A tiny Wellington boatshed has sold for more than $200,000 after four friends who had spent a decade waiting for one to hit the market pounced on the opportunity.
The 26sqm heritage shed at 141 Evans Bay Parade, in Hataitai, attracted intense interest when it was listed last month with a price indication of $175,000-plus.
Tommy’s agent Wayne Sampson told OneRoof: “We ended up with four offers, and the people who bought it were a group of friends who’d lived in the area for a long time. They had actually had their name down on [a council waiting list] for 10 years trying to get one, so they were very, very happy.”
He added: “They have paddle boards and kayaks and stuff like that. So, they will use it for that. The access to their place for getting their kayaks [to and from the sea] was up a whole lot of steps. So, they’re very keen to have them sitting on the water. They were rapt. Over the moon. Very excited.”
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Sampson said a couple of the buyers knew the vendor, Helen Scott, and her late husband, Guy. “Helen is very pleased that it has gone to somebody local. She’s very happy.”
The Scotts bought the 100-year-old shed in 1992, with Helen telling OneRoof last month that it was a special place for her family and Guy, who died in 2024.
The Scotts have enjoyed more than 30 years at the shed, which has been a launching pad for their water adventures. Photo / Supplied
When the boatshed was first built, Wellington Airport didn’t exist and steamships ruled the waves. Photo / Supplied
Helen and her late husband, Guy, enjoyed visits to the boatshed in his final years. Photo / Supplied
“My husband, Dr William Guy Scott, and I moved to Hataitai over 50 years ago. He always wanted a boatshed because he’s always been close to the sea and fished and sailed. So, we sub-rented one until this one came up, and we’ve had it since 1992,” she told OneRoof.
“It’s the Scott whānau house. We used to keep my husband’s Phase 2 Laser at the yacht club, but we used to sail it there.”
The couple’s children, Matthew and Andrew, also made use of the shed, storing their windsurfing gear, kayaks and dinghy there.
“We painted it, fixed it up inside, and it needed a bit of flooring done. We re-piled. We lifted it. My next-door neighbour painted it about three, four years ago at mates’ rates.”
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Helen said Guy enjoyed visiting the boatshed in his final years. “When my husband was ill, I used to wheel him down in his wheelchair and help him down the steps. He could sit in the shed and have lunch and watch all the boating.”
Sampson said most sheds on the strip changed hands privately, which intensified interest in the Scotts’ shed. He is also seeing interest in another nearby Wellington icon he has listed with colleague Edmund Chrisp.
The agents are marketing a one-bedroom apartment in the Roger Walker-designed Park Mews on Moxham Avenue, in Hataitai.
The development was built in 1975 and is cited as one of the earliest examples of high-density modern housing in New Zealand.
A one-bedroom apartment in the Roger Walker-designed Park Mews is up for grabs. Photo / Supplied
The owner of 20/62 Moxham Avenue calls the apartment the porthole house. Photo / Supplied
The 51sqm pad at 20/62 Moxham Avenue is looking for buyer inquiries over $355,000 – below its RV of $435,000.
“It’s an iconic building and a favourite for a lot of Wellingtonians. A lot of the apartments there are unique – different layouts and windows. It’s definitely not your standard apartment building,” Chrisp told OneRoof.
“My vendor affectionately calls it the porthole house, because of the three circular windows. But it gets great natural light in such a fantastic, convenient location, and it’s just a real piece of architectural history in Wellington.”
The three-bedroom penthouse in the building was sold last year for $526,000.
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