A waterfront home renovated by one of Auckland’s top interior designers recently sold for $6.64 million, almost a $1m above what the seller paid for it three years ago.
The three-storey house at the very bottom of Victoria Avenue, in Remuera, had been turned into as short-term rental for wealthy executives, charging up to $3500 a week.
The 1990s-build house was previously owned by interior designer James Doole, who completely transformed it before selling it in early 2019 for $5.68m.
His buyer also bought,for an undisclosed sum, all the furniture and artworks with which he had dressed the house. The buyer hadn’t changed a thing when she put the house on the market at the end of last year; it was exactly as Doole had left it in 2019 - right down to portraits of the designer’s dogs and sculpture he specially commissioned for the house.
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Doole said buyers would often fall for his carefully curated interiors and offer to buy the lot.
“I can’t say what was paid for the furniture and art, but it was all custom-made for the house and worth a lot more,” he said.
Harcourts agent Marcellus Hinds-Meyer, who brokered the most recent sale, told OneRoof he had managed the three-storey house on behalf of the vendor since 2019.
“We rented it out to executives as an amazing stay for $3000 to $3500 a week,” he said.
“At the time it was the highest rate for a short-term rental, some of them were staying several months at a time.”
Artwork commissioned for the 2017 makeover stayed with the house when it sold in 2019. Photo / Supplied
The buyer of the three-bedroom house on the water on Remuera's Victoria Avenue kept all the designer's furniture and art. Photo / Supplied
Carol Lo, who marketed the property for sale with Hinds-Meyer, said interest in the property had been high. “James Doole’s reputation definitely helped with the purchase price. We had 15 private viewings with qualified buyers, people with $6m to $20m to spend.”
She added: “There is only one other property here with access to the water.”
Hinds-Meyer said that when he had first appraised the property before Doole began renovations in 2017, he’d suggested it would earn around $1200 to $1300 per week - mainly because of its location and scenic water outlook.
“Typically, it was chief executives, partners at law firms. Once we rented to corporate head-hunters as an employment package to entice overseas prospects to move to New Zealand.
“It was about that stunning coastline.”
While the agents couldn’t comment on the buyers, they said that the top end of the property market in Remuera was still very healthy.
Lo said generally buyers shopping in the $5m price range would still have a property to sell, “but anything above that, they don’t need to sell”.
Doole's luxury makeover of the 1990s house included a stone-lined bathroom. Photo / Supplied
Furniture was custom-made for the house and stayed with it when it changed hands in 2019. Photo / Supplied
Doole said that a lot of the furniture was custom-made or chosen for the house, so it made sense to leave it there and move on.
“While this was a sweet house, it needed a lot of work. It had bad joinery and I wanted to get it to the next level,” he said.
The house descends in three levels from a driveway off Victoria Avenue and includes a top-level master suite with a floor to ceiling stone en-suite, a hotel-style sunbed balcony and mini bar and mid-level open plan kitchen living and dining area, complete with marble countertop and cocktail bar. The ground floor rooms open to a courtyard and terraced gardens stepping down to the jetty, all controlled by smart phone-driven heating, security and utilities.
Doole, who works with both local celebrities as well as moneyed clients in the United States, said that New Zealand artists and craftspeople were world-class.
He wanted this home to have a luxurious up-market lodge finish, adding nautical touches as a nod to the seaside location and earthy neutral shades that reflected the tidal colours of Hobson Bay.
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