- A mysterious wooden shell house from the 1970s is for sale on Remuera’s Seaview Road.
- Bayleys agent David Rainbow highlights the property’s unique potential and prime location, despite its condition.
- The house, part of the Jean Rawlinson Estate, has a set sale date of December 17.
You could film an Indiana Jones movie at the never-been-lived-in mystery house that’s buried in the bush on one of Auckland’s wealthiest streets, Bayleys agent David Rainbow told OneRoof.
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He has never sold a property quite like this freehold wooden shell from the 1970s: “No one knows when it started or when it stopped, or why it stopped.”
47 Seaview Road, in Remuera, is part of a deceased estate which Rainbow said involved nine houses scattered about Auckland and the Waikato. He does not know the status of the other houses other than to say they were likely to also go to market.
Trustees of the Jean Rawlinson Estate were handling the properties and Rainbow said that until about a month ago they did not know there was even a house at the Seaview Road site.
Despite its crumbling state, 47 Seaview Road is next to some of Auckland’s most expensive houses. Photo / Supplied
The garden is overgrown and almost jungle-like. Photo / Supplied
This one has a set sale date of December 17 and a CV of $2.8 million, of which only $25,000 is for the improvement, although the advertising said to ignore the CV.
Rainbow said the sale was “as is, where is” and was really about the 1110sqm of land and the location.
He knows little about Jean Rawlinson but understood that she died around 2019 and when the trustees started tidying up the estate they ran into Covid. “It’s taken till now to actually say, ‘OK, we are now going to be winding up the properties’.”
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He has only been into the top level of the house – there’s no staircase – and said that while the timber looked good, the windows don’t close and inside was “all leaves and crap everywhere”.
“I can’t clamber through the jungle. It’s like Dr Livingstone, I presume, or Indiana Jones – an Indiana Jones movie could be filmed here very easily.”
The property pre-dates code compliances so there is no record of what happened with the house but rates had been paid for about 40 years.
“It’s been built for no particular reason and never occupied. There’s no power on.”
The 1970s-era house sits on a 1110sqm section, which is being pitched as a blank canvas. Photo / Supplied
The house looks to be well-built with good timber and nice wooden floors, and feels solid, however, there are no restrictions on it being knocked down: “I think to be perfectly frank you’d probably bowl it.”
Finding something like this was a “unique” scenario in pricey Remuera. The only similar property Rainbow could recall was in neighbouring Orakei on Paritai Drive, another expensive Auckland street.
It was a plaster house, had not been lived in for decades and has only recently been pulled down, the agent told OneRoof.
The land at the Seaview Road property sloped and was covered in bush with a view across the valley to Arney Road and Arney Crescent, but the land had never been cared for and there was no lawn.
The one-bedroom house has never been lived in and is a shell. According to the listing agent, it could be easily pulled down. Photo / Supplied
Seaview Road, however, was a great location, Rainbow said, and this was a classic “worst house on a great street” situation near to good schools and the Newmarket shops.
“It’s a unique opportunity for somebody to get a nice big parcel of land and to do a number on it,” he said. “It’s an estate realisation and all realistic offers will be considered.”
Rainbow’s listing described the property as a prime address within the catchment zones of Victoria Avenue School, Remuera Intermediate, Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar, and proximity to top private schools.
“Whether you envision land-banking, constructing your dream abode, or embarking on a rewarding renovation project, seize this rare opportunity tailor-made for your aspirations.”
- 47 Seaview Road, in Remuera, Auckland, is for sale by a set date closing December 17
