The family at the centre of a walkway dispute in Takapuna are “worn out” by years of negotiations with Auckland Council and have put a historic but run-down seaside cottage they inherited on the market for sale.
Firth Cottage, at 9 Kitchener Road, in Takapuna, Auckland, is up for grabs for the first time since the 1920s and offers buyers the chance to secure 1072sqm of waterfront land.
Buyers would also inherit a fence which blocks access to the walkway which is part of Te Araroa Trail.
The closing of access to thousands of walkers who pass through each year while following the 2.5km Takapuna-Milford coastal walk caused much controversy.
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The previous owner, the late Paul Firth, had opened his land free of charge in 2011 after a public bridge washed away in front of the property.
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The New Zealand Herald reported last year that the current owners had wanted to hand over a slice of the land to Auckland Council for use as a walkway on condition the council removed a 2013 heritage overlay placed on the cottage.
They fenced off the property following the council’s slow response, forcing walkers to take a longer detour.
The Herald also reported that the dispute attracted the attention of Auckland’s mayor, Wayne Brown, who described the closure as “blackmail”.
The agent listing the property, Andrew Dorreen, of Precision, told OneRoof negotiations between the council and the family had been ongoing since 2018 and “extremely favourable” terms offered by the family to buy the property were rejected late last year.
The cottage has a heritage overlay. Photo / Supplied
“I think they are worn out. There are not many negotiations that have been going so long," he said.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know the state of the council’s books but it seems to me when you’ve got an iconic walk like this and a situation like this arises then common sense should prevail and it should be absorbed by the council to restore it.
“I mean, so many people in the area pay huge rates and like to be able to walk between Milford and Takapuna.”
Dorreen said he and the family were hopeful the council might ring to “re-engage” but failing that they hoped another buyer, or a group of buyers, would purchase with a view to restoring public access.
The cottage was designated with Category A heritage protection status under the council’s unitary plan, which prevents it from being removed or the site redeveloped.
Dorreen’s marketing said buyers needed to consider and investigate this as part of their due diligence.
The Category A heritage protection says the house has significance as the home of Clifton Firth, who was a notable New Zealand photographer.
“The house has architectural significance as a survivor of the modest houses, many baches or weekenders, that used to line the beach at Thorne Bay.
“As Clifton Firth is particularly known as a glamour portrait photographer the rustic simplicity of his seaside home illustrates another aspect of his life and personal aesthetic.
The fence that went up in September last year blocking access to the walkway through the property. Photo Brett Phibbs
“It may be compared with [the writer] Frank Sargeson’s Esmonde Road ‘bach’ in its simplicity and association with the North Shore’s artistic community.
“The Firth house makes a notable contribution to the built environs of the Black Rock shoreline, standing in start contrast to the much larger, architecturally designed homes in the vicinity.”
Alex Witten-Hannah, the lawyer for the family, however, told OneRoof the cottage was “the last of the old dunga baches along the coast there – it’s not called the golden mile for nothing”.
Clifton Firth was a well-known photographer who had gatherings in the house “so if walls could talk maybe it would be of interest but, of course, we know that walls don’t actually talk”.
He said comparing the cottage to the Sargeson property was a stretch.
“The Sargeson property was different in the sense that there was a large quantum of support from the community to preserve it and it wasn’t on a particularly valuable site.
“I mean, it’s on a main road, very noisy road and it’s quite a different sort of property to this one.”
When Clifton’s son, the late Paul Firth, co-owned the cottage with his sister, the council had agreed to purchase the property for half price but after Firth died they reneged on that, Witten-Hannah said.
“It was such a pity because the council could have said, ‘right, we don’t want to spend the money on preserving this derelict cottage’ but it would have made a lovely little park half way along the iconic walkway and what the council seem to have overlooked, in my view, is the fact that the walkway is of much greater historical significance and importance than the cottage.”
The walkway had been used for 100 years by people to walk the coastline, and was likely used by Maori to get along the coast for centuries, he said.
The property is going to tender and while Dorreen would not be drawn on price, it sits undeveloped among multi-million-dollar waterfront properties.
“The instructions are that the family want to see any and all offers and want everybody to be able to be involved with it and they would like to see offers on that date.”
The property was a slice of New Zealand history and had an amazing frontage and a great relationship with the water, he said.
“But it’s got a dwelling in need of repair which has quite a strong heritage order on it and so it is going to take a particular type of purchaser or custodian, or group of them, to take it on.”
If the council did not get on board, Dorreen believed a consortium could create something “magical” and allow public access while restoring the cottage to almost like a museum.
“It’s kind of an eclectic little piece of history, it would be quite cool if it was restored.
“I just think it’s an opportunity wasted for the council but somebody else has the opportunity to do something similar.”
The property has a 2021 CV of $6.81 million – $50,000 of which is for the improvement. It is for sale by tender, closing on May 24.
