One of the iconic boatsheds on Auckland’s Hobson Bay is expected to fetch over $900,000 when it goes to auction on November 26.

New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Paul Sissons is marketing boatshed number 19 at 1 Ngapipi Road, one of only seventeen boatsheds on the edge of Whakatakataka Bay.

The sheds were built from the 1930s onwards after neighbouring Orakei was linked to the city by rail. The much-photographed sheds have standard colours and sizes specified by the then Auckland Harbour Board and are Heritage New Zealand protected.

Sissons says that to his knowledge, only two others have sold in the past four or five years.

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“Ownership is very private, in trusts and so on. [Kiwi yachtsman] Brad Butterworth was rumoured to own one, but they are just passed from family to family, they never go on the market, nobody knows," Sissons says.

“Four or five years ago, one sold for $700,00 and we’ve been told about two years ago one went for mid-$900,000s. They’re very rare, they just don’t come on to the market.”

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The boatshed, built in the 1970s, is for maritime activities, it cannot be lived in. Photo / Supplied

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The shed has views east to Hobson Bay and the city. Photo / Supplied

Sissons says that he is bringing the boatshed to auction because he expects huge interest. “The guy with the tallest hand will get it. We don’t know what it will go for," he says.

“They are very rare – effectively priceless as the only ongoing cost is maintenance and once every 35 years a new resource consent.”

The 1970s boatshed has been smartly renovated with a white interior a pitched gabled ceiling, polished timber floors and a galley kitchen. It has modern bi-fold doors to a concrete pad boat ramp, but Sissons says it originally had slipways designed to winch boats up into the shed for repair.

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Owners are expected to take care of the heritage-protected sheds as part of their licence to occupy resource consent. Photo / Supplied

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The inside of the shed looks stunning. Photo / Supplied

Owners are buying a maritime licence to occupy with a resource consent renewed every 35 years (the one for shed 19 does not expire until 2033, Sissons says). While they own the structure itself, owners are expected to maintain the sheds to maintain their collective character, but are permitted to use them only for maritime activities (there are no bedrooms for sleeping over and the jetties are not for use as permanent moorings).

Sissons is excited to be selling one of these Auckland icons, saying that after years of driving past them, this was the first time he’d seen inside one. Unfortunately, the marketing campaign doesn’t include open homes for Auckland history buffs, only qualified buyers will be shown through.

“This is a golden opportunity to buy a piece of history. It would be a good base to watch the America’s Cup, just tied up at your own jetty.”

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