- Janine Jones and her husband Brian sold a renovated Eltham schoolhouse for over $545,000.
- They restored the building’s character, filling it with op shop treasures and commissioned artworks.
- The couple moved to Whanganui for Brian’s work, planning to personalise their new GJ Gardner home.
Op shop lover Janine Jones has found a buyer for the rare piece of Kiwi history she unearthed during a road trip with her friend: an old schoolhouse in Eltham, South Taranaki, which she has spent the last five years renovating.
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The run-down building was for sale for over $180,000, and Janine and her husband Brian pounced.
The couple added insulation and double-glazed windows but were keen to retain and restore as much of the building’s character as possible.
“It was a large project,” Janine told OneRoof last month. “We didn’t want to completely modernise her and destroy what character she had. So, we reused what we could. We prefer restoring over renovating.”
The couple have filled the property with op shop treasures, including Janine’s favourite purchase, a grand chandelier. The pair also commissioned artworks for the home, including work by local artist Terri Bracey that will stay with the home when they leave.
The couple bought the former schoolhouse in 2021 and transformed it beyond recognition. Photo / Supplied
The house is filled with treasures from the couple’s trips to op shops around the country. Photo / Supplied
A picture of the schoolhouse in its heyday. Photo / Supplied
Tall Poppy agent Jacki Berry told OneRoof that the house had generated a lot of interest from around the country but ended up going to a local family for over $545,000.
“The [buyers] listed their home to buy the house, and we got a contract signed on it straight away.”
Janine told OneRoof last month that the home’s striking interiors were her design choices, based on what made her happy. Although Brian loves the flowered wallpaper ceiling in one of the rooms, he has said “never again” because of what he had to do to get it up there. “He never wants me to opt for that choice again,” Janine said.
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There were other challenges. At one point, Brian fell off a ladder, hit a radiator and broke two ribs, Janine said. “But the radiator works just fine. We have quirky humour and love to laugh at the tough times life throws you,” she said.
Janine said she and Brian felt like kaitiaki of the property, not owners, and the renovation was about giving back to the Eltham community as much as creating a home. “We just love the locals. They’re amazing.”
Janine and Brian have sold the schoolhouse to move closer to Brian’s engineering work in Whanganui. They have bought a modern GJ Gardner home, which Janine does plan to personalise. “My son keeps saying, ‘What are you going to do to ruin it, Mum?’, because they’re just waiting for me to get in and do my thing.”
Although the couple have said their goodbyes to the property and community, Janine has one last fling planned: an exhibition of her artwork opened at Easter in the Village Gallery. The couple also plan to hold the mother of all garage sales to sell most of their op shop treasures.
The old Awatuna General Store needs someone to finish the vendors’ renovation. Photo / Supplied
The property has an RV of just under $300,000. Photo / Supplied
If it wasn’t for the move to Whanganui, an old shop near Eltham could have been the couple’s next project.
2124 Eltham Road, in Awatuna, was bought by renovators in 2020, but their circumstances have changed, and the property is on the market for sale with an RV of $290,000.
Metcalfe Real Estate listing agent Simon Bendall told OneRoof: “The basics are there. When they [the vendors] took it on, it was full of rubbish and overgrown. They’ve done a lot. [They have] insulated it and had some heating put in. But unfortunately, they’ve got to hand it on to someone else.”
The property is set between the coast and Mount Taranaki. “From the front of the property, you can see the coast and the sea.”
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