- Former Black Caps player Lou Vincent sold his Karikari Peninsula bach for $1.075m.
- The property features a cricket-ready lawn, retro caravan Airbnb, and a hair salon caravan.
- Vincent, now a guest speaker, educates on sport corruption and aims to move to Wānaka.
Former Black Caps player Lou Vincent has sold his “Beach Bum” bach in the Far North for just over $1 million.
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Vincent’s three-bedroom property on Tokerau Beach Road, on the Karikari Peninsula, was snapped up at the start of the year, but the sale price has only just been made public.
Vincent listed the bach, which comes with a cricket-ready lawn, a retro caravan turned Airbnb, and a second caravan that doubles as his wife Jilly’s hair salon, a year ago.
He had expected to get over $1.15m but settled on $1.075m – just over $100,000 above RV.
Vincent, who made a memorable appearance at the Black Clash in January, talked to OneRoof last year about his home and his life after his cricketing career ended in scandal in 2014.
Vincent brought the three-bedroom beachfront home on Tokerau Beach Road, Karikari Peninsula, back to life. Photo / Supplied
Vincent’s cricket memorabilia hangs on the walls. Photo / Supplied
Vincent and his wife Jill transformed the home into a contemporary coastal retreat. Photo / Supplied
He revealed that he found himself starting over with no clear plan after he was banned for match-fixing. “I lost my career, [and] I lost a lot of money dealing with lawyers,” he said.
“I found myself, after cricket, starting life again. I had a really old villa in Kaukapakapa, and I was sitting there one day going, ‘I’ve got to do something with my life. All I’ve known is cricket.'”
The turning point was a paintbrush. “I looked behind me and saw a paintbrush, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to make this place look nice’.”
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The paintbrush moment turned into a full renovation, and when that first reno project was completed, Vincent sold the villa and moved to Raglan. Drawn by the surfing vibe, and with more skill and confidence under his belt, Vincent developed The Surf Shack accommodation, which he turned into a popular Airbnb.
After Raglan, Vincent hit the road in a bus with his surfboard and dog.
“Then the bus took me down to Queenstown, and as you do, you eventually meet someone while you’re putting petrol in the tank, and you get chatting with this gorgeous Scottish girl. Next minute we’re hiking mountains.”
With romance blossoming, Vincent decided to stick around in Southland and bought, renovated and sold a railway cottage in Lumsden.
The couple then headed north in the bus, where Vincent had lived previously, and bought a tired beachfront home, which they have just finished renovating.
The main house, which Vincent described as “the most modern I’ve ever had to do up”, has been transformed into a contemporary coastal retreat.
Vincent in his heyday at the Basin Reserve, in Wellington, in 2010. Photo / Ross Setford
The home has a surf theme, with just one wall dedicated to Vincent’s cricketing past. Pride of place on the wall is a framed shirt and a wicket from Vincent’s first international test, the highlight of his cricketing career.
“Everyone knows me from my very first game for New Zealand against Australia when I scored 100. And that was just amazing. We almost won the test match as well,” he said.
“[I was] a little kid walking out to play cricket against the best team in the world at the time. To be out there and do well, I pinch myself sometimes.”
The Vincents hold the Karikari property dear. “We got married on the property, and had a great beach party and wedding,” Vincent told OneRoof in July last year, adding that they had their first child there, with another due in November.
The couple aimed to create a functional, fun home. “I chipped away at it,” Vincent said. “The biggest part was adding the little accommodation, the beachfront with the retro caravan. That was the best project I’ve done in ages, because it was all leftover materials from jobs.
“We’re creating a space where people are having the most awesome little two-day getaways, three-day getaways.”
Vincent talks to a young fan at Tauranga Hospital at this year’s Black Clash game. Photo / Bijou Johnson
Unsurprisingly, with Vincent’s history, the property also boasts a lawn for cricket. “[Comedian and TV presenter] Jeremy Wells came up and did a little article with Seven Sharp,” he said. “I got the bowling machine out with the balls. It was spitting balls, and he just kept batting. I couldn’t get him off the property.”
These days, as well as being “a dad, a maintenance person [and] jack of all trades”, Vincent makes appearances as a guest speaker. “I do a bit of guest speaking and educational work [about] corruption in sport. I’m off to Australia to speak to the Victorian Police Sporting Integrity Unit about helping to educate young sports players to be careful not to be groomed into fixing. That’s what I do on the side as well.”
Vincent told OneRoof last year they were selling their Karikari home to trade up – ultimately to Wanaka. “Every time I look at the house prices in Wanaka, I go, ‘Babe, no, unless you want to live in a caravan somewhere’. But that’s our goal,” he said.
“We’re still one or two houses away from getting there, so we might go to Christchurch.”
Vincent said he never minds moving. “With my sporting career, you’d follow the summers. You’d have six months in New Zealand, six months in England, Holland, back to New Zealand, South Africa. So, I’ve lived quite a nomadic lifestyle. I love travelling.”
OneRoof has reached out to the listing agent for comment about the sale.
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