- Over 400 buyers showed interest in Alex Walls's North Shore home, leading to cancelled open homes.
- Harcourts agents Ben Gibson and Debs Wallace received enquiries from local and international buyers.
- The auction is expected to surpass the suburb record of $2.6 million.
Over 400 Auckland groups have declared they “love it”. The North Shore home Love It Or List It New Zealand host Alex Walls is taking to auction on Thursday has been so popular, the listing agents had to cancel the open homes.
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Harcourts agent Ben Gibson, who is marketing the off-grid wonder with colleague Debs Wallace, told OneRoof he was caught off guard by the more than 150 people who turned up to the first viewings.
“By the second weekend, we must have had 180 people. My phone ran out of battery; there were so many people signing in,” he said.
The Walls started work on their Beach Haven wonder soon after winning The Block NZ. Photo / Supplied
Listing agent Ben Gibson said architects and engineers turned up to look at the home, and that the streets outside were rammed with cars. Photo / Supplied
"Some people were waiting half an hour. It was 10 people in, 10 people out at one point. We had to stop doing open homes after that. We could not get everyone through."
He added: "The roads were jammed with cars, and really good ones at that – it looked like a showroom.”
Walls is familiar with that sort of chaos. She took part in - and eventually won - the third season of The Block NZ in 2014, and the open homes for the houses caused gridlock on Auckland’s motorways.
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Gibson said that he and Wallace decided after the second weekend to show only qualified buyers through Walls's home, which she built with her engineer husband and Block teammate Corban.
“We had 400 groups through the property. That is a lot of people trooping through your house,” he said.
Gibson said he and Wallace had received enquiries from at least six ex-pat buyers, some from as far away as Dubai, as well as buyers from around the country. Most of the serious buyers were from Mount Eden, Herne Bay, and Westmere.
The Walls meticulously crafted their multimillion-dollar home over four years. Photo / Supplied
The three-bedroom home opens to a swimming pool and spa, overlooking native bush. Photo / Supplied
Some viewers had told the agents that the house was famous, as it had appeared on Red Note, the Chinese-language version of Instagram.
Among the crowds lining up to see the three-bedroom home at 6 Island Bay Road, in Beach Haven, were architects, including one who brought a classful of students, and engineers, keen to see some of the innovative methods Walls had used in the concrete, stone, and glass building.
“One of them said, 'We have never seen foundations like this in residential, this is like commercial grade.' I have seen such raw emotion from Corban; this is going to be such a reflection of him and his time and his skills. I am proud,” Gibson said.
Corban crafted custom features like the floating stairs and the travertine stone vanities in the bathroom. Photo / Supplied
The principal bedroom overlooks the bush and water. Photo / Supplied
The agent said that he had serious interest in the auction, and although he declined to comment on where bidding might land, he expects the price to beat the suburb record of just over $2.6m.
Alex and Corban started work on the home in 2015, just after they had finished The Block. They told OneRoof at the end of last month that it had taken them four stressful years to complete the build.
The house was designed with their friend, architect Fraser Horton, and detailed to the last centimetre by Corban and his building crew, Build Strong.
“Corban was adamant that he wanted to build a house that was beyond council minimum standards; a home that was entirely built for natural disasters like earthquakes, and self-sufficient as well,” Alex told OneRoof when the house first went on the market.
The upper floor of the house has two living spaces and opens to the swimming pool and play yard on one side and a dining deck on the other. Downstairs are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a hidden laundry, plus a garage. A floating stair, designed by Corban, joins the two levels.
“Everything we have used is very organic, based on what is outside. It is like you are in another land. It is so calm. Every native bird possible makes its way through our property,” Alex said. Even their shower opens to the bush views.
The couple are selling up to move north to Orewa. It was a hard decision to make, though: “Our family lifestyle, if we could design it, would be outdoors to give our kids a traditional childhood, and a like-minded community,” Alex said.
“We are going to be building again, but it is an easier site, and I have already told Corban he is not allowed to do such custom stuff on this one.
“There are always new beginnings, but it is going to be very hard to say goodbye. It was a really hard call for us; it is such a perfect place for us as a family. It is like therapy being in that home.”
- 6 Island Bay Road, in Beach Haven, Auckland, goes to auction on September 25
