- An Auckland couple sold their home for $1.4 million, having paid just 50c for the plans
- Pam and Tony Thompson were emotional but pleased the buyer will keep the house as is
- The auction, held last Wednesday, saw the price rise from $1m to $1.4m
An Auckland couple who paid just 50c for their house plans more than 50 years ago sold their home at auction last week for $1.4 million.
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Pam and Tony Thompson told OneRoof they were overcome with emotions following the sale of their home on Huia Road, in Titirangi
They said they were “shocked and a bit upset”, but deep down they knew they were doing the right thing.
Pam said they were pleased the buyer was a local. “It’s so nice that they love it. They are going to upgrade the kitchen and bathroom but keep the brickwork. People were talking about taking out the brickwork and painting the timber.”
Listing agent Catherine Henderson, Barfoot & Thompson, said the open homes for the property were almost overrun with people. “One weekend we had 40 groups come through,” she said. “That was just one weekend out of a three-week campaign."
The interiors were a blank canvas for owners Pam and Tony Thompson. Photo / Supplied
The blueprints the couple bought for 50c during a spell in Canada. Photo / Supplied
The property had been profiled by OneRoof in the lead-up to the auction, with Pam and Tony detailing its unusual origins.
The couple were in Canada in the early 1970s when they spotted a newspaper article about an eye-catching home designed by New York-based architect Samuel Paul.
The newspaper, the Windsor Star, had a photo of Paul’s blueprints and the couple sent off 50c to get a copy.
Tony said Paul’s design was something they thought they could recreate in New Zealand. It had a hipped gambrel mansard roof and Swedish-style shingles, which were common in Canada then.
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The blueprint wasn’t a completed architectural plan, but Pam was a draughtswoman and Tony a mechanical engineer, so they could complete Paul’s work to New Zealand standard. “We liked the blueprint, and we thought we’d adapt it to over here,” Tony told OneRoof before the auction.
However, the blueprint didn’t include any details regarding the interiors and finishings. “We had to make up our own details,” said Tony. “We had no idea what they intended to line the house with, in Canada. Probably gib board or something like that.”
Henderson said it was amazing how many people had told her they had read the article. “If people hadn’t seen it, I texted it to them on their phone when they were at the open home, because it answered a lot of questions.”
Henderson said although there was a smattering of first-home buyers at the open homes, most of the buyers were looking to upgrade to a bigger home. Many were local, but one interested party was looking at moving from central Auckland. “They wanted to upgrade their home and have some land,” she said.
The couple used a variety of wood in the home and called upon the brick-laying services of a relative. Photo / Supplied
The house sits on 1.64 hectares in the Waitakere Ranges. Photo / Supplied
She added that people interested in the house loved the exterior and interior wood. They might upgrade the kitchen and bathroom to update them. “No one was going to do anything majorly dramatic to it. Just really update those two rooms.”
Last Wednesday’s auction opened at $1m and then paused for negotiation. It took another 10 minutes for the price to rise to $1.2m, $1.3m, $1.366m and then finally $1.4m, at which point the property was announced as on the market.
Henderson said after 50 years living in the property, Pam and Tony were apprehensive about moving.
It’s not the first time they had listed the home, though. Back in 2010 they put the house on the market and got as far as holding open homes. But they didn’t have the heart to sell and removed it from the market.
What’s different now is that 84-year-old Tony is tired of keeping the garden trim and in check. “I’m sick of roaring engines on mowers. I’m over it. It’s time to move somewhere else,” he told OneRoof earlier this month. “Preferably with no lawn.”
Henderson had the listing 14 years ago and stayed in contact with the couple. “We call past them reasonably frequently. They’ve become friends,” she told OneRoof.
She said the house was something special. “It’s just an oasis. One doesn’t stay in a house for 50 years unless it is very special. I think building it themselves, they’ve gone the extra mile. You do not see homes like that come on the market very often.”
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