- A derelict miner’s cottage in Westport tripled in value after a renovation by James Kane and Kimberley Grant.
- The couple bought it for $118,000 and sold it for $330,000 after extensive work.
- Kane, with a building background, spent significant time on the project before moving to Australia.
A derelict miner’s cottage in Westport has tripled in price after the vendors carried out a stunning renovation.
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James Kane and Kimberley Grant, who bought the three-bedroom home on Rintoul Street sight unseen four years ago for $118,000, sold it last month for an impressive $330,000.
Kane told OneRoof that the sale had been relatively straightforward. “Mainly because it's a beautiful little miner's cottage in the heart of Westport. It flew out the door.”
The small cottage attracted a lot of interest from first-home buyers and was snapped up by a young couple in their 30s. Photo / Supplied
Listing agent, Property Brokers' Jo Makutu, had brought a wide range of buyers through the property, but the winning offer was made by a young couple in their 30s.
The result will resonate with Kane and Grant. They told OneRoof last month that they were expecting their first child when they picked up the cottage and started their renovation project.
Kane, who has a background in the building industry, said the cottage was in an uninhabitable state when they bought it, so they moved into Grant’s sister’s garage for a few weeks before finding a rental. They finally moved in just before their second daughter was born about two years ago.
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“It was full of floor-to-ceiling rubbish, and we were kind of expecting to find a body. But just looking at the structure, you could see it was a beautiful house.”
Kane said he spent every spare hour he had on the renovation. “Have I had a life? No. Was it worth it? I don’t know. But you’ve got to do it.”
Kane told OneRoof last week that he was sad to leave Westport, but they were shifting to Australia for the next phase of their lives. “It's a bit sad. But it’s time for the next adventure. We are going to go and do a year in Aussie and do a little bit of travel and see what happens.
The vendors gutted the house and turned it into a stylish home. Photo / Supplied
"We like to look at things as seasons in our little family. But we’ve got a lot of family and friends here, so we’re aiming to be back every summer.”
He said there would definitely be another renovation project in the future. "We’ve already been offered a couple of old houses to purchase if we need to, so, hey, that’s always in our back pocket.”
Kane said he had loved Westport and Buller district in general and urged anyone considering a change of lifestyle to look. “We’ve been trying to attract people to this place. It’s had a little bit of a bad rap in the past. But there’s so much going for Buller. And the more the merrier, really. The climate is amazing. The people are just phenomenal. And it’s a really, really nice, safe place to raise a family.”
He told OneRoof last month that houses in Buller were far more affordable than elsewhere. “Everyone has these stresses these days of get a job, have to pay your mortgage and you struggle to get by. But what if your mortgage was only $300,000 and you were earning $80,000 or $90,000 – the same as in the city?”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Buller
