Author Maurice Gee’s home for sale after his death at 93

- Maurice Gee bought his Nelson home twice, valuing its peacefulness and central location.

- He wrote his last four novels there, including a children’s book for his granddaughters.

- The house is now for sale, listed as a "Nelson classic with a story to tell".

Maurice Gee loved his home so much that he bought it twice.

The celebrated Kiwi author, whose books, including Plumb and Under the Mountain, are considered some of New Zealand’s best, bought the three-bedroom Nelson property with his wife Margareta in 2006 for their retirement.

They sold it six years later to move into an actual retirement village about 13km away in Richmond and almost instantly regretted it.

Gee and his wife bought 56 Nile Street, Nelson, in 2006 for just over $500,000. Photo / Supplied

The couple loved the peacefulness of the home, and leapt at the chance to buy it back after selling it in 2012. Photo / Supplied

Daughter Abigail Gee told OneRoof that her parents missed the property’s peacefulness and its central location.

“Every time I spoke to them on the phone when they were in the village, Mum was like, ‘I really wish we hadn’t done this’, and Dad was like, ‘No, it’s fine, dear, it’s fine, we will be fine’.”

A few months after moving into the retirement village, they bumped into the man who bought their home. Abigail said the timing was uncanny.

Discover more:

- 'For the price of a house in Omaha, you could have this and a helicopter'

- The house Wayne Brown built: Auckland mayor's old home for sale after stunning makeover

- Fast flip: Dress Smart villa sells for $200,000 more after just two months

“He mentioned that due to financial challenges, he was going to have to sell it, and they were like, 'Oh my gosh, can we buy it back?’ And he actually sold it back to them for the same price he bought it for.”

Much to everyone’s relief, her parents moved back in and stayed there. “They just loved it,” Abigail said.

Earlier this year, Margareta moved into a dementia care home in Richmond; Maurice stayed in the Nile Street home with the support of his family.

Gee wrote more than 30 novels, for both adults and children. His last four books, including one for his grandchildren, were written in his Nile Street home. Photo / Mark Coote

Abigail said it was “sad for him that she was gone”. A month later, he died. He was 93.

The family had considered keeping the house, but the timing wasn’t right, Abigail said, so they instead decided to sell it.

The house, which has an RV of just over $1m, is listed with agent Kat Campbell of KC & Co, who makes mention of Gee in her marketing. She calls it a "Nelson classic with a story to tell".

Abigail told OneRoof that her father’s last four novels - Access Road, Memory Pieces, The Limping Man, and The Severed Land - were all written there.

The last children’s novel he wrote was for his granddaughters, Augusta and Florence.

Abigail had mentioned to her dad that it would be nice if he dedicated a book to them, like he had for her and her sister.

“I was kind of joking, and I meant that he write a little two or three-page story, and he just wrote this whole book.

“He sent me the manuscript and said it might be a few years until they can read this.” The book, The Severed Land, was a teen fantasy novel and was published in 2017.

Maurice stopped writing after that, Abigail said, preferring to sit in his sunny lounge reading or tagging along for walks with Margareta.

“Everyone in the neighbourhood knew them. They would go down by the river, walk along the river, down by the Queen’s Gardens, and feed the birds every day. They really liked that routine.”

The couple has also loved how close everything was, from the dairy next door to the nearby doctor’s surgery and supermarket, which was especially handy when Maurice stopped driving.

“They would just walk.”

Despite being in such a central spot, the house was quiet and peaceful, she said.

“When you are in the house, you don’t see the road, and you are kind of insulated by the fence, which has got ficus growing all over it ... it feels like you could be somewhere in a little country house, almost.”

It was low-maintenance, which suited her father, who was not known for his green fingers.

- 56 Nile Street, in Nelson, is for sale, deadline closing October 7