- A beachfront home in Takapuna, owned by the same family for over 70 years, has been sold.
- The four-bedroom bach, on a 1095sqm site, has an RV of just under $10m.
- The property, a deceased estate, attracted significant interest and is one of the last original waterfront homes.
A beachfront home owned by the same family for over 70 years has been sold, but what the owners paid remains a mystery.
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The vintage four-bedroom bach - one of the last remaining original waterfront homes in Auckland’s Takapuna - sits on a 1095sqm site and has an RV of $9.95 million.
It was brought to market as a deceased estate at the end of February and was sold by Harcourts listing agents Lewis Guy and Chelsea Docking at the end of last month. Both agents declined to comment on the sale to OneRoof.
OneRoof talked to the late owners’ children about the property after it was listed for sale.
They said they grew up in paradise with the beach as their backyard. “The story goes that the agent rang my father one day to tell him about the property,” one of them told OneRoof.
When the owners purchased the property in 1950, it was a little two-bedroom bungalow that was expanded as the children came along. Photo / Supplied
The solid masonry, brick and weatherboard home is a perfectly preserved snapshot of the era and has been much loved and maintained over the decades. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts listing agents Lewis Guy and Chelsea Docking said the 1095sqm site’s potential was significant. Photo / Supplied
“He went down for a look late after work and saw the full moon rising over the water and said to himself, ‘I have to put a deposit on this house now, or else we will miss out’. And here we are, 76 years later.”
When the late owners purchased the property in 1950, it was a two-bedroom bungalow that was expanded as their family grew. “They added on two bedrooms in 1952; then in 1960 they added another two storeys in front on the seaward side.”
The solid masonry, brick and weatherboard home is a snapshot of the 50s. It incorporates four bedrooms, three living areas, a study, a separate laundry and a double garage.
Classic interior highlights include the feature fireplace made from South Island river stones, touches of retro wallpaper and timber panelling, all topped with water views. “The view is still beautiful to me after all these years. The moonrises in particular are incredible, especially when they come up above the centre of Rangitoto,” one of the now grown children said.
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“The beach was our playground. For our parents, it was a safe place for us to be, as we were all good swimmers and they could check on us by looking out the window.”
The vendor added: “America’s Cup events were always exciting! We’d have family and friends from up and down the country staying, with extra beds in the caravan in the back garden. My parents loved having people round, and my mother loved catering for everyone.”
Guy told OneRoof in March that the property had attracted a lot of interest.
A multimillion-dollar beach house on Blomfield Spa, in Takapuna, was sold last year to a New Zealand buyer. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve had people from around the community come to us and say, 'That’s the finest site in Takapuna – it’s very special’,” Guy said.
The property is in the single-house zone, so intensive development is off the cards, but Guy said there was potential to do something with the land.
“With the sheer volume of the land and the opportunity surrounding it, somebody will be able to create something exceptional. It could become one of the finest properties around the coast.”
Docking added: “This is one of the last ones standing of the original homes, you really can’t get a site of this calibre in Takapuna anymore.”
The mansion at 29 Minnehaha Avenue, in Takapuna, is looking for a buyer with a budget of over $30m. Photo / Supplied
Takapuna House, at 25-27 William Street, in Takapuna, is well known to beach-goers in the suburb and is on the market for sale. Photo / Supplied
Beachfront real estate in Takapuna generally commands a high premium. In October last year, a 2.2ha block of land with development potential on the shores of Lake Pupuke fetched just under $60m. The same year, an architectural standout on Blomfield Spa sold for more than $15.7m.
There is a slew of high-end homes on the market that are aiming even higher. A Hamptons-style mansion at 29 Minnehaha Avenue is on the market with a price tag of over $30m after a multimillion-dollar makeover, and a well-known Takapuna beach home, at 25-27 William Street, is expected to sell for over $20m. Both properties are listed with Precision agent Andrew Dorreen.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Takapuna
