- A rebuilt Remuera home goes to auction October 8 after emerging from years of neglect.
- Phil Penney and Dina Helyen created four bedrooms and wellness facilities across three levels.
- Structural work included $70,000 steel beams, while agents expect the property to fetch $3 million-plus.
The worst house in one of Auckland's best streets is back on the market after a breathtaking rebuild.
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Twenty months ago, 47 Seaview Road in Remuera was a neglected deceased estate, scarred by graffiti, choked with weeds and almost swallowed by dense bush. In fact, the agents likened inspecting the property to stepping onto the set of Indiana Jones or Jurassic Park.
But builders Phil Penney and Dina Helyen, of Superior Construction, looked beyond the decay and recognised its potential, snapping up the rundown property.
Since then, they have transformed it into a striking three-level, four-bedroom home that comfortably holds its own among the suburb's multi-million-dollar residences.
47 Seaview Road, in Auckland's Remuera, has benefitted from a top-to-toe transformation. Photo / Supplied
The home is designed to impress and embraces the wildlife around it. Photo / Supplied
Dina Heylen's favourite touch is the dark-stained Japanese knotty cedar panelling of the entrance and stairwell. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen has Miele appliances, with room for a wine fridge or second dishwasher in the scullery, all with stylish marble-look Dekton benches. Photo / Supplied
The house boasts four luxurious bedrooms. Photo / Supplied
Now, with the final coat of paint dry, Bayleys agents David Rainbow and Harry Cheng have been enlisted to take the stylishly reinvented home to auction on October 8.
OneRoof got a tour of the house earlier this year and talked to Phil and Dina about their mission impossible.
Dina told OneRoof they fell in love with the site almost immediately, and had already drawn up plans for a rebuild by the time they got home from their first inspection. “We both walked in and loved it. Phil is a most capable builder; he’s got a brain that loves puzzles and challenges, so we knew we could do it," Dina said.
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“I do not think you get much worse than this, but it felt so beautiful to us. It felt like Indiana Jones, like Jurassic Park. It was so overgrown and lovely and gorgeous.”
Bayleys listing agent David Rainbow, who sold the property to the couple, had told OneRoof that in all his years of selling real estate in Remuera, he was unaware there was a house hidden down a long driveway off Seaview Road.
Even the executors of the estate hadn’t realised the house existed, as there were no records of the build.
The renovation work took some 98 pages of drawings by architect Tony Pilkington, of Sketch Architecture, and months of negotiations with Auckland Council to get consents.
What the derelict looked like when Phil and Dina bought it in early 2025. Photo / Supplied
The original house was never lived in and was, according to the listing agent, a pigsty. Photo / Supplied
The couple told OneRoof that it was by far the biggest project they had undertaken in their 20-year career. “It had been sitting derelict for so long it had had lots of visitors over the years: possums and wildlife and unwelcome visitors that were having parties and things,” Phil said. He hadn’t come across any snakes, though.
“The architect asked what the hell had we done. With all our years of experience, he was shocked at this one.”
Original listing photos showed graffiti-covered walls and floors, and bush growing under the house. Some parts were too dangerous for the agents or buyers to even climb through, and Rainbow called it a “pigsty”.
The rebuild is anything but.
Enclosing the original carport and deck into the top floor of the house has made room for parents’ quarters, with a generous kitchen, pantry, living room and a master suite. The middle floor is for kids’ bedrooms, the bathrooms, the laundry, and a second living room that opens to a deck.
Phil Penney welcomes OneRoof inside the most challenging project he’s worked on. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Phil and Dina have created a home worthy of the suburb. Photo / Fiona Goodall
The ground floor is Dina’s favourite place, as it transforms into a wellness retreat with a gym, sauna, outdoor shower, and a deck cantilevered in the trees for yoga. The bush has been gently tamed to let in light, but the huge trees and palms remain.
Underpinning the pretty touches are tonnes of steel and concrete, new framing, cladding, roofing and insulation, plumbing, electrical and new heating. The couple added skylights to the top floor and a glass-wrapped stairwell.
And paths lead through the now-cleared bush to a fire pit – no more jungle, no more snakes, just birdsong and dappled sunlight.
Dina told OneRoof this week that her Phil thrives on problem-solving. "I know that I am biased, but he is one of the best builders. Anyone else would have cried," she said.
Saying that, the couple underestimated the complexity of meeting structural engineering requirements: it cost them $70,000 to buy and place the 330kg steel beams down the side of the narrow section.
She reckons that with the trades on site, including their daughter Lara, plus the fabricators and makers from all their suppliers, a cast of around 100 people worked to put the house back together.
"It feels like a little nest, a retreat," Dina said. "You come into the house, close the door, and you're away from it all. In the middle of Remuera!"
Rainbow is thrilled at the quality of the couple's work and thinks buyers will be stunned at the transformation. "We've never seen anything as good," he said, noting that it was difficult to put a price on the finished home. “We anticipate it will be in the $3 millions.”
- 47 Seaview Road, Remuera, Auckland, goes to auction on October 21
