A historic Canterbury manor has hit the market for sale with a “realistic” price tag of just over $1 million.
Builder Rory Foley, who owns the 19th-century estate at 74 Te Ngawai Road, in Pleasant Point, Timaru, is looking to strike a deal as he prepares to move onto his next “Grand Designs” renovation project.
Foley has spent two and a half years and $350,000 overhauling the five-bedroom property, transforming what was a cold, neglected house overrun by rats into a warm, pest-free modern home.
He decided to take on the project during Covid when construction materials for new builds were hard to come by so he opted for a property he could restore instead.
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His accountant told him about a large historic home that was for sale in South Canterbury. Foley saw the potential and snapped it up for $860,000.
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While there was some mystery surrounding the house’s 150-year-old history, Foley managed to uncover interesting tidbits, including that it was built by Walpole Cheshire Fendall, the founding father of the wealthy Christchurch suburb of Fendalton.
Over the years it fell into disrepair. Before Foley took it on, it was a rental property, with the tenants choosing to live in parts of the house that were habitable.
“It was actually warmer outside the house than it was inside.”
The front door hadn’t been used for so long that he had to grind it open and remove seven layers of lead paint. When he looked under the floorboards he found a whole family of rats.
The project was all-consuming he said. “It was non-stop – weekends ... I had no life.”
Original features such as a kauri timber staircase were sanded back and repolished and the old coal range was restored and is now an impressive focal point in the kitchen.
The new kitchen was handmade and still has the original working coal range. Photo / Supplied
The laundry was a pleasant surprise for people with its bespoke cabinetry and porcelain butler sink. Photo / Supplied
But it’s the kitchen and – perhaps more surprisingly – the laundry compete with a heavy porcelain butler sink that he’s most proud of.
“We handmade everything so the kitchen and the laundry was all handmade by us. It wasn’t flat-packed or anything. So the dishwasher is hidden and it has a butcher block that pulls out from the kitchen.”
He added: “When people turn up and get to the front door you just see their faces light up.
“I had one woman turn up and say, ‘This is everything I want in a house’. It’s still got yesteryear to it, but it’s still got all the modern technology most people want.”
Foley said he was realistic about how much he wanted for the homestead, which is set on 1.21 hectares. There’s also a bonus second two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage on the property, which is in an “as is, where is” condition.
“I just want someone to enjoy it and I haven’t put silly money on it,” he said.
“I’m single. I don’t have children or anything and it seems a bit ridiculous rattling around in that big house. I want to give it to someone that will love it. I just think that I designed the whole house for a family and that’s who I think should have it.”
What the manor used to look like. Photo / Supplied
For a period, Foley shared the manor with a little owl named Mr Hoot. Photo / Supplied
Last year Foley made TV headlines when a small brown owl popped through the cat flap in the manor and joined him on the sofa one night. The owl, nicknamed Mr Hoot, has made return visits, with Foley telling OneRoof the bird had chatted to him from the upstairs windowsill about three weeks ago.
“I could not believe how viral that went. I had American newspapers contacting me, I had Japanese news outlets contacting me,” he told OneRoof. “It was crazy. I could not believe the media attention I was getting with that.”
On the advice of experts, Foley stopped Mr Hoot from venturing inside the house and now the bird perches on various places around the property.
The manor was opened to the public for one day at the end of last year when it was first listed for sale with a different agency. A gold coin donation was collected to raise money for South Canterbury Plunket.
Most of the interest from buyers so far had come from Timaru and Australia, which had surprised Trinity Real Estate agent Damian Dellabarca.
“I would have expected with that price point and what you are getting, that we would have been flooded from enquiries from Auckland.”
Dellabarca, who recently took over the listing, said with a price indication between $1.15 and $1.2m it was excellent value, especially for a grand manor. “If you compared that to anywhere else in New Zealand, it’s an absolute steal,” he said.
Foley’s firm is working on a church renovation project, which is due to feature on the TV show Grand Designs New Zealand, and he is about to embark on his next ambitious project – an eco home run by artificial intelligence. Talks are underway which could see it also featured on Grand Designs.
- 74 Te Ngawai Road, in Pleasant Point, Timaru, is for sale by negotiation.
