The fate of Wellington's infamous castle-like mansion, formerly known as Woofington's, is still unknown after the deadline to sell the property passed yesterday.
OneRoof reported a mortgagee auction for the property at 430 Hawkins Hill Rd, Brooklyn on Friday last week attracted zero bids.
It was put back on the open market with the mortgagee seeking offers by 4pm on Monday, July 20. The TradeMe listing read: "To be sold by deadline sale (by 20 Jul)."
That deadline has since passed, and a spokesperson for the castle's owner told 1News the property was not yet sold.
One of the realtors, Harcourts' Paul Yianakis, said the property was still on the market. He said the mortgagee was "considering offers" but he could not comment further.
Holly Fordham, managing director of Harcourts Wellington Central, said she could give 1News "no news at this end for the time being".
The owner's spokesperson would not comment on what will happen next.
The property has a colourful history, previously hosting a luxury doggy daycare business – Woofington's.
The castle was raided by police in 2019, who found improvised explosive devices. It was featured in a TVNZ documentary – What the Hell Happened at Woofington’s? by journalist and director Baz Macdonald.
On TradeMe the property was listed as having a capital value of $3.68 million and an estimated value of between $3.01 million and $3.38 million.
The property previously changed hands in October 2025 for $3.2 million, before being put back on the market in June.
In late June, police went to the property after a woman died, having suffered an overdose from drinking what was believed to be GHB, also known as fantasy or liquid ecstasy.
According to OneRoof in June, the property's owner, Travis McKay, said the castle was "not actually for sale".
“We signed up with a second-tier or third-tier bloody lender, and they’ve jumped the procedure by a whole heap of things. My lawyers are on to it,” he said.
McKay said he had tried to stop the sale, listing it with a different company to put it under contract and "slow things down".
"That didn’t work either, so my lawyers are sorting it out,” he said.
Asked by 1News for an update on this process, McKay's spokesperson declined to comment.
The property had also been listed on Airbnb as Brooklyn Castle. On its website, it was called the Wellington Castle Estate, with stays available for between $945 and $1495, depending on time and date.
The castle was built by businessman Brian Willman in the late 1990s – originally to be used as a conference centre. It later became the luxury dog daycare business Woofington’s, with pampered pooches collected in a company Porsche.
The castle was raided in 2019 after then-manager Robert Bromley told police there was something disturbing in a safe inside the castle walls. The find was described by police as two improvised explosive devices.
Bromley was charged with possessing an improvised explosive device and later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possessing black powder in a pyrotechnic device.
In the recent documentary, former employees described a harrowing experience involving drug use and an armed robbery at the castle, allegedly relating to a drug debt.
One woman described Woofington’s as being like a "mental asylum".
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