An epic renovation of a tired 1920s bungalow in Auckland’s inner west ended in a $3.2 million sale at auction last week.
Architectural designer Alex Farrell and builder Matt Farrell turned the modest two-bedroom home on Walker Road, in Point Chevalier, into a striking four-bedroom house with an outdoor swimming pool.
The pair, who bought the property in 2017 for $1.451m, were pleased with last week's result.
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Listing agent Edward Pack, from Bayleys, said the house caught the attention of buyers from across Auckland. “I had around 100 groups through in the three weeks, people really gravitated to what it offered,” he told OneRoof.
Pack said that the interested buyers were a mix of families looking to upsize and downsizers moving from larger family homes.
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“Alex and Matt had done such a good job. There were lots of people who really wanted it. It came down to who could go unconditional [at auction] and we got a deal done on the day.
Pack said the remodel was one of the best he’d seen. “As a duo, they created something special that can’t be replicated. It was so well done and so well-appointed.”
The rebuild had taken the Farrells four years to complete.
Their eye-catching design took two years to detail before building began. Their most dramatic move was to wrap the original house and new street-front garage in sharp white slats for a high-impact look at the front of the property, while out the back they built a completely new L–shaped living and bedroom wing in the roomy 590sqm section.
“When we first saw this property, we could only see potential,” Alex told OneRoof when the house hit the market in June.
The extension opens out onto the deck and has a gabled roof, which was inspired by the original home's roofline. Photo / Supplied
The street frontage of the home hints at the striking transformation that awaits inside. Photo / Supplied
“The existing home was basic, but the section was large and relatively flat, and the house was in a good position. We saw a blank canvas that we could add value to.”
The original home became the wing for three of the four bedrooms and bathrooms, and with the contemporary pavilion-style living extension wrapping an outdoor fireplace and a pool.
Alex’s design incorporated some of the home’s existing personality into the final design.
“The gabled roof was one of the things that attracted us to this home in the first place,” Alex told OneRoof last month. “We’ve incorporated that same roofline into the extension so when you look at the property from the street, the old and the new tie in seamlessly.”
The back of the Walker Road house before the renovation. The couple bought the property for $1.451m in 2017. Photo / Supplied
Construction work on the extension, which houses the kitchen and living spaces at the back of the house. Photo / Supplied
Matt’s favourite material, concrete, was incorporated into a spine that runs down the side of the house, and it is paired with timber floors and plenty of glass.
The home has worked well for Alex and Matt and their three children aged between eight and four, but they now have their eyes on another renovation build, this time in Herne Bay.
Alex said they planned to do the same thoughtful transformation to their next modest house over three to five years.
“We’re planning ahead for when the kids reach teenage years and we need different zones. It’s the ugly duckling of the street, in a heritage zone, but it has the same beautiful flat site and garden as we have in Walker Road.
“You can’t overdo it there. It’s such a cool spot.”
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