- Two unique Wellington properties are for sale, offering potential for Grand Designs-style projects.
- The first, at 65A Seatoun Heights Road, features decommissioned water tanks with harbour views.
- The second, at 20 Sunhaven Drive, is a multi-level hexagonal home with subdivision potential.
Two unusual Wellington properties that hit the market in recent weeks could tempt home buyers with dreams of Grand Designs.
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Both properties are on flat sites, have views to die for, and require lots of imagination.
First up is 65A Seatoun Heights Road, in Seatoun – two decommissioned concrete water tanks overlooking the harbour. They are being sold by a Wellington artist, who picked them up in 2019 for $720,000.
The landmark tanks were one of New Zealand’s most viewed properties that year, and made headlines when it sold. The vendor told OneRoof that the view from the tanks was irresistible, while the 1012sqm of land offered a flat building platform.
“I’d always wondered what it would be like having a view of the other side of the hill as well,” the vendor, who asked not be identified, told OneRoof.
The tanks were bought by a renowned Wellington artist in 2019 for $720,000. Photo / Supplied
“When it [came on the market in 2019] I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s the dream property. It’s got everything’. I bought it for very sentimental reasons. I grew up in nearby Townsend Road. We used to play on the bank below the tanks.”
The vendor said the views from her childhood home left an impression. “We had an astounding view and fabulous sunsets in Townsend Road. I used to watch the southerlies roll up the coast. About 15 minutes before the cloud hit, you’d get the wind front come through,” she said.
“Wellington is so blessed with harbour views. But because this has the harbour entrance right down to Kaikōura, it’s spectacular. It could be just amazing. You could hole up there and just enjoy all the action at your fingertips. You’re going to be in a bunker [in the tanks] watching all the spectacular storms.”
The vendor is hopeful that the buyer will retain the tanks. “They’ve got an early 1930s brick sh*thouse awesomeness about them,” she said. “There is not a lot of brutalist concrete around.”
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She said the empty tanks were built to hold water and were very strong. “There’s quite a lot of space,” she added. “They’re both tall enough to do two storeys. You could get quite a substantial house in there.” The roofs could be removed enabling the buyer to build upwards. A driveway could replace the steps up to the tanks, she said.
The artist is selling because she had promised her family that she would complete another project first. “It’s pretty devastating having to get rid of the tanks,” she said. “But it’s a pragmatic decision. I’ve run out of energy to do some crazy, awesome project.”
Just Paterson agent Charles Morley-Hall, who is marketing the property, told OneRoof that 65A Seatoun Heights Road was the most unusual he had ever sold. He said his first thought when he saw it was the hit TV show Grand Designs, which has featured water tank conversions in the past.
Morley-Hall said that some appealing aspects of the property over and above the views included the fact that it was unusually flat for a hilltop Wellington site.
Also on the market for sale in Wellington is an unusual home at 20 Sunhaven Drive, Newlands. Photo / Supplied
“Currently, access is by about 220 steps, but it’s a very wide piece of land and the neighbour has recently put a drive on. Our owner has been told, by the council and by an engineer, that it’s very possible to put a drive on up there. There’s power to the site as well,” he said.
“In anticipation of creating the most incredible home [in the tanks] there was a test done to make sure that there was no asbestos, and there isn’t. It would be an incredible, incredible opportunity for a young architect to get their hands on it or someone with money to create something really extraordinary.
“Equally, it is possible for someone to demolish and build a home up there. There is no restriction. It is zoned as residential.”
The second Grand Designs opportunity is a multi-level double hexagonal residence at 20 Sunhaven Drive, in Newlands.
The property’s history is a mystery. Lowe & Co agent Anita Corlett told OneRoof she had spoken with residents who were in the suburb in the 1980s when the home was built, but none remember the story behind it. “The vendor is retiring and wasn’t the original owner, so doesn’t know a lot about the property,” said Corlett. We only know that the guy who built it used to work for Fletchers.”
The original home was two storeys, but an open plan room was added as a third storey in the 1990s. Corlett believes an internal “garden” and two-car tandem garage may have been open air when the property was first built, then filled in later.
Corlett admitted the six-bedroom house, which has an RV of $1.25m, was “tired” and had a number of issues, including piping that was prone to bursting and rot in some of the cladding. On the other hand, opportunities abound. “It is a full flat site, which is uncommon in Wellington, and there is the potential to subdivide. It has the most amazing view over to Petone and gets lots of natural light. Do you demolish it, renovate it, subdivide it or build?”
- 65A Seatoun Heights Road, Seatoun, Wellington, is for sale, tender closing March 6; 20 Sunhaven Drive, Newlands, Wellington, is for sale, deadline closing February 19
