sq m apartment at 401/70 Tennyson St is now being marketed for sale by negotiation.

Throughout the three-bedroom and three-bathroom penthouse apartment are dozens of oil paintings, statues, ornaments, floor rugs, crystal chandeliers, curios and furniture.

Though some of the handcrafted wood furnishings date back to the 1700s, some of the carefully chosen artworks also showcase modernist paintings contrasting with 19th-century portraits and landscape works.

New Zealand Sotheby’s international realty Napier salespeople Damian Sweetapple and Nicky Berry said the penthouse sat atop a former commercial office block that was completely reformatted and modernised in 2020-21.

Sweetapple said people were coming for viewings by appointment with the intention to buy, but were spending up to an hour fascinated by the catalogue of artworks and antiquities on show.

“It really is like walking around a European art gallery or museum, there’s nothing else that we know of like this in ,” he said.

Though the apartment was primarily being marketed for sale, there could be an opportunity for interested buyers to negotiate the inclusion of select artworks and antiquities displayed within the property.

The living space has unobscured views over Napier’s central business district, out to Hawke’s Bay tourist attraction , the Pacific Ocean and , and had been rented out as a high-end Airbnb.

Sweetapple said the open-plan living apartment was “let as one of the most exclusive short-term accommodation sites in ”.

The apartment has been described as a European art gallery or museum.

Refurbishment of the former office space added tinted double glazing, soundproofing and air conditioning installed in the apartment.

The apartment and its art and furniture collection are protected by high-tech security and fire sprinkler systems.

Also included are two allocated car parking spaces in the building’s secure parking area and access is via a residents-only elevator, with an internal staircase connecting the apartment’s dual floors.

The two-level, New York-style apartment looks out over the Napier CBD and ocean.

A pair of eye-catching Caribbean gilded statue lights flank the apartment’s elevator access, which leads into a grand reception lobby and spreads out to an open-plan lounge separating two antique-packed dining rooms.

Adding to its appeal is a large, European-style kitchen, a stainless-steel preparation bench and plenty of storage.

The apartment’s upper level expands on to the building’s rooftop where an expansive balcony provides easterly views over .

“The fit-out has been undertaken to an incredibly high standard – with extensive use of marble tiles throughout the kitchen, walk-in butler’s pantry, and bathrooms, while richly toned French oak floorboards have been laid down in the communal areas and two of the bedrooms,” Sweetapple said.