- Lynne Collier and Bill Maslen are selling their Dunedin boatshed on Portobello Road.
- The shed, used for family gatherings, is fully furnished and includes two boats.
- Auctioneer Grant McLean plans to start the auction at $80,000, with no set price expectation.
A Dunedin couple hadn’t even been looking for a boatshed when they stumbled across one for sale on Portobello Road, in Broad Bay.
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Lynne Collier told OneRoof that she saw the shed while scrolling through property listings 13 years ago.
“I was like, ‘Oh My God’, so I shot around to see it and bought it one hour later.”
Lynne and her husband, Bill Maslen, lived nearby and knew they couldn’t muck around. “They are pretty popular, and if you don’t do it when you see it, you miss out.”
Lynne told OneRoof it had been the perfect day bach (the council does not permit boatsheds to be used for accommodation or used for commercial purposes). “The minute you walk in, it’s just so relaxing.”
A nautical theme has been adopted inside and out. Photo / Supplied
Friends and family have also used it, and the couple have hosted countless family gatherings and Christmases there (it can fit 20 people at a squeeze).
The shed is arguably the brightest in Dunedin’s Harbour. People were always stopping to take photos of it, Lynne said.
“It’s photographed all the time,” she said. “It really pops, doesn’t it?”
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Lynne said the couple had decided to sell the shed so they could focus their attention on their house renovation. It is being sold fully furnished and includes everything from the old wooden steering wheel on the wall, a day bed and two boats: a hand-made wooden kayak called a Pea Pod and a near-new Mercury Inflatable worth around $10,000.
Ray White agent and auctioneer Grant McLean said there were about 40 sheds dotted around Dunedin, and they rarely appeared on the open market.
6083 Portobello Road was a standout, though, for various reasons, including the fact that it could be connected to the power, wastewater and septic systems. “So you could put a bathroom, shower and kitchen into it.”
Another boatshed on Portobello Road sold under the hammer this week for $230,000. Photo / Supplied
He added: “The sheds generally get good attention. We market them like they are a $1m house.”
He was unable to give a price indication, but planned to open the auction at around $80,000 and see what happened.
“I don’t have an idea of where it’s going to be ... we will just listen to what people say. I will take $10,000 bids and people will either put their hand in the air or they won’t, and that’s a pretty good indication for where people see the value of the boatshed.”
McLean last sold a boatshed on Purakaunui Inlet, 30 minutes north of Dunedin, for $95,000 in April 2022. The 16sqm shed with 10sqm of decking attracted 10 bidders.
A second boatshed with electricity and a shower on Portobello Road, in Broad Bay, went to auction on Wednesday this week after being in the same family for 30 years. The auction opened at $150,000, with the auctioneer placing several vendor bids to push the price up. It eventually paused for negotiation at $230,000 before being announced on the market and sold for the same price.
- 6083 Portobello Road, in Broad Bay, Dunedin, goes to auction on December 6
