For the second time this year, a New Zealand boatshed could make auction history.
The agent marketing 18/1 Ngapipi Road expects it will break the $2.05 million price record set five months ago by one of the other 16 heritage-protected boatsheds that curve round Whakatakataka Bay, in Auckland’s Orakei.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Paul Sissons said this shed was bigger and had more amenities than the one he took to auction in June, and with the housing market now firmly on the rise, he could well be making international headlines once again.
No.18 goes to auction on November 28, and Sissons told OneRoof that it could well be the last that hits the open market for some time. “This is big, and rare and pretty flash. It won’t come up again,” he said.
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He reckoned that six Ngapipi boatsheds have changed hands in the last five years. “The others have had major work done and they’re not going anywhere,” he said.
“I know of one being completely rebuilt from the piles up; there are still a few working with live boats but a lot of them now are day baches. People are buying them and preserving, upgrading them to preserve their heritage and they really will be looked after for future generations. They’re future proofing.
“It’s an important part of Auckland’s heritage, and it’s gone full circle. When they originally started, they were passed down from generation to generation and we’ve come back to that. People want to get them spruced up to stay in the generations and pass them down.”
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The owner of No.18 told OneRoof the shed wasn’t much to look at when he picked it up 25 years ago. The previous owner had turned it into a dumping ground for junk and had even added a mezzanine floor so it could hold more rubbish.
He said in those days the sheds didn’t come on to the open market. “Somebody whispered to me it was for sale, and I got in contact with the owner, and we did a deal. I don’t remember what we paid,” he said.
He quickly set about transforming it into a retreat for his family. “It was perfect for the kids growing up. It was party central. So nice to have a hub on the water in central Auckland – a bit like a garage for the boys.”
The 135sqm boatshed had a $300,000 makeover four years ago. Photo / Supplied
The open-plan living room and kitchen opens to a mezzanine floor with another sitting area, office and yoga room. Photo / Supplied
About four years ago, the owner leased the shed to a company running a marine-related charter business. “They spent around $300,000 re-fitting it with a full bathroom, second toilet and kitchen, its own holding tanks for grey water and black water.”
As well as glamorous chandeliers and marble tiles in the open-plan living and kitchen space, the occupants carved out a lobby area and small games room on the ground floor, while upstairs there is a yoga room and an office in addition to the meeting room that gets water views. The owner said the boat ramp is a working one, that still has the original winch to pull up a boat on a cradle.
There is a games room off the ground floor area. Photo / Supplied
The mezzanine was fitted out with a meeting space with views of the sea. Photo / Supplied
The iconic boatsheds have unsurpassed views of the city over Whakatakataka Bay. Photo / Supplied
Owners of the boatsheds only have a maritime licence to occupy and are forbidden to use them as a residence.
The shed that sold under the hammer in June didn’t have a toilet but it did have screen cred, having been used as the “office” setting for the hit TV show David Lomas Investigates.
Its sale price was more than double Auckland’s median house price and well above the previous price record of $1.35m for a Ngapipi boatshed.
- Boatshed 18/1 Ngapipi Road, Orakei, goes to auction November 28
