- A 100-year-old church in Westmere sold for over $3m after design help from celebrated architect Terry Hitchcock.
- The luxury four-bedroom home attracted significant buyer interest, with a final offer subject to a property sale.
- Ant and Marissa Healey transformed the church into a modern home, maintaining its historic integrity.
A 100-year-old Auckland church has sold for more than $3 million after the owners tapped a celebrated architect to help with the renovation.
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Music industry executive Ant Healey and his movie artist wife Marissa asked their friend Terry Hitchcock to bring his design skills to the deconsecrated church they bought on Faulder Avenue, in Westmere.
The result was a luxury four-bedroom home that attracted a lot of buyer attention when it hit the market for sale in March.
Bayleys listing agent Nick Gilbert told OneRoof he had close to 80 groups through the property over three weekends of open homes. However, no one was in a position to bid at auction or buy unconditionally.
“Post-auction, I got a strong offer from a family looking to upsize into the area. The wife had viewed the home and fallen in love with it,” he said.
The vendors turned what was a shell of a building into something special. Photo / Supplied
They tapped their friend, architect Terry Hitchcock, to help with the transformation. Photo / Supplied
“However, their offer was subject to the sale of their own home, on Clarence Street, in Ponsonby. I sold that property to another family within 10 days of it going on the market.
“It was a bit of a chain, but it worked out really well for all parties.”
He declined to reveal the exact sale price for Faulder Avenue but said it was above the property’s RV of $3.18m.
He said the property ticked a lot of boxes for the buyers. “It has big spaces, four bedrooms, and multiple living areas, and the flat section is big enough for their kids, who are big into football, to kick a ball around. They’ve got a number of friends in the area, which was a big part of why they looked at moving.”
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The Healeys declined to comment on the sale, but they told OneRoof about the ups and downs of turning an old church into a family home when the property was listed for sale.
Ant told OneRoof he remembered the moment his wife Marissa, a film set stylist who has worked on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show and several movies, told him she had spotted the perfect home for their family.
“I was overseas,” said Ant. “But it was clear from the moment that she saw it that we were going to buy it. She had an amazing vision for it and could see all the possibilities that it had.
“I’d been to a wedding of two dear friends there some years ago, so I knew the building. And we were just looking for somewhere interesting, a space that was not a standard villa or bungalow in the neighbourhood. It seemed to tick all the boxes.”
The Healeys wanted to preserve the essence and integrity of the church, saying it was a "real neighbourhood icon". Photo / Supplied
By the time St Cuthbert's was deemed surplus to the Anglican Diocese of Auckland’s needs, the congregation had dwindled, and it was being used as a community space for events such as elections and yoga classes, Ant said.
“We’ve had people knock on the door looking for AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] meetings that used to be held there.”
The family bought the home in 2008 for $790,000. Once they’d settled in, the Healeys bought a caravan and moved into the yard.
“It was crazy at the time because it was just a shell when we [first visited] and in not great nick. [Marissa] had an amazing vision for it and could see all the possibilities. We loved its beautiful, huge, flat section. We loved [the] all-day sun,” said Ant. “While it didn’t feel really overly spiritual, it was always just a really beautiful, warm, and welcoming space.”
The property proved popular at the open homes, and attracted strong interest from conditional buyers. Photo / Supplied
The church was a focal point in Westmere, and the Healeys were driven to keep it that way. “It was a real neighbourhood icon, and we loved that. We never wanted to destroy that. Hence, we kept the integrity of the building,” Ant told OneRoof.
“We engaged a beautiful friend, architect legend Terry Hitchcock, to do some initial drawings for us as to what the inside might be.
“In true Terry Hitchcock fashion, he created some amazing spaces in a modest footprint. It unfolds as you enter it, and there are some really interesting angles and clever living spaces.
“Essentially, we built a new house inside this historic shell. We wanted to live somewhere modern. We knew that we had to insulate and put in new kitchens, and it now has four bathrooms. We wanted to be comfortable, obviously.”
A pool and extension out the back were finishing touches.
Ant said he was unsure of what they spent in the end, explaining that the renovation was done in stages over a long time. Spreading the work out added to the excitement, pain and pleasure, he said.
Ant, who is the New Zealand head of APRA, the Australasian Performing Right Association, said the couple had hosted many famous people at the house, although he declined to name names. “It has been a space for little concerts and school fundraisers. I really don’t want to drop any names.”
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