A grand Wellington home built for a giant of New Zealand rugby has been snapped up for $1.4 million - well below its RV.
Two buyers went head-to-head for Glenwood Estate in Eastbourne at a Bayleys auction on Thursday.
Bidding opened at $500,000 and quickly climbed past the $1m mark before stalling.
After an hour of negotiations behind the scenes, the property was brought back to the auction floor when a "localish" buyer in their 50s increased their offer to $1.4m. With no further bids forthcoming, the auctioneer declared the property sold.
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Bayleys listing agent Jamie Pollock said the buyer was "absolutely thrilled".
The villa was designed by notable Wellington architect James Bennie and was looking for a buyer who could restore it to its former glory. Photo / Supplied
"They're going to restore it and live in it for themselves," he told OneRoof.
Pollock said the property's RV of $2.05m was "out of whack".
"RVs are a waste of time basically. A valuer hasn't gone through the property. All they're really based on is the rates calculation," he said. "The RV hadn't been corrected at any stage."
Ahead of the auction, Pollock told OneRoof the five-bedroom heritage home required significant work.
Glenwood sits on almost 13ha, and was built for Thomas Rangiwāhia Ellison, the man behind New Zealand’s national rugby team adopting the black jersey with the silver fern monogram.
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Ellison, who captained the New Zealand Māori team of 1888, the predecessor to the first All Blacks team, was one of the most influential players of his day, and wrote one of the earliest rugby coaching manuals, The Art of Rugby Football.
Off the field, he was a lawyer and worked for the Wellington law firm Brandon, Hislop and Johnston. He was one of the first Māori to be admitted to the bar, owned a car when few people did, and stood three times for parliament, but failed on each occasion.
He employed top architect James Bennie to build his house, but tragically, he never got to live there. During construction, he was hospitalised, and his life was cut short at the age of 36 by tuberculosis.
The grand home sits on 12.88ha of land in Wellington’s Eastbourne. Photo / Supplied
Glenwood has been home to several high-profile residents, including a doctor, the assistant manager of the Port Shipping Line, film producer Roger Mirams, and Eugene Louis Lestocquoy, Croix de Guerre, Trade Commissioner for France.
The vendors bought the heritage-listed home in 2002 for $1m. They knew it well, having lived in the area, and loved its rich history. “It had wow factor,” Liz Ross told OneRoof ahead of the auction.
OneRoof previously reported that the Ross family had hoped their now-adult children would take over the home, but plans had changed. “One of the children was going to move back, do it up and live in it, and it was going to stay in the family,” Pollock told OneRoof.
“The children aren’t moving back to Wellington, so there is no need for it anymore.”
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