A three-bedroom house created by one of New Zealand's best known architects is being sold as a work of art this month.
The house, designed by Ron Sang, who died last month aged 82, is expected to fetch more than $4m when it goes to auction on July 25.
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The Hapua Street property has a CV of $2.025m and has been compared to Sang’s other celebrated work, the award-winning Brake House in West Auckland.
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It is being jointly marketed by a fine art auction house, Webb's, and real estate agents Andrew and Ollie Wall.
“This is not a house, it’s art – and Ron Sang is the absolute master,” said Andrew Wall.
Interest in the house had been high, with more than 200 people turning up at the first open home, he said.
“Some of them are people who would be willing to trade out of houses worth more than $5m to get this. To them it’s not a house. They know the Brake House just sold for $4.5m, but it’s in Titirangi, [in West Auckland] and this is Remuera. How far above that this will go, we just don’t know.”
The house in Remuera, Auckland, has glass boxes suspended into the trees. Photo / Supplied
Architect Ron Sang, who died in June, was a keen collector of art. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Sang built the house for his family in 1973, and it features his signature glass boxes cantilevered into the trees – a move he’d made famous in the iconic Brake House. Landscape architect Ted Smythe, a frequent Sang collaborator, helped create the Japanese-style gardens around the mosaic swimming pool.
The glass boxes were added to the house in 1985. Photo / Supplied
Sang was noted for his love of Kiwi art, and he showcased his extensive collection of paintings, sculpture and pottery in the houses he designed.
Works by some of Sang’s favourite artists have been put on display in the Hapua Street house and will be sold separately at the same auction as the house. They include paintings by Gretchen Albrecht, Ralph Hotere and Gordon Walters.
Auctioneer Charles Ninow, head of art for Webb's, estimates that the sale of the ten artworks will reach at least $500,000.
“This is a major cultural event, a milestone and a model for how high-end art and houses should be sold,” he said.
The owners were big fans of Sang. and had bought the house in 2015, for just over $1.8m, just three days after seeing it.
The owners meticulously retained Sang's design. Photo / Supplied
The house had been neglected and had a “laundry list” of urgent repair work.
The couple rewired the house, installed smart technology throughout and restored the house’s original colour scheme. They even got in contact with Sang and his wife Margaret and combed libraries for original plans.
Sang's son, Darryl who is also an architect, engineered new steel beams to revive the cantilevered glass living areas.
A pool and downstairs rumpus room were added in Sang's 1985 renovations. Photo / Supplied
They said their biggest reward was a thank you from Sang before he died. The architect, who wrote them a personal message on one of his art books, told them: “You’ve done an amazing job.”
“It was a seal of approval. It makes me feel we did house justice.”
Other Sang houses in Remuera have sold for big numbers. A house on Arney Road restored by art collectors John and Rose Dunn sold for $8.1m in 2007, while another owned by yachting legend Chris Dickson sold for $3.445m in 2010.
Sang's award-winning house in Titirangi for photographer Brian Brake sold for $4.5m. Photo / Supplied
