- Bill Hammond’s Banks Peninsula bach, featuring his iconic artworks, is up for auction.
- The 42sqm property includes artwork directly painted onto walls and beams by Hammond.
- Hammond’s works have fetched high prices, with one selling for $1.715m in 2023.
He was dubbed New Zealand’s greatest living painter by actor Sam Neil. Now his modest South Island bolthole is to be auctioned - and included in the sale are some of his iconic artworks.
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Lyttleton-born Bill Hammond is held up as one of the country’s most influential modern artists, with his paintings highly prized by galleries and collectors around the world.
He died in 2021, aged 74, and his estate has now decided to sell his secluded bach in Banks Peninsula. Listing agents Phillipa Linton and Chris Mangels, from Bayleys, have drawn attention to the Hammond originals on the walls and beams of the two-bedroom hut.
On the kitchen walls are ink drawings bearing Hammond’s distinctive style. Photo / Supplied
The hut’s central beam is adorned with Hammond’s art. Photo / Supplied
The 42sqm property is being offered for sale “as is, where is” and “includes the priceless bonus of having Bill’s precious artwork embellished into the structure of the home”, the agents note in their listing on OneRoof.
The artworks could be worth the punt. The property may have an RV of $430,000, but Hammond’s artworks are known to sell for a lot more, with one of his paintings Melting Moments 1, fetching $1.715m at a Webb’s auction in 2023.
Mangels said it was anyone’s guess as to how much the property would sell at auction. “It’s difficult to quantify the value of the sale because of the immense artwork factor. That’s why we’re taking it to a public auction. People can bid at whatever price point they see the value at,” he told OneRoof.
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“I think the future of it lies in an appreciator of Bill’s work enhancing the structure around it and maintaining the artwork.”
Hammond and his second wife Jane McBride bought the hut in the mid-1990s for $77,000. “It was his home away from home where he did a lot of artwork. He loved the serenity, the isolation, and the bush.”
Hammond painted directly onto the walls of the home. One of the more notable in-situ works in the house covers one of the supporting beams. “As you walk through the entrance, you’re greeted by the artwork on the beam front and centre,” Mangels said.
“The central beam of the house is embellished with beautiful emerald green and turquoise motifs, consistent with Bill’s work. It’s the first thing you see as you walk in. It’s quite special.
“There are traditional bird-shaped heads and more mosaic styles he used over his career on the kitchen walls.”
Hammond’s Melting Moments 1 sold under the hammer for $1.715m in 2023. Photo / Supplied
Hammond’s Wainui - which echoes his bach work - sold last year for $70,000. Photo / Cheska Brown
Although Mangels couldn’t put a guide price on the property, he said it was 100% for sale. “That’s the goal, and that’s why we're taking it to a public auction so we can transparently put it to the market and people can have a go at whatever price point they see the value at.”
When media-shy Hammond died in 2021, Sam Neill posted on X that he was a “sweet man; humorous, gentle and lively company. But as an artist - fiercely original and quite simply a damned genius”.
Hammond had his first solo exhibition of his work at the Peter McLeavey Gallery in Wellington in March 1987, followed by more than 20 exhibitions of his distinctive artwork, which tackled social and environmental issues.
Olivia McLeavey, who now runs the gallery, sold one of Hammond’s works on Christmas Eve last year. “It was called Wainui [after the suburb where the bach is located]. It was very much those iconic turquoise and emerald green Hammond colours that everyone knows and loves,” she told OneRoof.
“Somebody came in at the last minute on Christmas Eve. They were keen to buy a special present for their beloved.” The work sold for $70,000.
McLeavey said the artwork on the bach walls bore Hammond’s stamp. The central beam in particular had a wave in the style of Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, who had influenced Hammond.
“You can see his articulation of shapes and forms, particularly the Hokusai waves you see on those beams,” she said.
“His black ink on the kitchen wall is very reminiscent of works he was doing in [the 90s], with those beautiful faces, organic forms, and the dripping.
“These [works] are very important because they’re him in his domestic environment. It’s quite unusual in New Zealand for artists to paint directly on the wall. It has really only been done in European circles, like the Bloomsbury Group.”
In respect of the property, Mangels said it was a “hidden gem tucked up the valley” and described the land around it as “lush”.
The valley had a mix of long-term locals and intergenerational bach owners. “It’s quite nice to wander down to the beach,” he said. “It takes about 13 minutes.”
- 115 Wainui Valley Road, Wainui, Banks Peninsula, goes to auction on May 22
