An old Auckland villa that was once home to student radio station bFM is on the market for sale for the first time in almost 30 years.
The owners, Yvonne and Alan Gillespie, bought the run-down house on Brighton Road, in Parnell, in the early 1990s and transporte to a 5700sqm lifestyle section 50km south at 50 Moumoukai Hill Road, in Clevedon.
Yvonne can still remember watching on as the roof was removed and the house was cut in half for loading onto two trucks. The house she had recalled as being quite small, suddenly looked large after it was dragged out in several pieces.
The couple have spent the last three decades restoring the property, which had been divided into two student flats with radio station bFM operating in the basement. It is now a modern family home overlooking farmland and forestry.
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Yvonne said she had grown up living in villas and they had tried to keep it true to form as much as they could, slowly doing it up over the years when they had the money.
“It was a big job. I think building a new house would have been slightly easier, but not as much fun,” she said.
50 Moumoukai Hill Road is to be auctioned at the end of the month. Photo / Supplied
The villa before Yvonne and Alan Gillespie shifted it to Clevedon. Photo / Supplied
But with Yvonne struggling with arthritis, it was now time to pass their beloved home onto someone else.
She said it would be a great family home and her grandchildren loved playing in the trees at the back of the house. “It’s great fun up here and you are safe,” she said.
“We just love it. We are very attached to it...There’s a big attachment there so that will have to wrenched away as well.”
Perched on the side of a hill, the three-bedroom two-bathroom villa has a modern kitchen with marble bench and offers an open plan living space.
The house, which has an RV of $1.2m, also has a large four-car garage, a separate trailer garage and sheds for the garden equipment.
The house has been completely transformed. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is modern and stylish. Photo / Supplied
Ray White Papakura agent Anthony Russell, who is marketing the property, said the home has been the beneficiary of a love affair the couple have had with the house and that shows in everything that had been done to it.
Russell said all the upgrades had been done in keeping with the style of the property and fitted perfectly with the personality of the home.
“It’s not a modern box, this is a beautifully restored classic villa which has a got a new life about it. It’s the kind of place you fall in love with.”
The property was suited to anyone who loved a character home or was looking for an entry-level lifestyle block, he said.
“You’ve got the privacy, you’ve got the quiet, you’ve got the wonderful views. Someone who wants to get out of the mad rush of everyday Auckland, but still be able to get into town if they have to.”
50 Moumoukai Hill Road, in Clevedon, is to be sold at auction on June 30.
