- An Auckland family is selling two Grey Lynn homes, with a combined CV of $11m-plus, after 80 years.
- The properties housed three generations and are zoned for development on a 3083sqm site.
- Some proceeds will go to charity, with the deadline sale set for June 10.
An Auckland family is selling off two homes that have been a part of their lives for more than 80 years.
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The neighbouring houses on Stanmore Road, in Grey Lynn, have a combined CV of over $11 million and sit on a 3083sqm site, which is zoned for development.
Clifford McClenaghan told OneRoof the properties had housed three generations of his family, and were being sold following the death of his uncle Rex last year.
Rex McClenaghan was the last surviving son of Mona McClenaghan, who bought 1-3 Stanmore Road in 1941. She had grown up in her parents’ house at number 5 and had eyed the villa and empty section next door. She lived there until her death in 2009, aged 100, after which Rex took over the property.
The owners’ grandmother Mona McClenaghan bought the former farm house at number 1 with a £100 deposit in 1941. Photo / Supplied
The pair of properties sits on an over 3000sqm section in the heart of Grey Lynn. Photo / Supplied
Mona’s parents, Sydney and Mary Lewis, had bought the large bungalow at 5 Stanmore Road in 1915. Clifford said Sydney had made his fortune and wanted “the best house in the street” for his family.
Mona was quite the go-getter, according to family stories. In a recording for the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection in 1990, she told researcher Kaaren Hiyama that it took months of negotiating to get her house.
There is no record of what she paid, but Mona proudly told the researcher that she had saved a deposit of £100 from her meagre wages as a waitress. Remarkably, she could take out the bank loan in her own name.
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Clifford told OneRoof of the excitement of visiting Mona’s home as a child. “Mona partied, she got on well with many people and always had guests. She worked in the races; it was a great place,” he said.
“When we were kids, we would go down to the back door at number 5, and we were always welcome. We would get a couple of lollies and play around. Mona always had dogs, cats, sheep and all that land to play on.
“The two properties are empty now.”
Mona and her father were musicians, and her father collected clocks, many of them still in the house and shed.
Mona and her brother Harry fixed up the run-down farmhouse through the war. It had once been the area’s dairy farm and the milking shed still stands out the back. Photo / Supplied
Mona’s zest for life was passed on to her son Rex, who, Clifford said, was a dancer and entertainer and travelled the world’s nightclubs, before coming back to nurse his mum.
Rex rubbed shoulders with showbiz royalty and even made it into the news when he updated Kiwi gossip columnist David Hartnell on the comings and goings of his famous songwriter friend who had worked with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr, Elvis and Ella Fitzgerald.
Clifford said some of the proceeds of the sale will go to charity.
Ray White listing agent Stefan Powney said the properties were hard to price. “There is nothing like it to compare to in the whole area,” he said.
“It has a wide frontage and a second entrance on the back. When you look at these properties, the benefits of them together to a developer outperform selling them separately. The package makes more sense that way, that is why it has been so hard to value.”
Powney said that after years of developers door-knocking to buy the land, the agents could finally tell them that the properties were for sale.
“We feel over the last 18 months, we’re starting to see a little bit of green shoots. It has been a tough market, but property in this location is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
“The premium suburbs are the highest demand ones for us,” he noted, adding that while the land was zoned for urban density, which could mean apartments, developers would probably want to do more upscale homes to suit the location.
- 1-5 Stanmore Street, Grey Lynn, is for sale, deadline closing June 10
