You wait for one historic home to turn up ....

You wait for one historic home to come on the market, and then two suddenly turn up at the same time.

A grand 19th century house and a near century-old bungalow that sits next door are being sold, offering buyers a rare opportunity to grab a slice of history and a huge section of land.

Together, 35 and 31 Grey Street, in Onehunga, Auckland, create a rare plot of more than 2100sqm.

Onehunga has some of Auckland’s oldest houses, some still on big sections that were carved off former farmland.

Inside the grand house at 35 Grey Street. Photo / Supplied

Back in the 19th century, one of the big-wigs in the area was Charles Colville Fleming, a miller and merchant with his two brothers. He had a brief stint as mayor in 1887, but his enduring legacy is the gracious two storied house of nearly 300sqm on 35 Grey Street.

>>> Find out more about 31 Grey street

Known as Clyde House, it was built between 1879 and 1882 in concrete gothic revival style that would have reminded the Scotsman of his home, complete with a marble fire surround imported from Aberdeen. In those days Onehunga was the huge port, the main shipping route to Sydney and beyond to Europe.

“Today there are still five fireplaces - now converted to gas - and a wood stove in the kitchen,” says Bayleys agent Lindy Lawton, who is marketing the property, alongside the neighbouring bungalow. “Fifteen years ago, it was sold by radio personality Kevin Black, Blackie, who had retained and restored many of the features.”

>>> Find out more about 31 Grey street

The present owners then got really lucky, when the 1920s bungalow next door on 31 Grey Street came on the market, snapping up the two-bedroom bungalow on 680sqm as a guest house for extended family visiting from overseas.

Part of the area’s heritage precinct, in a single house zone, 35 can’t be bowled for apartments or townhouses although 31 Grey St is mixed housing urban.

The neighbouring home is a bungalow built in the 1920s. Photo / Supplied

The street is one of several on the western side of Onehunga known for their remarkable historic homes. In its day, before modern roads and port, it was the ‘nob hill’ of the area, with views to the south across the Manukau, Jellicoe Park over the road and not far from One Tree Hill. Clyde House is now surrounded by mature puriri and other trees, but the views are glorious from number 31 next door.

“In the early days there was a tennis court below the house, it was pretty special,” says Lawton. “But there’s still plenty of room for kids’ cricket and garden parties.”

Black, a bit of an historic house buff, researched the house's construction, finding foot thick scoria blocks bracing each corner, and kauri "floats" or planks that aid the stability of the concrete block walls. Many of the original windows and leadlights are original, much of the internal fittings are pit-sawn kauri. There are high-high-ceilings in the formal rooms, charming pitched ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms and a modern kitchen opening to a conservatory dining area, another modern addition.

The verandah roof was designed to provide shade in summer, but let sunshine into the house during winter, with a glassed in Florida room to shelter from wind or rain.

Black learned that the dining room had hosted dinner parties for Governor George Grey, although more recently, the crowds were for legendary Blackie-style music industry parties. The old Onehunga Borough Council bought it in 1937, using it as a boys' home during the war. A walnut and macadamia nut trees are remnants of the larger farm orchard.

The houses go to tender April 10.