A 1960s do-up has hit the market in Wellington – and it comes with a lot of history and love, an RV of $1.46 million, and a colourful array of vintage carpets and wallpaper.
The three-bedroom home for sale at 103 Churchill Drive, Crofton Downs, belonged to Phyllis and David Oliver, and as listing agent Anita Corlett, of Lowe & Co, makes clear in her marketing, it is bursting with charm and quirkiness.
Phyllis died in 2016 and David died several years later. Their daughter told OneRoof the couple were very much in love and that love was reflected in their home and their lives.
David was known in Wellington for his debonair, but colourful fashion sense, helped along by the fact he’d married a talented seamstress. His outfits were always eye-catching and always coordinated, his daughter told OneRoof. “He would have a maroon suit with a pink and cream shirt and maroon hat.
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“Mum made all his suits and his shirts and when mum could no longer do that, he used to choose his own material in town at the various shops and take it to a tailor.”
She added: “They were a stunning couple, both of them.”
Come race day, the neighbours would stand goggle-eyed when Phyllis and David headed to Trentham. “Mum would make new outfits every year. The neighbours would stand at the windows and wave to them. And with the little leftover pieces of material, my dolls got new clothes.”
The kitchen is quirky and a testament to the late owners’ ingenuity and taste. Photo / Supplied
Phyllis and David Oliver loved dressing up. Photo / Supplied
The purple bedroom still boasts a similarly coloured shagpile carpet. Photo / Supplied
The couple’s love of colour can be seen in the house decor. “Dad did like his colour and things were eclectic. The house still has the old Axminster carpet on the floor. And it has zany different wallpapers. They’re all mismatched all over the place,” she said.
David was a sheet metal worker by trade and he expanded the basement to house his home-built caravan and spent some 50 years tinkering with the house. He worked up into his 90s, his daughter said.
“The kitchen was done by him – the whole lot. The walls are stippled with tiny chips of stone in it. If he bought a microwave, he wouldn’t just put it on a bench, he would make brackets for it, because he had the know-how to do things,” she said. “Everything was done slightly different to what everyone else would do.”
The late owners’ daughter says the wallpaper is different in every room. Photo / Supplied
The basement garage was a workshop that gave birth to all sorts of gadgets and gizmos. Photo / Supplied
The three-bedroom property has an RV of $1.46m. Photo / Supplied
He lined the cupboards with stainless steel, curved around the front; he built a lift to get from the basement to the living area; and he installed a one-of-its-kind drier in the laundry.
“He was very, very clever mathematically and he loved gadgets. So, if he could design and make something that made life easier, he did it.” Virtually everything he built comes with a handwritten manual and service record.
“The ‘60s decor actually stayed, although he updated bits and pieces. He always chose the best of everything for the time, so if anything was new, dad would look in to see if it suited him and whether it was a viable proposition and it was always the best. He wouldn’t buy cheap stuff.”
One of the more unique rooms of the house is lavender, with a purple shagpile carpet. It was the best bedroom growing up that a 1970s girl could want, David’s daughter said, adding that her dad used the purple shagpile offcuts in her car when she was old enough to drive.
- 103 Churchill Drive, in Crofton Downs, Wellington, is for sale, deadline closing November 14
