The West Auckland country estate owned by the actor who played Óin, one of the dwarves in Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, sold at auction this weekend.
Actor John Callen and wife Judy were selling the home they’d bought 2015, after Callen had finished flying around the country filming The Hobbit.
The actor, director and voice over artist will be forever known as Óin, who with his brother Glóin accompanies hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Óin is the warrior/apothecary and the fire-starter in the band and his nephew, Glóin’s son, Gimli goes on to become part of the famous Fellowship of the Ring.
Callen said the Forest Hill Road home in Waiatarua was his magic place, but he will now be packing up his hobbit memorabilia including Óin’s fighting staff that was gifted to him at the end of filming, to travel like a conventional human.
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Harcourts agent Nicky Malloy, who marketed the five-bedroom house set on over four hectares with Mark Molloy, told OneRoof that it was a homecoming of sorts for the buyers.
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“They are an iconic West Auckland family coming back to West Auckland. They are well known and were brought up in West Auckland.
“They’d been living in other parts of Auckland and realised what they were missing, so were ready to make that change,” she said.
Molloy said the buyers were not actively looking for a new home but saw the property and realised this was the one.
“He came to the open home and said, ‘My wife likes it; I have to buy it for her’. That’s gorgeous, as it was not the bargain end of the market for this area.”
Callen in full dwarf garb. He played the dwarf Óin and had some memorable scenes involving his fighting staff in Sir Peter's prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Photo / Warner Bros
The villa on over four hectares has a main house, self-contained guest cottage and sweeping gardens. Photo / Supplied
Molloy could not comment on the price for the property – which includes a four-bedroom bay-fronted villa, a second one-bedroom home and an art studio/cottage – except to say it was well over its CV of $2.15 million.
“It was a pretty good price. I was very happy with it, and the neighbours were very happy too,” she said. She had earlier told OneRoof that such luxury executive homes were rare in this part of West Auckland, so close to the city.
Molloy said many of the buyers looking at the property were older couples looking for a home for multi-generational living. She said that at the luxury end of the market, while there were not huge numbers through, the buyers were well qualified, although many had houses to sell.
The auction was nail-biting, with only one bidder ready to buy unconditionally – a situation which Harcourts auctioneer Aaron Davis turned around.
“You know, a lot of people are quite nervous if there’s only one bidder, they feel that it’s not going to work. We can certainly reassure [people] and tell them that it’s absolutely not true.
“We’ve sold hundreds of properties by auction with one bidder, that’s where the brilliance of a top auctioneer is,” she said.
“It took a one-on-one negotiation, probably 15 minutes.”
Molloy said that the price also put paid to some buyer myths still circulating at the end of the year.
The country kitchen features a bright red Belling cooker. Photo / Supplied
The villa retains many of its original features. Photo / Supplied
“People are saying ‘nothing is selling over CV’, but that’s not true. We’ve sold some extraordinary properties that have gone over CV.
“People know these sorts of properties are hard to replace, because most land is so chopped up. This is something that is still so close, you’re still centrally located but still have a lifestyle.”
Callan had earlier told OneRoof that the family, which included his wife’s artist sister and husband, had transformed the house since they bought it for $1.9m. The sisters turned empty paddocks into a country garden of perennials and added a second legal dwelling and another art studio.
“It was a wonderful place to find, and we’ve developed it to be even more wonderful. Nobody knows it’s there, it’s so private,” Callan said.
The family added a pergola and garden shed, restored the pond, fed by a freshwater spring, and added an outdoor bathtub, a large vegetable patch, an outdoor fireplace that could be converted into a pizza oven and decks that can host a band and crowd of 50 for parties.
Inside the couple decorated and installed sky lights. The villa has the sash windows, wood floors and high ceilings of the Victorian original, but enhanced by heating and solar power.
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