- Matt Dominick and Dunya Dragojevic are selling Wayne Brown's former Kerikeri home for over $1.275 million.
- They transformed the property into a modern bush escape, despite initial challenges and a tight budget.
- The couple is selling to start a business and spend time in Europe with Dragojevic’s family.
A young Northland couple are selling the former home of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown for over $1.275 million, having transformed it into an uber-modern bush escape.
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Matt Dominick and Dunya Dragojevic told OneRoof they discovered the Brown connection soon after buying the house at 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road, in Kerikeri, in 2022.
In the paperwork they inherited from the previous owner was one Wayne Kelvin Forrest Brown, named in the title transfer from 1976, and a building permit dated the following year.
Brown had moved to Kerikeri in 1976 soon after marrying his wife Toni. It is not clear whether 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road was the couple's first home as a married couple, but they stayed there for around five years before selling in 1982.
The four-bedroom home at 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road, in Kerikeri, boasts a high-quality finish. Photo / Supplied
The view from the outdoor pool is breath-taking. Photo / Supplied
Dominick and Dragojevic told OneRoof that the house needed a lot of care and attention when they took it on.
They spotted it while shopping for their first property together. Friends, family, and colleagues had all told them not to buy. “A builder said, ‘I'm not sure you want to do that for your first house,’” Dragojevic said.
Dominick added: “The garden was completely overgrown. We maybe slightly naively bought it because we hadn't done anything like this before.”
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They viewed other properties but kept coming back to Brown’s old home. “Everything else we saw was in a better state, but didn't have the water view. We just couldn't unsee what we saw here,” she said.
Dominick said: "The structure and the bones of the house really appealed to us, and we fell in love with it.”
It was a first-time renovation for both. Dragojevic was working for Freedom Furniture during the early stages of the project, but quit to manage what turned out to be a Grand Designs-style endeavour.
“We didn’t have a budget for interior designers, so I did it myself. We were working every weekend and after work, but then we needed to make a lot of decisions during the day when we weren't here,” she said.
Because they were working with a tight budget, the couple lived in the house during the renovation. “You wake up and there are five builders in your living room already,” Dragojevic said. “It was fun. We would renovate again, but we wouldn’t live [in the house] and renovate again."
Vendor Dunya Dragojevic quit her job to ensure the project stayed on budget and turned out the way it did. Photo / Supplied
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. He owned 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road back in the 1970s. Photo / Michael Craig
Dominick added: “We've lived with scaffolding through the house for about two years.”
Real estate agents in the area have been blown away by the quality of the couple's work. The makeover makes the most of the high vaulted ceilings and the water views. The kitchen and bathrooms all boast a high-quality finish, and the outdoor entertainment area features a firepit, a swimming pool, and a large, open deck.
“They just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. They were like, ‘Oh my God!’” The couple would also love to show Brown their handiwork. “It would be fun to see [Wayne Brown's] reaction to the renovation,” Dragojevic said.
The couple's plan to set up a business together is the reason why they are selling. "As a team, we enjoy working together. But you can’t really start a business while you have a mortgage,” Dominick said.
“We were tossing up what to do for quite a few months. Then Dunya’s mum got cancer in Croatia. She’s fine now, but it put a lot in perspective. Dunya hasn’t been home for six years, hasn’t seen her family.
“We decided that the life we want now, starting our own business, spending time in Europe, seeing Dunya’s family, we couldn’t keep the house."
Dragojevic tearing up added: “There was an option to rent it out, but we don’t think that’s a good idea after all the renovation. It looks like a brand-new house now.”
Their listing agent, Terri Robinson, from Real Property Kerikeri, sold them the house back in 2022 and is enthusiastic about its chances.
"This is a home like no other, with an extraordinary transformation that will appeal to the owner-occupier or the holiday home buyer. Whatever your situation, you can be sure it will tug on your heartstrings," she says in her listing on OneRoof.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on 3956sqm of land and has a double garage and separate access to a lower-level studio.
You can follow Dragojevic's renovation work on Instragram at @dee.souliving.
OneRoof reached out to Brown for comment, but at the time of publication had not heard back.
- 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road, Kerikeri, Far North, is for sale, enquiries over $1.275m
