This renovated villa which is reputedly Beach Haven’s oldest home, once housing the area’s early general store and post office, is for sale.
“It’s a special home in an area with an amazing sense of community,” Ray White agent Regan Golding says of 2A John Bracken Way in Beach Haven.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for lovers of villas and character homes to buy a home which offers Ponsonby and Grey Lynn vibes at a Beach Haven price point.”
Sometimes known as ‘Hilders’ Cottage’ for the family who ran early businesses from it, this home was originally built around 1910 as a farm cottage on the corner of what are now known as Beach Haven and Rangatira roads.
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The Hilder family lived in it for 23 years from 1924, shortly after that opening the general store and post office with telephone bureau in what had been a back bedroom.
When its original site was earmarked for a neighbourhood bar and restaurant in 1994, a local who wanted the historic villa to remain in the area had it relocated to its current address.
“It was relocated only a few hundred metres away from where it originally was, to a fantastic location on a quiet cul-de-sac only a stone’s throw from Shepherd’s Park. While the street address is John Bracken Way, actually the official council address for research purposes is 158 Beach Haven Road,” Regan says.
“It’s been sympathetically renovated over the years so it still retains many of its beautiful original character features, married with modern convenience. I think many people will love the sense of history which comes with this home, which was essentially the hub of the community for early settlers.”
At one stage the Hilder family had seven children living in the kauri homestead while they also operated the shop and post office from within it.
Pre-WWII private telephones were a rarity so people visited the villa to make calls, and during the war its post office delivered Defence Department telegrams when servicemen were missing, injured or killed.
These days the historic home sits on a 686sqm fully-fenced level section favouring low-maintenance subtropical planting. It was re-piled, re-wired and re-plumbed when it was relocated.
Behind its character gates, it offers off-street parking for multiple cars in addition to the free-standing double garage.
“It’s comfortable and stylish with a relaxed ambience, full of beautiful light which makes the original polished kauri floors positively glow,” Regan says.
Entry to the home reveals its high ceilings and long central hallway. There are four bedrooms arranged around it, two with bay windows, plus a family bathroom and separate powder room.
Regan says one of the bedrooms could easily serve as a second living area or home office if desired.
The open-plan living-dining-kitchen features high-gloss white cabinetry, stone benchtops and bifolds opening to outdoors.
“With a front deck, rear deck and side deck you can basically follow the sun around the home during the day and it’s great for entertaining,” Regan says.
The property is just over a kilometre from Beach Haven Wharf and its ferry service commuting into the CBD, and able to reach Hobsonville Point’s market and eateries in about five minutes.
The property goes to auction on June 10.
