- An abandoned Huntly convent was sold for $275,000 to a well-known local interested in restoration.

- The buyer plans to create an apartment and office, with potential for accommodation and office use.

- The building's poor condition required a cash buyer, as banks wouldn't lend for necessary upgrades.

An abandoned Huntly convent that was once investigated for paranormal activity has been snapped up by a mysterious local for $275,000.

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Bayleys listing agent Josh Smith could not reveal the identity of the new owner, but confirmed the 1931 heritage protected building had been bought by someone well known in the town.

The new owner’s exact plans for the landmark site were still evolving, Smith said, but he was considering creating an apartment and office in the building.

“He's just fascinated with old buildings, loves them and wants to restore it. He's got ideas that he could do accommodation in part of it and then utilise some of it as office for himself.”

The heritage-listed former convent on Great South Road, in Huntly, was bought by someone well-known in the town. Photo / Supplied

The building was rebuilt in 1931 after a fire destroyed the original convent. Photo / Supplied

The heritage-listed former convent on Great South Road, in Huntly, was bought by someone well-known in the town. Photo / Supplied

Paranormal investigator Mark Wallbank has given the former convent a "clean" bill of health. Photo / Janna Dixon

Although public interest in the buyer’s plans would be high, Smith said the buyer has opted to remain out of the spotlight. “I did contact him, he just said he wants to leave it at the moment because he's reasonably well known in the area. He'll make a splash if he wants to do something later on.”

Smith said the sale of the convent, which has been a prominent sight on Great South Road for almost 100 years, had turned heads and brought a number of potential buyers out of the woodwork.

The commercial real estate agent had over 100 enquiries during the campaign in December last year. "It could have sold on auction day, but [the vendor] held out for a bit more, [which] they did get a bit more in the long run, albeit not a huge amount more.”

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A lot of people had ideas around turning the convent into a destination venue and more than one potential buyer had dreams of turning it into a bespoke brewery or gin distillery or even a B&B.

“People had this fantasy of what they could do with it, but the reality is once you went through the building, there's no wiring, there was vandalism everywhere. You needed everything. Every single window was broken.

“So, we had lots of fascinating ideas of what you could do, but the reality is it's limited by someone who had the cash at the ready, because no banks were going to lend on it.”

The heritage-listed former convent on Great South Road, in Huntly, was bought by someone well-known in the town. Photo / Supplied

Paranormal investigator Mark Wallbank, pictured far right, enjoyed photographing and documenting the building. Photo / Janna Dixon

Smith said buyers realised the cost to upgrade the building meant it needed to be more than simply accommodation to live in. "The cost to bring it up to that standard wasn't cost effective. You had to generate extra income from it.”

The current owner Taupiri farmer Graham Harkness told OneRoof at the time of listing the old building that he bought it on a whim almost 20 years ago.

However, the Global Financial Crisis got in the way of his ambitious plans to turn the heritage-listed property into an eye-catching home, great destination restaurant or an upmarket boutique hotel. Instead, he had watched it slowly deteriorate and be destroyed by vandals ever since.

The St Anthony’s convent, complete with “cells” where six nuns lived, was built with Huntly clay and Rimu wood floors in 1931 after an earlier convent building burned down.

The Romanesque-style building was sold by the church after a school that the nuns taught at was relocated in 1986 and the government brought in a requirement for teachers to be state trained. It moved into private ownership and before Harkness bought it, it was used for a number of purposes including a television repair shop and a lolly shop.

There was also a rumour that the convent was haunted. This caught the attention of one of New Zealand’s leading paranormal investigators. Mark Wallbank, who runs Paranormal New Zealand, went through the building in 2015 looking for ghosts. He eventually concluded that it wasn’t haunted, but he still enjoyed photographing and documenting it.

Smith said the sale was bittersweet for Harkness, who has found some closure.

“For him, it's a weight off the shoulders, and he doesn’t have to worry anymore. When people destroy your passion and your costs escalate to the point it's not worth doing anything anymore, it's sort of heartbreaking, we think.”

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