- The Auckland home of photographer Patrick Reynolds sold for $4.25 million at auction.
- Reynolds and his wife, Maria Majsa, are downsizing to a city apartment.
- The villa, designed by architect Malcolm Walker, attracted nearly 50 people to the open homes.
The Auckland home of celebrated Kiwi photographer Patrick Reynolds fetched $4.25 million at a heated auction last week.
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Reynolds, who has photographed some of the country's most significant buildings, was selling his home of 21 years to downsize to a city apartment with his wife, writer Maria Majsa.
Their villa on Livingstone Street, in Westmere, has been featured in several magazines for its striking design by architect Malcolm Walker.
The combination of the two marquee names in New Zealand architecture attracted nearly 50 people to the open homes, Ray White listing agent Angela Saunders told OneRoof.
She said “interest in a house is always a good thing” even if some of the architecture fans who turned up weren't serious buyers.
Two buyers who were serious turned up at last week's auction, and drove up the price as they tried to gain the advantage. The bidding opened in the mid-three millions and quickly shot up to $4.2m, when the property was declared on the market. There were two more bids before the hammer came down at $4.25m.
The modest villa for photographer Patrick Reynolds and writer Maria Majsa has a sunny modern pavilion in the back. Photo / Supplied
Photographer Patrick Reynolds in 2014. Photo / Dean Purcell
“Both of the bidders were locals," Saunders said, adding that the new owner would be "welcomed on the street”.
Saunders said there had been an influx of younger families to Livingstone Street in the last few years. "It is good to see a whole lot of new, younger faces around. People are choosing this side of Grey Lynn; it’s become the hot place to be.”
Saunders said many of the buyers who turned up at the open home were looking for a renovated home; they didn’t want to do the work themselves.
Reynolds told OneRoof that he was delighted to see the house go to a young family. “We still deeply love the house, but we do feel it is time for someone else to bring new energy, because we’re at the other end of the cycle,” he said.
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“We’re excited for the house and for them, and also ready for our next journey.”
Reynolds and his wife paid $875,000 for the square-fronted villa in 2005. He told OneRoof earlier this month that they gave Walker a two-word brief for the renovation he carried out on their behalf. “We wanted a cave and a stage,” Reynolds said.
“Malcolm gives you these spaces that, if they are big, they are never too big and booming. And when they are compact, they are not too small and tight ... It is just intuitive; he cannot explain it,” he said.
“In nearly 20 years, we have not changed anything, not even the colours of the walls,” he said.
The “stage” marks the transition from original villa to modern glass pavilion. Photo / Patrick Reynolds
Walker delivered a series of light and airy pavilions to replace the run-down lean-to, anchored by a concrete wall and glass walls to collect sunlight.
The kids’ three bedrooms and bathroom are at the front of the villa, while the living room became the Reynolds' "stage" - a space to entertain friends. The “cave” is at the back of the house, with the master bedroom upstairs getting privacy, light, and birdsong.
In between is a sunny open-plan kitchen, dining room, and family space, anchored by the concrete wall and plenty of glass nooks. “It’s an anti-villa,” Reynolds told OneRoof last month.
The photographer said he was never a fan of villas, calling them “architectural anachronisms” and bemoaning their lack of orientation to the sun and their poor planning.
However, not long after Walker finished his renovations, Reynolds pitched a book to his publishers that extolled the virtues and quirks of the iconic Kiwi house. Reynolds' pictures, along with words by writer Jeremy Hansen and the late heritage architect Jeremy Salmond, resonated with villa-lovers and the book, titled The Villa, has been reprinted many times.
“It was inspired by our love-hate relationship with adapting them,” Reynolds said.
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