An Auckland couple, who starred in the 2017 series of Grand Designs, is now selling the mid-century home they restored next door.
Auckland musician Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and partner Mindy Pilbrow bought the house at 32 Seacombe Road, Point Chevalier, two years ago, after eyeing its over 2200sqm of land that bordered their new-build Grand Designs home.
Their house, which they built on land carved off Bridgman-Cooper’s parents’ neighbouring property, sat on just 400sqm of land after another nearly 600sqm was appropriated for the waterside Queens chain.
“We always knew that was a risk, with number 32 on our north boundary, so when it came on the market we bought it,” Bridgman-Cooper told OneRoof.
Start your property search
The couple moved the boundaries to add another 500sqm to their Grand Designs house, leaving the original four-bedroom house at number 32 on a still-roomy 1594sqm plot.
The pair of properties on the end of the Seacombe Road cul de sac had quite the design provenance. Bridgman-Cooper grew up at number 31, while number 32 was owned by William McCahon, son of Colin McCahon, and his then wife.
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Mindy Pilbrow with host Chris Moller in their "music box" house they built in Grand Designs 2017 season. Photo / Supplied
In 1986, both families had houses designed by James Hackshaw of the hugely influential Group Architects, and the children free-ranged on the almost 4000sqm of land around the two homes. The creative families had moved from bohemian Ponsonby to Point Chevalier where the kids could ramble in the bush and push boats out to sea.
Bridgman-Cooper’s parents sold their land and house at 31 earlier this year for just over $2.36 million, OneRoof records show.
The house they restored was built for William McCahon, son of Colin McCahon, and designed in the 1980s by James Hackshaw, formerly part of the Group Architects. Photo / Supplied
Despite declaring on national television, and in the pages of the New Zealand Herald, that they would never do a big project again, the young couple took on a restoration project this year of the McCahon home.
The house in its 'before' state when it sold in 2020. Photo / Supplied
“This environment is so beautiful. But when we saw a few developers flapping their arms around about how big and how high they could go, we knew we had to protect it,” Bridgman-Cooper said.
“The house hadn’t been touched since it was built, but William was a very clever and meticulous and styley person. It was built so well, all we wanted to do was preserve it.”
The restoration included a new kitchen and polished concrete floors. Photo / Supplied
The original black aluminium joinery and macrocarpa ceilings were retained, as was the cedar siding, now stained black. The concrete floors were polished and a new kitchen and bathroom installed. The unusual layout includes not just the four bedrooms and one bathroom, but also a studio and study space.
The stylish brand-new bathroom. Photo / Supplied
To make the most of the bush and waterside setting, the couple upgraded all the drainage around the property, meticulously pruned out rubbish and deadwood around the native trees and added new planting, gravel and landscaping – including a boat ramp for the next generation of children to putter around the mangroves.
The grounds were restored with better drainage, lawns, landscaping and planting. Photo / Supplied
The lawns lead to a private boat ramp. Photo / Supplied
Bridgman-Cooper also laughing told OneRoof that the couple had said never again about babies too – they had their first part way through the televised build – but daughter number two arrived just this month and they are eying up the precious music studio in their Grand Designs home for more family living.
The ceiling and black aluminium joinery are original to the house. Photo / Supplied
“The journey is not over, there’s so much emotion attached to this. We’re hoping someone will fall in love with this environment as much as we have,” he said.
UP Realty agent David Simons, who is marketing 32 Seacombe Road with Jennifer Temm-Munns for sale by negotiation, is excited about the couple’s reinvention of the property.
“Waterfront Point Chev very, very rarely comes on the market, and this is an expansive piece of waterfront. It’s a broad vista and pretty stunning,” he said.
