Meet Aucklanders Trev and Stacy. They are the Kylie and Jason of Marsden Avenue, in Mount Eden. They are the good neighbours who became good friends and now “boyfriend and girlfriend”.
The couple are selling their homes and are all set to move in together.
Retiree Trev is making the first move. He is selling his large four-bedroom house at 35A Marsden Avenue, Mt Eden, with Bayleys agent Nick Gilbert. Partner Stacy will list her house over the road at number 38 and then join Trev in the new townhouse he has recently bought in neighbouring Ponsonby.
Trev and Stacey, who asked to keep their surnames private, told OneRoof they wanted a lock-up-and-leave home. Both have grown-up children from previous relationships now living overseas and they are looking to travel more.
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The long-time neighbours told OneRoof they got to know each other while walking their dogs. “That was as far as Stacy and I went, we just sort of waved down and said hi and walk past each other and that was it,” Trev said.
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It wasn’t until some time after Trev’s wife, Louise, died of cancer in 2020 that the pair got together, sharing a love of the outdoors, red wine, dogs and travel.
Trev laughed that living across the road from each other was perfect to begin with – as they didn’t have to worry about driving home. “Trev does still offer to call me an Uber,” Stacy said.
Trev reckons that Stacy’s design touch in their new shared home will help boost what he calls his “blokey” style.
Two of their four kids are based in the UK so they’ve already had great New Zealand and European trips, including one to Spain this winter for Trev’s son’s wedding but now they want to do more.
Trev is selling his huge four-bedroom modern home at 35A Marsden Avenue, Mt Eden, first with an auction on November 20. Photo / Supplied
The big family home has multiple sitting areas indoors and outdoors as well as a study. Photo / Supplied
Trev and his late wife Louise had bought number 35A in 2010 when their kids – now 28 to 34 – were all still at home. The then two-year-old house had two living areas and a separate dining room, a gas fireplace in the covered outdoor entertaining area and a spa pool.
“But it’s too big for one person, I’m rattling around with four bedrooms and a study. It’s a lovely home and it’s easy to look after, but it needs to have a family in here,” Trev said.
Stacy said she moved from Epsom to Mt Eden 13 years ago with her daughter, who is now 28. “It’s a lovely community. You feel really safe and people have been here for lifetimes,” she said.
She thinks her house, a renovated 1920s English bungalow-style house, will also appeal to young families.
The outdoor area includes a fireplace and spa pool. Photo / Supplied
The couple don’t want to compete with each so have sequenced their listings.
“We’ve each got reasons for liking our own properties, what drew us to them in the first place. It’s an interesting exercise, watching Trev go through the process as what happens for his sale will determine what we do next,” Stacy said.
Gilbert told OneRoof his colleagues had dubbed him the “real estate matchmaker”. He met Trev at the Bayleys stand at a recent Auckland Home Show and, when he heard his story, offered to appraise the home. Once Trev had found the Ponsonby place, Stacy called him too to sell her home.
Gilbert couldn’t say what price number 35A, which has a CV of $2.95 million, might fetch at auction but said interest had been high, with a couple of bidders already registered.
He wisely would not go on the record estimating what Stacy’s house would fetch too but said the two styles of properties – one modern, one traditional – would likely appeal to different buyers.
- 35A Marsden Avenue, Mount Eden, Auckland, goes to auction November 20
