- A Christchurch couple bought the historic Woodstock House, damaged in the Kaikōura earthquake, for close to its asking price of $1.075m.
- The 175-year-old property, Nelson’s oldest homestead, was sold “as is, where is” after significant interest.
- The new owners have experience with earthquake repairs, offering relief to the vendors.
A historic homestead damaged in the Kaikōura earthquake has been snapped up by a Christchurch couple who have a track record of fixing “as is, where is” properties.
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YOU.Realty agent Nikki Ryan said the sale of Woodstock House was a huge “relief” to the vendors.
They bought the 175-year-old property – thought to be Nelson’s oldest homestead – for $860,000 and had plans to turn it into a wedding venue. But six weeks after taking possession in 2016, the Kaikōura earthquake struck and caused significant damage to the property.
Despite being listed for sale in “as is, where is” condition, the home on Covent Drive, in Stoke, attracted serious interest from lovers of character homes but the careful repair work required narrowed the field of buyers.
Woodstock House has undergone several extensions over the years and includes a mix of native timbers. Photo / Supplied
The sprawling home has five bedrooms and five living areas. Photo / Supplied
“There were a number of people who genuinely wanted to buy it – they were just trying to get their heads around the risk. It’s fair to say I’ve got a huge database of buyers looking for heritage or character homes in Nelson at the moment – just not ‘as is’.”
Ryan declined to disclose the exact sale price but confirmed it was near the asking price of $1.075m.
She said the new owners were familiar with earthquake buildings and had repaired several in Christchurch. “They had appointments with various types of people from engineers to builders,” she told OneRoof.
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Ryan said the sale had been an emotional one for the vendors. “I think there is a real relief that that chapter is over and they can now move on,” she said.
“Their plans changed completely within weeks of getting there. For them, I think they are happy it’s over, they are happy it’s sold and they are happy that I guess it’s a family perhaps wanting to live there and hopefully they will get to enjoy what my owners never got to.”
The vendors had done a lot to bring the five-bedroom home up to scratch, including repairing the piles and removing 10 tonnes of bricks from the ceiling.
The property was sold with a self-contained unit at the front of the house. Photo / Supplied
Ryan previously told OneRoof that the property was well known in Nelson. It was built in 1854 for a prominent early Nelson settler, Captain W.R. Nicholson, and is the oldest surviving example of an architect-designed cob house in New Zealand.
“It’s one of a kind – a beautiful, beautiful property of significance in that it’s the oldest or believed to be the oldest of its kind in New Zealand. It’s a big deal,” Ryan said last month.
The home, which has an RV of $1.6m, was built on a 10ha section in the 1850s and over the years had undergone a number of renovations and extensions, which had seen it grow to the 350sqm house it is today. The land had also been subdivided, and the now 2122sqm section backs onto the Ernest Rutherford Retirement Village.
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