An award-winning eco-friendly house built on a small sloping section in Hataitai, Wellington, has sold after multiple offers were made from people drawn to the home’s unique sustainable features.
Wellington builder come architectural designer Tim Wernham-Doo and his partner Tara Brady put their Rakau Road home on the market in October and are now looking at a move north to build again.
Ray White Wellington listing agent Ben Atwill was unable to disclose the price until after settlement, but said it was a “phenomenal result”.
The amount of interest the property attracted was “out-of-the-box", he said, with 85 groups going through the open homes and a further 16 groups arranging private viewings.
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Those drawn to the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home were mostly architects, designers and artists looking to move to an eco-friendly property, he said.
The couple, who built a lot of the interior by hand, sourced as many natural and sustainable materials as they could, including wind-felled Totara on the floors, wool insulation in the walls and magnesium oxide board instead of the common GIB plasterboard to line the walls. Chemical free paints and oils were also used to finish the house off.
The interiors of the house are stylish and contemporary. Photo / Supplied
The house was made from natural and sustainable materials. Photo / Supplied
“This was driving people that weren’t potentially considering selling coming in and having a look and getting quite inspired to make a move.”
It also highlighted the demand for both greener and smaller low-maintenance homes which Atwill said are quite hard to find.
“It seemed like a lot of the clients were quite busy in their career or lifestyle and the house needed to suit that.”
Multiple offers were presented once the deadline for the tender closed and it was snapped up by local buyers wanting a lock and leave close to the central city.
All except one of the offers were from cash buyers, which Atwill said was relatively uncommon.
“Most buyers at the moment are putting in heavy conditions. We are noticing a lot more subject to sales coming through, but it seems that if the property is quite straight forward and there’s good interest, a lot of those conditions are melting away again.”
Wernham-Doo earlier told OneRoof that the Rakau Road property was his first challenge as a newly trained architect designer, while also giving Brady a chance to develop her jewellery skills into joinery skills.
The couple’s hard work was also acknowledged at the Architectural Designers New Zealand Awards last year when the house won both the regional ADNZ award and was a national finalist for new house under 150sqm. It was also highly commended for its interiors at the regional awards.
