- A Timaru villa, transformed by Eve and Ian Webley, is up for sale.
- The couple spent years upcycling and designing the home with salvaged items and unique furnishings.
- Harcourts agent Tracey Shaw says Timaru's housing market is picking up, with active local buyers.
A run-down party house in Timaru has been listed for sale after a stunning transformation.
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Owner Eve Webley told OneRoof that the two-bedroom character villa at 55 Rathmore Street, in West End, was “quite a dump when we bought it”.
The self-taught furniture restorer and her husband, Ian, paid just under $280,000 for the property in 2015 and spent several years bringing it back to life.
The property has been transformed into a chic retreat thanks to the upcycling skills of owners Eve and Ian Webley. Photo / Supplied
Webley says the kitchen is her favourite spot in the home. Photo / Supplied
The couple brought their love of interior design and French flair to every room, dressing the property with salvaged gems and unique furnishings.
They even bought an old train carriage “from out the back of Geraldine” for use in the garden.
Webley told OneRoof: “I’m just a girl who grew up in Timaru, worked in an architect’s office, then went to Australia and really lived as a beach girl on the beach. I did a bit of modelling in the old days, and I worked in the tourist industry.”
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Her creativity went into overdrive after she and Ian bought 55 Rathmore Street, which has an RV of just under $600,000. She told OneRoof she started upcycling everything she could get her hands on, to the extent that she launched a shop, Old and Pretty Things, with her friend, Maree, to sell many of the recovered treasures they had found.
“We’d re-cover chairs and couches, paint furniture, fix things and put them together. My husband would find old bits of iron or stuff, and we’d make seats out of them,” she said.
While the furniture and many of the interior features at the home look like they have been imported from Europe, the reality is that it mostly came from Timaru op shops, garage sales, and The Crows Nest recycling shop at Redruth Transfer Station.
Many of the items found in the home have been saved from the local "dump". Photo / Supplied
The train carriage in the garden is a cute touch. Photo / Supplied
“I’ve brought things home – rickety and rackety and ugly – but I’ve seen what they could look like. My husband says I can make honey out of dog s***. Terrible saying, but he said, ‘You’ve got vision’. And I have got vision.”
Webley said many of her upcycled finds end up in high-end homes in Timaru and across the South Island. “I’ve done a lot for people who are actually quite wealthy, but they love it. We had a lot of Brethren come in, and they were buying left, right and centre. Sometimes we’d go to their houses and give them ideas.”
Webley said the kitchen was her favourite spot in the house. “I love my kitchen. The old butcher’s block in the middle. It’s all rugged. I’ve got an armoire, [which] I bought because I loved it so much. It’s like a big French cabinet. I’ve had a lot of people want to buy it, but I use it as a pantry.”
The property used to be a run-down party house but is now one of Timaru’s finest. Photo / Supplied
At the heart of the kitchen is an old butler sink which started life in a maternity ward in Dunedin. “I’ve carried it around with me for years because I knew one day I’d find an old house that would suit it,” Webley said. “Then I found another one [for] the scullery, which I got after the Christchurch earthquakes.”
Webley said the couple were selling up to move to the beach. “We’re building a tiny home. It’s quite exciting. When you’ve never had anything new in your life, not even a car, and you’ve worked hard and been a loyal Kiwi and done the right things, it’s nice,” Webley said.
“And I’ve got a husband who’s just so good. He’s the kindest person you could ever meet. And it’ll be good for him because he’s been one hell of a worker. He helps everyone in the district. All the old people we look after.”
Harcourts listing agent Tracey Shaw told OneRoof that Timaru’s housing market was starting to pick up. “I’ve just listed four new homes. It’s a fabulous time for properties to come on the market.”
She said she recently had six groups through the villa in the pouring rain. “Anyone willing to come out in that weather is relatively genuine because I’m sure they’ve got better things to do than trudge around open homes in the pouring rain.”
Shaw said properties were selling, with the sweet spot between $450,000 and $550,000. “I think it’s pretty much active across the board. I’ve had people through one that has an RV of $1.2m, and I have a lifestyle property under contract.”
Most of her buyers were locals, but she did get enquiries from Aucklanders wanting a lifestyle change. “I had a lady the other day who moved over from Queenstown. Her daughter lives here.”
- 55 Rathmore Street, West End, Timaru, is for sale, deadline closing October 22
