A Waikato home built using a dozen steel shipping containers that made international headlines and accrued thousands of Facebook followers has hit the market again.
The current owners Esther and Warwick Sargisson fell in love with the grand 320sqm container home at 32 Ranby Road, in Ōhaupō, after David Wade put his passion project up for sale in 2021.
Warwick spotted a write-up about the five-bedroom, three-bathroom house that had been constructed using new shipping containers in the newspaper and showed his wife.
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The couple, who were naturally drawn to different houses, decided to go and have a look at it. “We’ve always bought unusual houses,” Esther said.
They took their two granddaughters, who along with their mum were living with them, and they all instantly fell in love with it. “We were just being nosey really.”
One of the granddaughters had saved up $3 and offered to give it to them if it would help, Esther recalled.
The large symmetrical staircase and fire station doors that open the entire front of the house to the outside are standout features of the house. Photo / Supplied
The large open-plan living has a high ceiling and includes a kitchen made from stainless steel and shipping container offcuts. Photo / Supplied
“They said, ‘we really need too buy this house Nan’.”
The couple had been living in a lock up and leave with no lawn in Rototuna so said a move to a 6621sqm lifestyle block had been a big change for two self-described “cityites” in their 70s.
The separate two-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage was also another drawcard because they had rented it out for additional income after selling their previous investment property to fund the Ohaupo property, which they paid $1.8 million for.
Other extras included a 140sqm garage that was built to hold the 12 containers while the property was being built and a swimming pool made from concrete and timber but with similar dimensions as a container.
Warwick said the property appealed to them because it was different and had clear views of Lake Rotomanuka out to the south and a rural aspect out to the north.
The master bedroom has serene views out to Lake Rotomanuka. Photo / Supplied
“We don’t bother closing our blinds and we wake up to a view of the lake and the sunrises, which is on occasions is quite spectacular,” he said.
Since owning it, they spent about $100,000 putting their own touches on the property including adding wardrobes and finishing the house.
Esther said it was a very easy house to live in and didn’t feel like you were living in a container when you were inside.
“We love it. It’s a good house to live in. It keeps cool in the summer – we just open the doors on both sides downstairs and get a lovely flow of cool air through. But it’s a very warm house in the winter as well – it’s surprising.”
However, because they were getting older, and their grandchildren were now attending schools in Hamilton, they had decided it was time to downsize to a more manageable garden closer to the city.
“The decision we made at the time to move out here was a good one. I’m sure I’m going to miss it like heck. But you’ve got to go with what’s best for everybody,” she said.
“People when they come up the drive, they say ‘wow, this is amazing’.”
The container home was a passion project of Waikato man David Wade who set himself an ambitious goal to create and design a home from the 20ft containers. The build took around months from pouring foundations to being ready to move in.
It was inspired by a similar house in Maine that was designed by famous American engineer Adam Kalkin and is believed to be the only container house like it in Australasia.
Wade, an engineer by trade, used two sets of six 20ft containers stacked on top of each other and joined by a massive atrium, which is 8m high at its tallest point, with a kitchen, dining and two living rooms. Upstairs are bedrooms and bathrooms that were all made from containers.
A separate cottage on the property could be rented out long-term, run as an Airbnb or even used as an office space. Photo / Supplied
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage provides a lucrative rental income for the current owners. Photo / Supplied
A Facebook page, Ohaupo Container House, dedicated to the build was set up and now has 6900 followers. The unusual building also caught the attention of both local and international media and was voted the top container home by an international publication in 2020, as well as being named the top container home in NZ by Livinginacontainer! in 2021.
Lugtons agent Jamie Barakat, who is co-marketing the property with Stevie Whyte, said it was the first container house he had sold or come across in the Waikato. It ticked all the boxes, he said, from a pool to a second dwelling.
“A family could live in the main dwelling because it is stunning, super unique and then they could have a B&B in that unit, they could have their parents living in that unit, they could rent it out fully, the previous owners ran a business out of there ... it actually opens itself out to a huge market really.
“It’s not a four-bedroom, four-bathroom in Rototuna – it’s got so much going for it.”
People felt like they were on holiday as soon as they entered the home, he said, adding that some of his favourite features included the floor-to-ceiling, massive glass fire station door that opened the entire side of the house to the outdoors, and the large symmetrical staircase, which was a demolition find.
The property, which has an RV of $2.08 million, is going to auction on April 24. Barakat said it was too early to give a price indication because they were waiting to get buyer feedback.
- 32 Ranby Road, in Ohaupo, Waipa, goes to auction on April 24
