An asbestos-ridden dump painstakingly transformed by two friends into a stunning villa has sold for an undisclosed sum.
The unconditional agreement on the renovated villa on Francis Street, in Grey Lynn, Auckland, is subject to a confidentiality clause at the buyer’s request.
Last week, a larger four-bedroom, one-bathroom villa on Sherwood Avenue, in Grey Lynn, sold at a Bayleys auction for $3.575m, while another renovated home on Harcourt Street was taken off the market after failing to sell earlier this year.
The Francis Street villa was listed for sale with Bayleys Ponsonby agent Edward Pack and sold on August 19 following a tender process.
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The run-down villa that Natalie van Peer and Katie Salter bought for $60,000. Photo / Supplied
The lap pool at the back of the house was a last-minute addition. Photo / Supplied
The vendor received multiple offers on the property, which has a 2021 CV of $2.65m.
The masterminds behind the mammoth renovation project on the Francis Street villa, Natalie van Peer and Katie Salter, of home staging company Ash Road, said the say they are “really happy” with the price considering the current market.
Salter said feedback from would-be buyers was that while it looked like a traditional villa from the outside due to the heritage overlay, they loved the fact that it had a unique layout and it didn’t have the standard bungalow or villa format where all the bedrooms were off the side and the living was at the back of the house.
“It had quite a different layout and it was quite dramatic. You walked in and you went ‘wow’ because you could see right down to the end of the house, these big cathedral ceilings – just a whole lot of sorts of different design points that I think both buyers and even the agent said was really cool to have something different.”
The house on Francis Street has several inviting spaces for entertaining. Photo / Supplied
This four-bedroom villa on Sherwood Avenue, in Grey Lynn, sold for $3.575m. Photo / Supplied
The business partners bought the 100-year-old Helensville villa for $60,000 two years ago and moved it to a vacant site in Grey Lynn. Half-way through the renovation they sold the property to a co-worker, but continued to do the work with him.
The ambitious project took longer than expected due to a range of unexpected events including Covid lockdowns and a surprise discovery of asbestos in the ceiling, left over from a previous renovation.
The pair worked with Matter Architects, QBS builders and other contractors to transform it into a high-end home suitable for families and professional couples.
Special touches included installing intelligent lighting, underfloor heating and a built-in sound system into the kitchen and dining room. A lap pool was also added as a last-minute addition.
The Grey Lynn locals are now eyeing up their next renovation project to carry out and sell alongside their central Auckland home staging business.
They are also in the middle of renovating Salter’s own house, which they said was another “big job”.
“We really like making things look beautiful, we like sort of playing with layout and thinking about kitchen and bathroom and fit-out and all of those bits and pieces so it would be awesome to do something with less build and more cosmetic because that’s actually where we probably are a bit more comfortable,” van Peer added.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Grey Lynn
- Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Natalie van Peer and Katie Salter were the vendors of the Francis Street villa. The pair worked on the renovation.
