A vintage villa in New Zealand's most expensive suburb is being listed for sale as a do-up opportunity.
The 430sqm property at 71 Albany Road, in Herne Bay, Auckland, has been owned by the same family for more than 80 years and has a rateable value of $2.45 million.
It is being marketed for sale by Custom Residential agents John Wills and Nic Blackie.
Villa do-ups in Herne Bay, and neighbouring Ponsonby and Grey Lynn, have been increasingly difficult to find, with much of the suburb's original housing stock having been renovated and updated to modern living standards.
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71 Albany Road is a rarity in that it boasts the original layout.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said: "The style and standard of the houses for sale in general remains an object of fascination for many of us. With everything looking so ‘cool’ and so sophisticated, it can sometimes feel quite refreshing to look to the past, when practicality and longevity were the hallmarks of New Zealand home-ownership and decor.
"71 Albany Road has been in the same family for many decades and it would appear that the last significant update was probably around the 1970s.
"A lot of water has gone under the decorating bridge since then and it’s pretty rare to find such a classic example of the ‘orange and brown’ days, which were a thing in New Zealand around the time that Rob Muldoon was in power and money was scarce – not to mention variety, with practically no imported homewares available on the market.
"Muldoon’s motto was to ‘think big’ and that’s exactly what kiwi decorators did, in terms of colour and pattern back then. Who, perhaps aged in their 50s now, doesn’t remember the classic Axminster carpet and garish orange striped wallpaper that made a style statement in hundreds of Kiwi houses?
"It was designed to last forever but perhaps in Albany Road, the time has come to move on!"
