- A villa relocated from Ponsonby to Massey sold for $2.3m after two years on the market.
- The four-bedroom villa was restored over 18 years, with additions including a pool and barn.
- Buyers quickly made an offer after viewing, allowing the owners to move to Northland.
Peter and Robyn Fuller had been trying to sell their West Auckland villa since 2023 and had almost given up. So, when they finally found a buyer, tears were inevitable.
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Ray White agent Nadia Johnston, who took on the listing in February with colleague Sahil Mehta, said the deal for $2.3m came together relatively quickly, but it was still a nerve-wracking experience.
She said the new owners made an offer on the four-bedroom house on Sunnyvale Road, in Massey, within three days of viewing it. “They fell in love. They wanted somewhere to bring up their children,” she told OneRoof.
The hours before the deal was done were tense, with the agent shuttling back and forth between both parties.
The current owners restored the villa, and added a pool, a barn, and a studio house. Photo / Supplied
The villa had been relocated from Ponsonby in the early 1990s, but by 2006 was in need of major work. Photo / Supplied
“When they signed the deal, Robyn didn’t stop crying the whole time. When I presented the offer, it was ten at night. I was going back and forth in my car until about 11pm. I just wanted to close this deal because it’s their third time on the market,” Johnston said.
“They said they wanted to sleep on it. The next morning, they said they were going to sign the offer. They couldn’t believe it had come to an end. They loved their home. It was a real moment, it was beautiful, when we put up the sold sticker.”
Johnston said the sale meant the Fullers could finally make their move to a new home in Northland.
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Records show the $2.3m sale price was $450,000 below the property’s 2021 RV and $650,000 below the $2.95m asking price it carried back in 2023.
The Fullers told OneRoof in February that the villa was in a bad state when they bought it 18 years ago, but it was just the kind of challenge they were looking for. “As soon as we saw it, we said, ‘Yeah, that’s us’,” Peter said.
“It had an old green and pink flowery Axminster carpet, peeling wallpaper, a leaky roof, and a shockingly built extension. Our parents and friends thought we were crazy, but we bought it anyway.”
How the villa ended up in the countryside between Taupaki and Massey is another story. Five years into their renovation, the Fullers were paid a surprise visit by an elderly woman who had lived there as a child when it was on Richmond Road in Ponsonby.
The swimming pool was added towards the end of the renovation. Photo / Supplied
The owners added a flying fox and nearly 2km of bush tracks in the nearly 4ha property. Photo / Supplied
The Fullers understand the house was shifted to their country plot in 1993, but little had been done to it in the intervening years until they bought the property.
They were thrilled to learn that there was a plaque on the site where the old house sat, which is now part of Browns Park. It said the villa was built by Irish couple Michael and Margaret O’Sullivan in 1910 and was home to multiple generations of the family before the city acquired the land for the park.
Peter, who is a builder by trade, estimated that the couple had spent 15 years bringing the home up to scratch. When they moved in, they had a six-month-old, a two-year-old, and five older kids, aged between eight and 12.
“The kids thought it was cool. They were allowed to draw on the walls, play in the attic, help with the demolition, and climb through the new walls while we rebuilt.”
The before-photos show an old lean-to that housed the kitchen, dining room, bathroom and laundry. Peter replaced that and moved the kitchen to the front of the house.
He also added a new bathroom and updated the original. “I don’t want to add up what we spent - I might be scared,” he said.
They also built an American-style barn for Peter’s motorbikes and installed an outdoor swimming pool. Other fun stuff included a flying fox, a giant Tarzan swing, a hidden chicken house, and a golfing platform.
“The kids used to build huts and swings, play in the creek. The Mamatu stream starts from a spring at our property. Two of our daughters got married here,” Peter said.
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