Four years after they appeared on Grand Designs New Zealand, Bridget and Steve Varney have finally sold the stunning penthouse they built in the former heritage tea rooms of Auckland’s Farmers department store.
The 540sqm steel and brick New York-style loft apartment launched the 2020 season of the hit TV show and was put on the market for sale two years ago.
The Varneys, who spent $3.5 million on the build after buying the space for a reported $2.5m in 2017, hadn’t had much luck until they relaunched the apartment earlier this month with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Patrick McAteer.
They took a gamble that they could get their desired price at auction this week – and they did, with McAteer striking a deal with a buyer after the auction in “a very confidential environment”.
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He said confidentiality agreements prevented him disclosing the price, but “both the vendors and the purchaser are very happy,” he confirmed. The four-bedroom apartment on Hobson Street had a 2021 CV of $6.2m.
McAteer said the buyer was a New Zealander, but he couldn’t say whether or not the property’s TV past had had any impact.
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The Varneys told OneRoof in 2022 that the project was epic in scale. Planning took 12 months, and the build took another 18 months. At one point they were living in Airbnbs as the complex build dragged on.
Bridget said Steve wasn’t sure about the space when it came up for sale in 2017, although he had been the one to spot it. “He didn’t want to do it, but I walked up those stairs and just knew. Design is just a passion of mine. We’d spent 13 years doing up the burnt-out house of [property developer] Mark Lyon. I’ve done a Miami Vice house and a Victorian one in Mountain Road.”
The strict heritage requirements were a challenge. “There was resource consent for four apartments in there and Stevie said we could make money if we did that, but I said no,” Bridget said in 2022.
“It was all about the magic of the roof, so I wanted the contrast of a New York-style loft.
“My mum used to say to me, ‘You don’t make life easy’.”
The steel and glass mezzanine was carefully inserted into open-plan living room. Photo / Supplied
Bridget and Steve Varney spent 12 months planning and 18 months building their apartment. Photo / Supplied
Consents for the Heritage B classified space meant that none of the new work could touch the original walls or the ornate plaster ceiling of the 1930s Roy Lippincott-designed room. Historic features the Varneys didn’t re-use, such as some of the original light fixtures, were carefully kept in storage as they must stay with the building. In theory, the steel insertions craned into the seventh floor could be removed and the space returned to its original state.
McAteer told OneRoof the sale was good news for other upscale apartment developments around the city and inner suburbs. “We have some really good apartments listed at the moment, and with a sale like this we’ll see more people with more confidence in the market,” he said.
He added that he was currently marketing luxury apartments in the upscale Pompallier on Ponsonby, and with 40% of the 12 apartments now sold, the developers were close to reaching their threshold to start building.
The agent selling the five-bedroom replica villa at 319E Wishart Road, in Helensville, Auckland, made a memorable appearance in Grand Designs NZ in 2017. Photo / Supplied
The architect-designed five-bedroom house at 81 Piha Road, Piha, also featured on Grand Designs NZ season six. Photo / Supplied
Unusually, the penthouse was one of three Grand Designs homes on the market in Auckland this month.
A costly architect-design build on 81 Piha Road, which also featured in season six of Grand Designs New Zealand, is for sale by way of negotiation. Listing agent Angela Smith, of NZ Sotheby’s, told OneRoof this week there had been renewed interest in the house from overseas buyers.
A replica villa on the northwest edge of Auckland, marketed by the agent who was also the builder of the house in the 2017 season of Grand Designs New Zealand, is also on the market.
Kelly Davison, of Burmester Realty, shot to fame when she admitted on the show that she was disappointed with the five-bedroom house on 319E Wishart Road, Helensville, which she had built with husband Joe and their six children.
The new owners, who bought the huge property in 2018, are selling to downsize now they are empty-nesters but earlier told OneRoof the decision was “heart-wrenching”.
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