A Gisborne couple enjoyed dining out at their local restaurant so much they bought it, renovated it and moved their family in.
The Colosseum Bar and Restaurant in Matawhero, near Gisborne, was a regular haunt for Rob and Tracy Fergus prior to its closing almost a decade ago.
“I always sat here thinking, ‘Jeez, this would make a nice home’, when we came here for dinner and then it came up for sale,” Rob told OneRoof.
Celebrity TV chef Mark Gardner, who co-hosted Surfing the Menu in 2006, put the Colosseum on the market for sale in 2014 after his father Bill’s death. “Nobody wanted it as a pub, but we were like it would make a fantastic home,” Rob said.
Start your property search
The property was originally built by the late local wine legend Denis Irwin, of Matawhero Wines. He set up the Colosseum as a bar and function centre after retiring from the winery operation, then sold it to Gardner, who carried out his own rustic style renovation for the business.
Discover more:
- The trophy home where you can hunt wild deer from the deck - ‘I shot three in one night’
- Wellness guru selling his Wānaka estate - I miss life in my caravan
- Mum selling off glass and steel pad as TV star son flies the nest
“It definitely wasn’t a house when we bought it,” Rob said.
Once in, Rob and Tracy and their three teenage children gutted the property and set about creating a five-bedroom home within the existing framework.
On the ground floor they built a master wing, two children’s bedrooms and a teenager’s lounge, and put another bedroom and lounge in the upstairs mezzanine. “We basically mezzanined a third of the house probably,” Rob said.
They ripped out the commercial kitchen and replaced it with a modern gourmet kitchen and turned the area where the chillers were into a laundry room. However, they kept the restaurant’s men’s and women’s toilets.
“It works out perfect because for a family the back toilet was for the kids and the front toilet was for visitors – they could just use that one and it was always clean and tidy.”
Rob and Tracy also kept the restaurant chandeliers, which now hang in the main living area. “They are pretty unique and pretty cool.”
Some of the character from when it was run as the Colosseum, including the Italian chandeliers in the living room, remain in the home. Photo / Supplied
The large commercial kitchen was replaced with a modern chef's kitchen. Photo / Supplied
Even the gold Colosseum sign originally located at the front of the property was kept and now makes a striking impact on a wall near the outdoor entertaining area.
Triple garaging, high-stud carport, a workshop, an impressive inground swimming pool and an enviable outdoor kitchen complete with dishwasher were later added on the 4744sqm section.
Rob said the covered outdoor entertaining has been a real hit with friends and families and once they added a fourth bathroom outside, people could hang out outside without even having to enter the house, he said.
The result was a “one-of-a-kind home” that had perfectly suited their family’s needs. “I come home and I love coming home – it’s just once of those places,” he said. “It’s just the uniqueness of it. It’s one of a kind. You couldn’t rebuild something like this.”
However, with the couple soon to become empty-nesters, they are now planning to follow their dream and move to Papamoa. “We were going to be here for two years and we’ve been here 15,” he said, adding: “I would love to pick this up and take it with us, but obviously you can’t.”
Entertainers can cook outside in the well-equipped second kitchen, which looks out to the pool. Photo / Supplied
The Colosseum, pictured in 2014 before the extensive renovation, was previously run as a popular bar and restaurant. Photo / Supplied
Rob said the home, which was only about a five-minute drive from Gisborne, was extremely versatile and would suit families, extended families or even farmers looking to downsize.
The building was also still a well-known icon in the community and up until about two years ago visitors still drove up expecting to find the restaurant, which had been particularly popular with the farming community, still there. “They walk past me like they are going to have to go and have a drink.”
Bayleys listing agent Jenny Murray said it was such a unique property it was difficult to put a price on it, which was why it was being auctioned. “It’s pretty unique. The fact it’s got the history behind it [is] number one, but the fact it’s got all of those features there ...”
She said the owners had cleverly retained a lot of the aspects from the original property – from the wood used in the bar being repurposed as vanity benchtops and the stained glass window above the kitchen with the Matawhero Wines label.
“It’s got a whole lot of character, but it’s still got all the modern upgrades as well. It’s just a really awesome combination of everything.”
- 10 Riverpoint Road, in Matawhero, Gisborne, is being sold at auction on October 25
