It’s a beachfront home in Auckland’s wealthiest neighbourhood that’s also just around the corner from the harbour bridge.
It’s also on the market for the first time in 17 years. Back in 2007, the townhouse at 2/7 Masefield Avenue, in Herne Bay, sold for $1.325 million. Now it has a CV of $3.225m, but listing agent Louise De Martin, from New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, told OneRoof it still represented good buying, with most other waterfront homes in the suburb fetching $10m-plus.
She said there were properties in Herne Bay for sale off-market “that would love to have circa $70 million. And there’s one being advertised for over $40m – obviously, a large property on a huge site. This home [at 2/7 Masefield Avenue] is very much attainable.”
The 1970s-designed home overlooks Masefield Beach and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a standalone office, and a double garage.
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Owners Kay and James Judson expect that the eventual buyer will be just as surprised at the price and the beauty as they were when they discovered the house in 2007. “You walk down the lane, and you walk into the house and it’s a surprise,” Kay told OneRoof.
“You have all the activity on the water. We’ve got all the green around us and we look directly over to Little Shoal Bay. There’s always something going on here. But you’re private at the same time.”
James added: “It’s private and quiet, but there’s activity on the beach and in the water and you see the yachts sailing and ferries going by and people on kayaks and so on.”
The bird life is of particular interest to the couple. They often get visits from oystercatchers, white-faced herons, kingfishers, gulls, grey warbler/riroriro, shining cuckoo/pīpīwharauroa, and pīwakawaka.
The townhouse gets a lot of natural light. Photo / Supplied
Masefield Beach is on the doorstep. Photo / Supplied
The Judsons, who were both medical professionals but are now retired, especially like the access to the walkway/cycleway that passes in front of their house on Curran Street. James, aged 80, cycles under the harbour bridge, around Wynyard Quarter and along Tamaki Drive to Okahu Bay for exercise, and the couple use their bicycles frequently to travel into town for opera, concerts and dining.
At the top of Curran Street, they can access Link buses, which can take them to Newmarket and many other locations.
James said the peace and quiet of the home had been especially important for him. As a busy hospital specialist doctor in intensive care, coming home to a peaceful oasis was important.
James started his career as an anaesthetist and moved on to intensive care, taking a particular interest in organ donation. He advised the Intensive Care Society and Organ Donation New Zealand.
The townhouse comes with three bedrooms, a study and a double garage. Photo / Supplied
Early in his career, James helped to set up the Association of Salaried Medical Professionals, after he was charged for a night-time sandwich by his hospital bosses.
Quoted in the association’s magazine in 2014, James said: “I was on call one night and was called in at two or three in the morning. I wasn’t being paid for it as it was above the 44 hours which was the maximum paid at the time. The nurses ordered a sandwich for me from the kitchen, which I appreciated. But afterwards the hospital sent me a bill for it. I was infuriated.”
There was a huge amount of dissatisfaction among doctors about their salaries and conditions, said James. “The 1980s was a time of low salaries and high taxes and mortgage rates. Prior to the ASMS, we didn’t have an effective or truly national organisation, and we were working very long hours without recognition or proper payment. I decided that I wanted to do something to improve salaries and the conditions of our employment. I became the squeaky wheel on a variety of issues,” he said.
Kay worked as a nurse, specialising in repatriation flights at one point, and finished her career working at the Mercy Hospice in Ponsonby.
The Judsons said they were selling to downsize to an apartment.
- 2/7 Masefield Avenue, in Herne Bay, Auckland, is for sale, deadline closing November 7
