A luxury townhouse in Wellington’s blue chip Oriental Bay with an intriguing past is on the market for sale.
The three-storey Georgian-style home at 300 Oriental Parade had a rumoured eight-figure renovation before being picked up in a mortgagee sale at the end of 2017 for $3 million.
Real estate agency Lowe & Co founder Craig Lowe, who is marketing the property with Elise Boulieris, told OneRoof that while he didn’t know details of when the multi-million-dollar renovation was completed, nor who the designer was, the house is unlike anything he has seen in his 23 years in the business.
“We don’t know how much was spent on it exactly. There were rumours of maybe $10m or $11m but we don’t have evidence of that,” he said, adding that the cost to do the work might even be more than today’s oft quoted new-build prices of at least $20,000 per square metre for a luxury house.
Start your property search
He said the 532sqm property's immaculate hand-crafted French polished joinery in the kitchen, panelled reception rooms, entry hall and stairs, and bedrooms, along with marble bathrooms, inlaid tile floors and luxury kitchen complete with a custom La Cornue French cooker, large island and butler’s pantry is on a scale rarely seen in the capital city.
When the property first went on the market as a mortgagee sale in 2016, in the aftermath of the 2014 mortgagee sales of a portfolio of inner city commercial properties of a trust belonging to a prominent Wellington property family, the Papageorgiou, it was described as a 'rare Wellington treasure'. Since they bought in 2017, the current owners have secured a CCC, Lowe said.
The townhouse at 300 Oriental Parade, in Wellington's Oriental Bay, has custom French polished joinery, hand-made floors and plaster details. Photo / Supplied
The marble kitchen includes a dining room and a hand-made French La Cornue cooker. Photo / supplied
Lowe said the property, which offers two living rooms, two dining rooms, a ground floor media/games room behind the double garage has a surprise – a secret room which could be used for storage or security for documents.
Underpinning the renovation, which took three years some 15 years ago, is a sophisticated air conditioning system, high-tech security and a lift for future-proofing. While the lifts and air systems make the house attractive for downsizers, Lowe said the large terraces on the back of the building made it equally appealing to families.
“The attention to detail and the position – it’s the best position in the bay, facing the city and sunsets.”
Agents say the house has one of the best city and sunset views on Oriental Parade. Photo / supplied
The agents are asking for expressions of interest over $4.65m for the tender, which closes February 2, and suggest that the home will be sold for a tiny fraction of construction costs.
“Interest has been good, we’ve had a solid flow of high-quality enquiry. A tender will determine the market value, what that represents for the owner. We’ve had interest from out of town, but mostly Wellingtonians.”
Buyers will be well aware of the price paid last year for an Oriental Parade apartment a few houses away. Well-known Wellington art collector Chris Parkin and his wife Kathy had hoped to get $6.25m for their Parisian-style pad when they listed in October 2021, eventually settling for $5.31m in April 2022.
That’s $1m more than what the couple paid for it two years earlier, but still more than $1m shy of the capital's highest sale price so far, $6.5m for a Kelburn mansion that has been bulldozed to make way for 11 luxury townhouses.
