- A West Auckland shack with an RV of $1.175m has been sold to a man with a childhood connection to the property.
- The buyer, who played there in the 1980s, aims to restore the weed-covered house and its historic cable car.
- The property, bought for $400,000 in 2012, was part of Oratia’s former hippy community.
A run-down West Auckland shack, billed as a do-up of “epic proportions”, has found a new owner with a strong connection to the property.
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The deceased estate on West Coast Road has an RV of $1.175 million and was one of the last remnants of Oratia’s once-vibrant hippy community.
OneRoof reported last month that the late owner’s brother was looking for a buyer with a “strong heart” and a good “aura”. Karma must have been at work because it was snapped up by a man who used to live next door
The two-bedroom weatherboard shack has seen better days but is said to be solid. Photo / Supplied
The buyer, who asked not to be named, told OneRoof he spent his early childhood playing at the bush-clad property in the 1980s. “They [the then owners] had this neat cable car that went up and back to the house. They used to let me ride up and down on it.”
He added: “It’s really nice to complete that cycle. I wouldn’t have bought it without the connection.”
The late owner had bought the property in 2012 for $400,000. His brother told OneRoof that he “bought it off this lovely, kind, hippie woman who sold it to him because she liked his aura”.
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“I thought it was very cute. My brother was a kind and generous person, so I guess she was picking up that he was a very gentle soul.”
When his brother bought the property, he found multiple, partially-built living quarters scattered around the block, plus a house bus on the driveway. “There is another ruined house down the side of the section way into the bush,” he told OneRoof.
The late owner had plans to revitalise the property, but according to his brother, “he was always off helping someone else and sorting out their plumbing, when maybe he should have been sorting out his own”.
The property offers 1.43ha of bushland in the Waitakere Heritage Zone. Photo / Supplied
“I suggested an architecturally designed house would be a great way to improve the section, but that wasn’t really his cup of tea.”
The new owner said he was aware of the challenge he was taking on. “The house is covered in weeds, and I would love to see it restored. The house has quite a lot of history. It was moved onto the property about 50 years ago.
“The cable car is still there. I am going to see if it is in any condition to restore.”
Barfoot & Thompson agent Jackie Ostrowski, who marketed the property, declined to reveal the sale price but said there had been strong interest in the property from Auckland and beyond.
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