A four-bedroom “shagadelic” pad in Hawke's Bay is grooving big time to Austin Powers, baby.
Harcourts agent Edward Smith plays the theme tune to the billion-dollar spy movie series at his open homes for 156 Porangahau Road, in Waipukurau – and the 1960s beats are going down a treat.
It’s a total time-warp house, says Smith, pointing to the vintage decor.
The over-the-top Axminster-style carpets are psychedelic and there's a stuffed deer head that loom large over the spacious living room-cum-dance floor. The kitchen is green and copper and the double bedrooms have a groovy vibe.
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All of it is in need of some tender care, with Smith calling on buyers to bring their imagination to elevate “fantastic retro living” into a “contemporary masterpiece”.
“It’s a true Austin Powers house,” Smith says. “In its day it would have been the bee's knees with the bold colours, psychedelic wallpaper and everything from that era.
“I call the main bedroom the honeymoon suite. It has got the true ‘70s party vibe. The whole house is open plan.” Add to that a fabulous build quality, and big open spaces. “You could really turn it into something quite funky.”
The first time Smith walked through the door he found himself uttering Powers catchphrase: “Yeah, baby!”
“It’s a psychedelic, shagadelic type of place,” he says, adding that the house is looking for buyers with around $595,000 to spend.
156 Porangahau Road, in Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay, is on the market priced at $595,000. Photo / Supplied
A deer head is one of the home’s many standout features. Photo / Supplied
The retro décor doesn’t stop at the toilet door. Photo / Supplied
One of the double bedrooms – your honeymoon suite awaits. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is copper and green – yeah, baby! Photo / Supplied
The house is looking for a buyer who loves the funky vibe – or has the imagination to turn the home into a contemporary masterpiece. Photo / Supplied
The Austin Powers pad isn't the only time-warp home on the market for sale.
More nana’s pride and joy than spy boudoir is a three-bedroom home at 4 Grant Avenue, Otara, Auckland, which is largely presented in its original condition.
The house, which goes to auction on March 28 and has a 2021 CV of $1 million, hasn’t been on the market since the early 1970s.
Ray White agent Levani Lum-On says the property is one to watch. “I’m quite in awe of the house. I haven’t seen anything of this age in such good condition. Some properties have remnants from the old days, but they’re really dilapidated,” he says.
"It has been really well looked after and they’ve had the same gardener for 20 years. When you have something quite old like this one, you can really appreciate the workmanship that was put into the decor."
Lum-On says there is a growing trend of young buyers keeping some of the original décor from mid-century homes. Even if they plan a major overhaul of the property, they often sell off the vintage carpets, which are in high demand to make rugs.
The largely untouched interior decor of 4 Grant Avenue, in Otara, Auckland, which goes to auction on March 28. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is bright and of its era. Photo / Supplied
Kiwi icon Lyn of Tawa would be in heaven if she turned up to the open home for 20 Findlay Street, in her home suburb.
Uninhibited creative impulses are on full display in the décor choices of the four-bedroom Wellington house, which is for sale by way of deadline sale, closing March 29.
Vintage floral wallpaper in the dining room will stop viewers in their tracks. “When you walk in you are greeted by the formal dining room and the wallpaper is in absolutely pristine condition. It’s not often you come across properties like this,” says listing agent Kylie Lyne, of Clark & Co.
“The home has been owned by the same person since it was built. Keeping the wallpaper in the formal dining room and matching curtains and tassels and the master bedroom is definitely on their cards. Everything is matched. It’s almost like going into a little museum. Or a little art gallery of that era.”
The extremely vivid dining room at 20 Findlay Street, in Tawa, Wellington. Photo / Supplied
A more muted colour scheme is at play in one of the main bedrooms. Photo / Supplied
In Tamahere, Waikato, a four-bedroom home at 803F Bruntwood Road is an insight into what top-end Kiwi homes looked like in the 1970s and 1980s.
Kristen Gould, sales consultant at Lugtons, says the four-bedroom home, known as Tudor Pines, sits on a 5ha site and was built almost 50 years ago by Gillett Construction, which has been building high-end homes in the region since 1958.
“This would have been quite the home in its day,” says Gould.
“Apart from things like washers, the only thing they’ve replaced is the hob in the kitchen. Curtains, carpets, light fittings. Everything is original.”
That includes the original 1980s dishwasher, which has only been used by the 80-year-old owner three times in its life – the most recent to check that it still works perfectly.
The property, which is priced at $1.9m, also has the original 1980s water feature in the entranceway that could be brought back to life, and a homemade Macramé light-fitting in one of the bedrooms that wouldn’t go astray in a high-end lighting shop in 2023.
803F Bruntwood Road, in Tamahere, Waikato, is priced to sell at $1.9m. Photo / Supplied
If light green is your thing, then the kitchen is a winner. Photo / Supplied
What high-end dining rooms in the 1980s used to look like. Photo / Supplied
The patterned wallpaper decor continues in the bedrooms. Photo / Supplied
Buyers either love the décor at 37 Bill Hercock Street, in Pirimai, Napier, or they just can’t wait to get rid of it, says Tremains agent Vicki Dransfield.
Some intend to keep the 50-year-old wallpaper, built-in cabinets and servery. Others want to modernise the property. “One buyer is very keen on keeping the décor. They say it really takes them back,” says Dransfield.
The servery between the kitchen and dining room is a particularly well looked after feature. It’s where 1960s housewives kept their preserves, a trend that has re-emerged thanks to the Covid pandemic, says Dransfield.
Some of the other built-in furniture, such as the bathroom and kitchen cabinetry, wouldn’t go amiss in a museum. “It’s very well looked after,” she says.
Dransfield is expecting a multi-offer situation on the three-bedroom property, which has a 2020 RV of $620,000 and is for sale by negotiation.
The vendors of 37 Bill Hercock Street, in Pirimai, Napier, are determined to sell. Photo / Supplied
Buyers either love the decor or they want to get rid of it. Photo / Supplied
Another time capsule home, whose decor might not survive a makeover, is 28 Wilsher Crescent, in Henderson, Auckland. Listing agents Alana Whyman and Peter Hickey, of Ray White, love the vibe but recognise buyers will be looking to put their own stamp on the three-bedroom home, which is for sale for $850,000.
“Most people who are coming through are saying: ‘oh wow it’s quite unique’,” says Whyman. “But most buyers are looking for something to redevelop. It would be an easy upgrade because the wallpaper is in such good condition.
Whyman’s favourite period feature is the wallpaper. “Normally you’d walk into a place like that and there would be ripped corners or lifting all over the place, whereas there’s hardly any of that.”
Listing agent Alana Whyman says her favourite feature of 28 Wilsher Crescent, in Henderson, Auckland, is the wallpaper. Photo / Supplied
In Christchurch, Garry Huata, of Mike Pero Real Estate, is in love with the original character features at 19 Gainsborough Street, in Hoon Hay.
Huata says the two-bedroom home is “ripe for renovation”, but he recognises that many period features, including the original stove, won’t be kept by potential buyers.
The vintage kitchen at 19 Gainsborough Street, in Hoon Hay, Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
