- A Grey Lynn villa, featured in Sione’s Wedding, sold for less than its $2.8m RV.
- Buyers plan to renovate the four-bedroom villa, previously owned by the Presbyterian Church.
- Agent Marc Collins noted 70% of homes in Ponsonby and Grey Lynn are selling below RV.
The real estate star of Sione’s Wedding and its sequel Sione’s 2 has been snapped up by an Auckland family for less than its RV.
Start your property search
The tired four-bedroom villa on Crummer Road, in Auckland’s Grey Lynn, hit the market last month for the first time in 23 years.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Marc Collins told OneRoof the buyers planned to bring the villa up to scratch.
The cast of Sione’s Wedding. The "boys" did their walk of shame in the Crummer Road villa. Photo / South Pacific Pictures
The villa’s wide open spaces attracted the film crew shooting Sione’s Wedding. Photo / Supplied
He declined to reveal the exact sale price but said it was below the property’s 2021 rating valuation of $2.8m, noting that “close to 70% of the homes in Ponsonby and Grey Lynn are selling below CV”.
“The buyers will do a good job renovating the property. Plenty of developers and flippers had shown interest, but they were just bargain hunting.”
Collins said large renovated villas in the area had sold for more than $4m. “Crummer Road will come along, just like Rose Road did a few years ago, as there’s been a lot of activity over the last two years,” he said.
Discover more:
- Traitors NZ star selling her home to chase acting dream overseas
- Elderly woman sells home for $1.01m after losing $1.65m in failed deal
- Bachelor stars Art and Matilda shed 'happy tears' after emotional sale
“We had a lot of people watching the [sale]. They knew it was such a big job, such a big outlay, and therefore a big risk. But that’s the market, and anybody buying would want to be risk-averse in their offering.”
The villa was the backdrop for several key scenes in the hit Kiwi comedy Sione’s Wedding and its blockbuster follow-up Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business.
The producers liked its vibe and used it as the minister’s house, where loveable rogues Michael, Stanley, Sefa, Albert, and Bolo run the gauntlet of disapproving neighbours and relatives in the first movie.
Vendors Brandon and Amanda Wilcox told OneRoof they had mixed emotions about leaving their home, but planned to hit the road this weekend to hunt for their new home.
The vendors had plans to complete an extensive renovation but decided to sell instead. Photo / Supplied
“We’re happy to pass the old girl on to someone who wants to do something with her. She deserves it,” Brandon said.
The Wilcoxes are looking for a renovated home with a self-contained sleepout.
“We’re buying and selling in the same market and looking all over. We’ve got a long settlement, so we’ve got four months to find a new place.”
Brandon told OneRoof last month that the villa’s previous owner was the Presbyterian Church. “When we bought it [in 2002], the minister and his wife did the negotiations on behalf of the Presbyterian Church, which was Samoan at that point,” he said.
“Reverend Tepou was minister there from 1979 until 2001, he and his family had lived here. We still have the pencil marks on the doorway recording the children’s heights.”
The tall hedges offer privacy from the villa’s deck. Photo / Supplied
Brandon remembers the moment Sione’s Wedding came knocking in the mid-2000s. He told OneRoof that location scouts had been up and down Crummer Road looking for a big home that could accommodate the cameras and crew.
“I opened the door, and there’s this guy standing there. He leans to one side and looks over my shoulder, and I see his eyes light up. It’s an unusually large hallway, and there’s one scene where the boys do their walk of shame.”
Producers South Pacific Pictures and director Chris Graham repainted the villa’s white walls to bright Samoan colours and filled the house with the film’s Pasifika community.
“The hallway is huge. My son and I used to play hallway cricket and hallway soccer. We did have to replace the glass in the front door once,” Brandon said last month.
The Wilcoxes were able to stay in the house during the filming of both Sione movies, de-camping to bedrooms while cast and crew took over the house and catering took over the back lawn.
When the family bought the villa in 2002 for just over $500,000, many of the 1970s and 1980s additions were still there, including dated wallpaper and carpets. Luckily, much of the front timber work was still there, and the floors, once stripped back to the original boards, polished up nicely.
Brandon told OneRoof they had planned to conduct an extensive renovation, which included going up into the roof for sea views, digging out a double garage, and creating a new living space.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Auckland
