An immaculate 1940s house in Auckland’s sought-after inner-city suburb of Westmere has sold for $1.55 million.
The three-bedroom house on Warnock Street, recognised for its distinctive pastel colour scheme, was put on the market in late September for the first time since the 1950s, but some buyers had been put off by the concrete house’s sloping section that was marked as a flood plain in one corner.
But the buyer, architecture lecturer and commentator Bill McKay, was delighted to get hold of the quirky house.
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He and his wife, who preferred not to be named, are moving across from Kelmarna Avenue, Herne Bay, just two blocks away. And they’re moving up the property ladder, McKay joked.
“The last place we bought was a meth lab. So we’re moving from a meth lab to a flood plain,” he said.
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“It’s in the middle of a group of Housing New Zealand houses, and under the last National government they flogged this one because it was a mess. We made the news, as we paid a million dollars for a meth lab.”
According to Herald reports, the couple had paid $1.136m for the Kelmarna Avenue house which had been stripped down to its framing.
This time McKay intends to remodel the Warnock Street house to “walk the talk” about sustainable repurposing, multi-generational living – and this year’s post-flood buzz word, sponge cities.
Barfoot & Thompson agents Marc Collins and Andrew Gallagher had brought the family property to auction in October, but Collins told OneRoof it had passed in because of buyers’ anxiety about the flood plain.
“We had 30 people look at it. Some were people in an early price point hoping to buy into the area, looking at early $1m to mid-$1m. It was not for development as the slope and flood plain made things uncertain,” Collins told OneRoof. The property has a CV of $2.65m.
The bungalow's built-in furniture had been kept in immaculate condition by its elderly owners and will be repurposed by its new owners. Photo / Supplied
The new owners plan to open up the stream and plant natives to improve the water management on the flood plain in the back yard. Photo / Supplied
“When it sold, everyone was ticked pink,” Collins said.
McKay said they have been forced to sell the Kelmarna Avenue house to Watercare under the Public Works Act, so long overdue sewage and storm water work can be done.
Luckily, in his profession he is always looking for a place with potential where he can add value, for a home for his family, not to flip.
“The pressure came on us, we had to sell where we were, so we started seriously looking around and dug up this place. My wife doesn’t drive, so this is two blocks from where we live, closer to the West Lynn shops and a nicer location.
Bill McKay: “The last place we bought was a meth lab. So we’re moving from a meth lab to a flood plain.” Photo / New Zealand Herald
“I was drawing [plans] after the first open home. I sat down with my wife and said what about shuffling this and what could we do with the basement,” he said. As with all his projects, he will not solidify plans until the family have lived in the house for a while.
McKay said that while the original condition house was charming, including the multi-coloured kitchen, the layout needed some rearranging to accommodate their vast book collection and open up to the sun and backyard. He plans to move a couple of doors in the upstairs bedrooms, but the big move is to rework the huge basement to house the couple’s book, furniture and art collection.
“That’s a major build, we’ll put in a bedroom-cum-library, walk-in and ensuite to be our main bedroom living,” he said, adding that the house will work for multi-generations if their three sons and partners ever wanted to make the move home.
But one thing the family are not changing is the colour of the exterior. The architect also plans to reconfigure the meticulously crafted joinery in the living and bedrooms and will not be throwing any of it out.
The retro kitchen will be opened up to make the most of the sun and backyard views. Photo / Supplied
The buyers were excited by the full-height basement, which they plan to turn into a library and extra living and bedroom space. Photo / Supplied
“Being an architect, I think it’s really important to carry a little bit of the heritage on. Who are we to go ‘oh, we’ll just take one thing and turn it into another.’ People used to do that in the 60s and 70s with a fine villa that they’d modernise, lower the ceilings.
“You’re on a hiding to nothing if you tangle too much with the bones of what something is,” he said.
The couple are keen to restore the flood plain with a native garden, turning the now-channelled stream back to a meandering stream and pond and planting some three-quarters of the 791sqm section into natives – a domestic scale version of Auckland’s post-flood sponge city design.
“I’m an architect in education and commentary, so I’m going to walk the talk.
“We’re setting this up for the future, aging parents and kids coming home,” he said.
When the house was marketed, the agents named the house-proud owners since the 1950s, Tom and Irene.
Tom died in 2011, aged 92, while 93-year-old Irene is in a rest home, their niece Linda told OneRoof, but the house was always immaculately kept.
“Uncle Tom was a real old English gentleman, really fussy. He was always re-painting, but kept the art deco colours, and it’s still the original carpet,” Linda said.
“They were very house-proud. The backyard was full of fruit trees, and Irene made pickles and jams. She was also an avid sewer and made all her own clothes.”
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