Psychologist John Aiken, the man who puts together the couples on the hit reality series Married At First Sight Australia, has listed his home in Sydney for sale.
The relationship expert, who spent his early teens in New Zealand, paid A$1.86 million for the home in 2014 with his Kiwi wife Kelly Swanson-Roe, a former newsreader turned interior designer.
Their solid brick 1920s Californian bungalow sits in the prestige Sydney North Shore suburb of Willoughby East, where the median sale price is around A$2.5 million (NZ$2.6 million). LJ Hooker sale agents John McManus and Dominic Patton are marketing the home with a A$2.3 million guide for its April 6 auction.
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Relationship guru John Aiken. Photo / Supplied
The stylish living room. Photo / Supplied
The open living area. Photo / Supplied
The home has been updated over their five years of ownership, with modernised interiors including jet black walls. But it has retained some of its traditional features, such as the high ornate ceilings, picture tails and leadlight windows.
The well-stocked kitchen. Photo / Supplied
The home has four bedrooms, including one on the lower level which has its own entrance next to a separate study. A conservatory-style dining room has views of the 605sqm landscaped gardens, which feature alfresco terrace, firepit, spa and cubby house.
Aiken and Swanson-Roe have been together about 14 years and have two children. They wed in 2007 on Waiheke Island.
The designer bedroom. Photo / Supplied
The living area is wall to wall windows. Photo / Supplied
They moved to Australia, where Aiken was born, around a decade ago after their home in Grey Lynn for NZ$1,050,000. They then paid A$1.03 million for a Victorian terrace in central Sydney, before selling it for A$1.4 million when they headed to the city's North Shore.
Aiken has long appeared discussing relationships and is now in his sixth series of Married at First Sight Australia.
The picturesque garden area. Photo / Supplied
He studied for 7 years at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, and graduated in 1995 with BA.
His first year on MAFS was 2015, the show’s inception in Australia, appearing alongside Sabina Read and Trisha Stratford.
In 2009, Aiken and Swanson-Roe talked about the first home they bought together. They bought the villa at 51 Richmond Rd in 2005 for NZ$801,000 after hearing about it from friends.
"We walked in and the feel of this place was instantly amazing,'' Swanson-Roe told OneRoof's sister publication Herald Homes. "We loved the wide hallway and it had a really good flow."
Aiken and Swanson-Roe in 2009 in their Grey Lynn villa. Photo / Getty Images
The villa had received lots of care and attention so didn't require the extensive remedial work that many do-ups require. But it did have a lot of dark timber and didn't make the most of its sunny north-facing aspect.
Swanson-Roe was working on a travel show at the time and since it wasn't a 9-to-5 job she was able to take on the role of renovation project manager, working with builder Dave Ockleston.
"John and I wanted to lighten the place up," she said. "We often work seven days a week so it was important for us to come home to a sanctuary where we could relax and rejuvenate."
The couple had the home's original kauri floorboards sanded and blonded, and opened up the living area to a deck and garden with large bi-fold doors which have louvres in the lower sections to allow breezes to flow through the house without the doors having to be open.
The kitchen, built by Cabinet Development to the couple's design, had a composite-stone island benchtop, a Smeg oven and a patterned tile splashback.
Aiken said at the time: "We loved this house. It’s been a safe haven and we’ve found it inspiring."
- news.com.au and OneRoof
