A once-derelict terrace house in one of Parnell’s oldest streets has been turned into a luxury home.
But the transformation took the owners 32 years and three renovations to bring the three-bedroom house at 6 Cracroft Street up to scratch.
The house, with a CV of $2.325 million, is now being auctioned on September 7 by Kellands agent Martin Dobson.
“It was derelict when we bought the home in the 1990s,” one of the owners told OneRoof.
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“The first renovation was really to get it up to scratch and liveable, keeping in mind that we were building a home for our future family. Here was a home, so close to the city, with so much potential for a young couple like us.”
The second, most dramatic, stage of improvements introduced metal structures through the brickwork from the ground floor up and necessitated the family moving out for eight months. The owners said it laid a sound foundation for the rest of the work on the house.
The terrace house in Parnell was a derelict, say the current owners, when it was bought 32 years ago. Photo / Supplied
More recently, designer Rose Schwarz updated and made better use of the home’s space.
The work retained the character in the decorative fireplaces, kauri floors and original brickwork, but introduced a fully integrated and effortlessly sleek kitchen and laundry, a second bathroom, and an exposed brick den, adding light and better flow to the outdoors.
Three bedrooms, including a principal bedroom with city views, a hotel-style Carrara marble bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe, are spread over two levels.
“Rose absolutely nailed it. We wanted to create a luxury lock-and-leave, a place we’d come home to in the city that was a welcoming contrast after the graft and the gardening we’d done on our house up north,” the owner said.
The private and beautiful courtyard has hosted countless parties and gatherings over three decades. Photo / Supplied
Three renovations have brought the terrace house up to scratch and is now a perfect lock-and-leave. Photo / Supplied
The couple told OneRoof the courtyard has been home to countless parties and gatherings over three decades.
“We have enjoyed a very busy life here,” the owner, who is now moving to their northern base, said.
“We’re right at the point where the city meets residential, walking to the city and galleries and with Parnell’s shops and restaurants in the other direction. We’ve used and enjoyed all of it.”
Agent Martin Dobson said that homes like this, and in this location, were tightly held.
The neighbouring terrace house in the block of just six homes sold at auction last May for $2.261m.
The terrace houses on Cracroft Street are one of only a few remaining in Parnell, including the more ornate Queen Anne-style Dilworth Terraces on Dilworth Terrace. Built in 1899, they too deteriorated into slums through the early twentieth century before being rescued and renovated from the 1970s.
Another terrace in the trio of 1910 Victorian terrace homes on Parnell Road, opposite the Cathedral, that was once home to Split Enz brothers Mike and Geoff Chunn, sold in February for $2.05m.
