Little more than a week after a gloriously renovated villa in Auckland’s Onehunga sold for almost $2.4 million at auction, the award-winning house next door has hit the market for sale.
The three-bedroom property at 188 Arthur Street, originally a modest 1940s cottage, was given a stunning renovation and extension in 2018, winning a prestigious NZIA award.
The property hit the headlines in 2020 when it sold under the hammer for $2.048m – more than half a million dollars above its then CV.
The house was fiercely fought over at the auction, with a young local family eventually overcoming “aggressive” bidding from expats and downsizers.
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Now, three-and-a-half years later, the family is looking to sell, with their house heading to auction on April 24.
One of the vendors told OneRoof that the family had loved living in the home, but were moving on for work reasons.
“I work on the North Shore. The school run and the commute over the bridge, it’s just too hard,” she said.
She reminisced about the 2020 auction, saying it was so intense she nearly shed a tear of relief at the end. “It was amazing bidding. It was quite protracted and lots of discussions,” she said.
The property, which was originally a modest 1940s home, has been extended and upgraded. Photo / Supplied
The impressive home last sold in 2020 for just over $2m after fierce bidding. Photo / Supplied
“We absolutely wanted the house. I was pregnant with our second baby at the time and we had already sold. There were two of us who desperately wanted it. The other bidders were another young couple who had come back from overseas.”
She said the home was wonderful. “It’s quite private and you are just looking at greenery. It’s just such a beautiful backyard.”
The listing agent for 188 Arthur Street, Lindy Lawton, also handled the sale of the villa next door and she told OneRoof both homes had attracted similar pools of buyers.
“Onehunga has a really nice vibe about it and people love the location. It’s so central. It’s got Cornwall Park at the top of the road, there’s a really lovely mix of properties, both old and newer, and people are spending quite big money to do stunning renovations on their properties,” she said.
The villa next door recently sold at auction for just under $2.4m. Photo / Supplied
Originally a working class suburb, Onehunga has in recent years become a desirable location for buyers priced out of the likes of Ponsonby and Grey Lynn, and racked up some impressive house sales.
The suburb’s biggest sale price this year is $2.5751m, for a four-bedroom villa on Normans Hill Road.
The property was renovated by die-hard villa lover and leading designer Marie-Fleur Colson, owner of Indigo Studio.
She bought the house in 2014 for just over $1m, but only set about upgrading it to its current spectacular standard after Covid.
Inside the Normans Hill Road home that sold last month for more than $2.57m. Photo / Supplied
Ray White listing agent Maree Myers, who marketed the home with colleague Bill Myers, told OneRoof: “Marie-Fleur always knew she’d do something with it, but wasn’t sure what. She’d always been renovating someone else’s home, but then decided, ‘Right, I’m going to do this for myself’,” Myers said.
“She put beautiful French oak flooring in and Perrin and Rose taps. She even had a lovely [antique] bath, care of myself.”
The agent said the new owners were first-time buyers but had also received an offer from a family who already owned a home in Remuera. “They were two busy professionals with children. They were looking to buy a done-up villa because they’d never got around to doing anything with their home. They said, ‘This is what we want to do, but we don’t have time’.”
The Myers are also selling the four-bedroom “tardis” over the road at 37 Normans Hill Road. The home is a small worker’s cottage at the front, but the street frontage belies a huge lower level extension.
“It’s completely modern downstairs. The whole bottom half has been a modern addition. It’s got laundry, powder rooms, master ensuite living,” said Myers.
- 188 Arthur Street, in Onehunga, Auckland, goes to auction on April 24
