The Christchurch house that once belonged to renowned Kiwi inventor John Britten has sold to a local family for an undisclosed price.
Britten Stables was lovingly restored by Britten's daughter Isabelle Weston and her husband Tim after the property was damaged in the Christchurch earthquake.
The couple's efforts to bring the Victorian stables back to life and turn it into a luxury accommodation business featured in an episode of Grand Designs NZ in 2018.
The listing agent, Harcourts' Alison Aitken, said that a Christchurch family had purchased the property and intended to turn it back into a family home.
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She would not disclose the sale price but said it exceeded the 2019 RV of $3.84m.
“The buyers are a local family who love the house. This is going to be a family home for them. They are a lovely family," she said.
“We had five offers. They were all from Christchurch buyers except one who was from the North Island, but not Auckland."
Aitken said the buyers who had missed out "were disappointed". "People say you've got all these buyers that missed out and they will buy something else. Well, I don't have any more properties [like Britten Stables]. It was a total one off. Not like any other character home."
She added: “It was always going to be one of the highest sales [in that corner of Fendalton] because it is unique. People buy on emotion. No one can replicate that home. The history that has gone with it."
Britten Stables was being run as an accommodation business. Photo / Supplied
Earlier this year, another Grand Designs home, on Waiheke Island, sold for $3.55m, and a Mangawhai bach that featured on the show in 2018 sold for $4m at auction last year.
One of the houses that appeared in the 2017 season of the show, a three-bedroom home on Slipper Island, in the Coromandel, was put on the market in June but was withdrawn in September.
Another Grand Designs home, on Waiheke Island, sold in August for $3.55m. Photo / Supplied
Isabelle Weston told the New Zealand Herald last month that the decision to sell the property on Matai Street West, in Fendalton, was a "difficult and emotional" one.
She said that since the restoration and opening of the accommodation business, the couple's lives had become incredibly busy. They wanted to spend more time with their young children Adaline, 6, and Rafaella, 1, and needed a "dramatic change of lifestyle" to do so.
"It's a roller coaster of emotions. I feel really, really sad but also relieved with the decision I've made to prioritise the kids," she told the Herald.
"It sits uneasily with you as a mother when you really want to give them more when you can't."
The Weston family said the decision to sell the Stables was a hard one. Photo / Supplied
She said the decision to sell was influenced by her husband's upcoming birthday when he will turn 43. Her father John passed away at age 45.
"Life can be really short. We hope ours aren't and we certainly don't want to miss out on the kids' foundational years but that is what's happening because we are so busy."
The property was bought by motorcycle designer John Britten in the late 1970s. He died in 1995, and his house was left un-inhabitable after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Isabelle Weston shows Grand Designs NZ host Chris Moller around the stables. Photo / TV3
The Westons chronicled the long restoration in the TV show Grand Designs NZ. Their build was ambitious, aiming not only to bring the home back to life but to also update it, with a new garage that doubles as a studio apartment.
The episode showed the thwarted by the discovery of asbestos, miscommunications and setbacks, with their initial $2m budget ballooning as complications continued.
"It looks absolutely stunning," said host Chris Moller. "I can see Tim and Isabelle's bold, modern influence here. The sitting room ... truly embodies John's wonderfully unconventional style."
The house featured many nods to Britten's legacy, including one of his beloved motorbikes, which lives in the sitting room.
At the start of the build, Isabelle's sister Jessica commented on how the home was the beating heart of Britten's memory. "It's a really full-on experience," she says in the Grand Designs episode. "For me, coming in here, it's so many emotions, because it's all the memories that it used to be and all of the hopes of what it can be. It's like a flood gate of memories."
