- Noel Cimadom and Kim Smythe sold their 70s-inspired waterfront home in Otumoetai.
- The property, with an RV of $2.3m, targeted buyers with over $3m to spend.
- The couple are moving to Waikato for work and a lifestyle change for their work.
The Kiwi couple who revolutionised Tauranga’s nightlife have sold their dream home for an undisclosed sum.
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Noel Cimadom and Kim Smythe, the masterminds behind some of the Bay of Plenty’s best bars and restaurants, reluctantly listed their 70s-inspired waterfront pad in November last year, having decided to move to Waikato for work.
The three-bedroom property on Myers Street, in Otumoetai, was the duo’s “forever home” – a place they fell in love with the moment they saw it. Luckily for them, their buyers felt the same way.
Bayleys listing agent Gregers Andersen told OneRoof that the new owners had made an offer on the house after just two viewings. He declined to disclose the sale price, but the property had an RV of $2.3m and was targeting a buyer with over $3m to spend.
The home, designed by architect James Fenton, has a 1970s inspired vibe. Photo / Supplied
He said the new owners had the property in their sights since November, but they didn’t contact him about it until earlier this year.
“They were almost a little bit afraid to view it because they just knew they would fall in love with it, and because they hadn’t sold their home and so on, they didn’t want to go through that heartbreak.”
The couple had been in the process of selling their house in Mount Maunganui and, like many other interested parties, had been weighing up moving over the bridge because of traffic congestion in the suburb, he said.
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He said buyers approaching retirement were increasingly “coming across the bridge ... and getting more bang for their buck”.
Andersen said the house had also attracted interest from buyers based in the US and Queenstown. He had loved watching almost everyone’s jaw drop when they visited the home in person.
“Any sort of push back I had was never on the house itself. Everyone who had any interest and came to look at the house really did fall in love with it,” he told OneRoof.
Cimadom told OneRoof last year that he and Smythe had also admired the home well before they had the chance to buy it.
The marble island bench in the kitchen has been the perfect entertaining spot for the restaurateurs. Photo / Supplied
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home overlooks Tauranga Harbour and is a short stroll to the CBD. Photo / Supplied
They first spotted the Myers Street property in a magazine, and Smythe had quipped at the time that she would move to Tauranga if she could have the house.
A few years later, just after they had opened their second Tauranga restaurant – The Clarence – the couple were at a BBQ at the Myers Street house. “Kim just looked at the owners and said, ‘What are you doing living in my house?’.” Cimadom told OneRoof.
The house went up for sale a few months later and they snapped it up.
However, with Cimadom splitting his time between Tauranga and Cambridge for work, the couple decided to shift to a lifestyle block in Karapiro.
“We had a great five years there. We are moving back because the kids are growing up and are into horses and animals and farms, and so we thought we would give them a different lifestyle before they move out.”
The couple were not the first hospitality gurus to own the Myers Street property, with the house built in 2015 for the owner of Astrolabe Brewbar in Mount Maunganui.
“You can really see the connection between our house and the pub,” Cimadom said, adding that both were 70s-inspired.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Tauranga
