- A mid-century home in Matamata sold for well over its $780,000 RV.
- Agent Joanne Morgan described the Kestrel Crescent property as having a zen-like, calming quality.
- The home, designed by Jim Cotter, retained original features and a Japanese-themed garden.
People from around the country flocked to see a Japanese-themed, mid-century property in the Waikato town of Matamata, with out-of-town buyers paying well over its RV of $780,000.
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Agent Joanne Morgan, principal of Matamata Real Estate, said the Kestrel Crescent property had a zen-like feel and people loved it.
She could not reveal the price but said it blew the RV out of the water.
“We got a huge amount of interest. It’s a very, very cool property. It was just one of those properties that photographed extremely well and they had it beautiful – it was just a lovely, lovely, and a different style of property, too.”
The vendors brought the house back to life. Photo / Supplied
The courtyard and gardens are a delightful highlight of the property. Photo / Supplied
The three-bedroom property dates to the 1970s and was commissioned by a local builder, Peter Galvin, who was a major builder in the town.
A previous OneRoof article told how Galvin wanted his home to be a cut above the hundreds of new builds that were cropping up in the farming town at that time.
Galvin chose a local artist and architect, Jim Cotter, to create the look and feel of the property, the story said.
Vendors Diane and Bruce Romley told OneRoof in the previous story that Cotter represented the best of mid-century design.
“When we came to Matamata in 1978, he had a really nice little retail shop called Interior Designs,” Bruce said.
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“We used to go into his shop because he had this really funky mid-century items. He had furniture, interiors and drapes as well as architecture. And he was also quite a well-known artist.”
When they bought the Kestrel Crescent home it had been tenanted for years and was rundown and overgrown, but the couple told how they saw the potential and brought it back to “its original loveliness”.
They kept many original features, such as the floor-to-ceiling windows, and reimagined the gardens back to what they believed could have been a Japanese theme, which fitted the architecture – shoji-style doors inside gave a Japanese vibe.
Morgan said the zen-like quality was immediately apparent when walking into the house.
“When you went in there it was a very calming type of house.”
The house boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and many Japanese design touches. Photo / Supplied
The house was unusual for Matamata which had a more predominant brick and tile style of house.
In a Facebook post, Morgan said the outcome had been amazing right on Christmas.
“I am beyond words at the result achieved. Thank you for entrusting me to sell your one-of-a-kind home.”
Matamata is about two hours to Auckland and home to Hobbiton, the site of Sir Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Matamata