A landmark villa on one of Auckland's most prestigious streets has sold after just eight days on the market.
Ray White Parnell agent Dean Tuffley, who marketed the vacant five-bedroom home on a 1553 sqm site on Bassett Road, in Remuera, was unable to disclose the price but said it sold for more than its CV of $6.9m.
“I was there every day since the house went on the market with private viewings and we had a significant number of people attending the open home,” Tuffley said.
“Its location and position, its view, the shape of the land with a flat backyard, in double grammar zone – it had everything. But the resounding feeling was it was too much work.”
Start your property search
Tuffley could not disclose the identity of the buyer, but said he was experienced in the industry so knew what he was doing.
“You’re looking at a $4m to $5m project, it really needs to start again. He’ll bring in a heritage architect, he will restore it and has magnificent plans.
“It’s an iconic home,” he said, adding that negotiations moved quickly over five days, with the deal sealed last night.
The owner's son had earlier told OneRoof that his father had snapped up the property in 1969, at a time when it had fallen into shabbiness and been divided into four flats.
He bought the home within 10 minutes of seeing just one of the flats, recognising that the property had special qualities.
Known as Tiromoana, but originally named Medina, the storied house was built in the late 1800s and had royal connections.
In the 1920s it had hosted the Duke and Duchess of York, who would later become King George VI and the Queen Consort, parents of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Some original features such as the staircase, stained glass windows and ceilings remained after the house was cut into four flats. Photo / Supplied
The house, known as Tiromoana, had hosted the Duke and Duchess of York when they visited New Zealand in the 1920s. Photo / Supplied
Through the 1940s the home served as a hospital, overseen by two sisters who served as nurses during the First World War and the Russian Revolution.
“The possibility for the buyer to create their dream is a rare prospect. It’s seldom that properties in premium addresses such as this become available to the open market,” Tuffley said.
The previous owner gradually restored the mansion back to a working home, knocking down walls and retaining the original grand staircase, fireplaces, decorative plaster ceilings, stained glass and some of the kauri floors, and opening up the generously proportioned rooms and broad halls.
The house has five bedrooms and a turret on the top floor, believed to be used by the home’s first owner, a shipping captain, to look out to the harbour and Rangitoto.
The owner’s son earlier told OneRoof the family would love someone to restore the home to its former grandeur, and Tuffley said both buyer and seller are delighted the heritage mansion will finally get the attention it deserves.
- Additional reporting Gabrielle Nooijen
