A character home that former National leader Simon Bridges sold two years ago for $3.8 million is back on the market for sale.
The four-bedroom house at 74 Kings Avenue, in Matua, has been pitched at buyers with $4 million-plus to spend, and comes with a new kitchen and bathroom.
The property made headlines in 2022 when Bridges and his wife Natalie listed it for sale following his departure from frontline politics. The property had passed in at auction and eventually sold for $100,000 below the asking price.
Bayleys listing agent Linda Lees said her vendor had significantly upgraded the home and the heated outdoor swimming pool since the 2022 purchase.
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The new high-end kitchen now boasts a master chef double oven, grill, warmer and five-burner gas hob that matches the other new appliances. A scullery has also been added. “The bathroom is just to die for,” Lees said.
The agent noted that the renovated property had a wonderful homely feel to it, and had been tastefully upgraded, with quality materials used.
“It’s all fitting with the whole scenario of an old character home,” she said. “Everything has just been brought up to scratch.”
A new high-quality kitchen complete with scullery was installed in the home this year. Photo / Supplied
A newly renovated upstairs bathroom is "to die for", says the agent. Photo / Supplied
The property would suit buyers moving from Auckland, Lees said, although she noted that a lot of the high-end homes in the area were in fact bought by locals. “Passive buyers, they call them. They are not really on the market and then they see something they love and they go for it.”
Meanwhile, former Labour MP Stuart Nash is still looking for a buyer for his 100-year-old Arts and Crafts style bungalow in Napier.
Nash listed the property at 60 Milton Road, Bluff Hill, in November last year and it has had several price reductions since then. The current asking price is $1.395m, which was more than a $400,000 price drop since it was first listed.
Nash told OneRoof earlier this year that he couldn’t understand why it hadn’t sold as it had been the perfect family home.
The Tauranga property has been styled to suit the home's character style. Photo / Supplied
Simon and Natalie Bridges sold the Tauranga home in 2022. Photo / Maree Wilkinson
“Everyone is wedded to their own house right and everyone thinks their own house is outstanding, but you are talking about a place that is about 1km from the centre of town, 300m from the local primary school, 260sqm on reasonably flat land on a hill and a house that was 100 years old and at the time was a really expensive build because it was made out of concrete,” he told OneRoof in April.
Nash lived in the house when he was the local MP so along with a separate office, central heating, heated pool and man-cave, it had even been fitted out with electric gates and internal and external security cameras.
The couple is selling because they have ambitious plans to transform the former Napier Courthouse on Marine Parade. Part of the property would be their family home and the other part would be a short-term rental.
- 74 Kings Avenue, in Matua, Tauranga, is for sale by way of price by negotiation
