From holes in the floor to a family haven
The Herald looks at how Kiwis have transformed run-down old properties into modern gems in our From Dump to Desirable series
The hole in the toilet was quite amusing but when you are planning a big renovation it doesn’t really matter if the toilet is falling through the floor. Nathan Laing, Rose Rd home owner
When a white weatherboard villa in Grey Lynn sold for $1.2 million in 2014 it made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
With a gaping hole in the toilet floor, waterstained ceilings and peeling paint, the price paid for the dilapidated home on Rose Rd was an example of the market “gone mad”.
But the couple who bought the character home said buying the rundown property was the only way into the market for them.
Nathan and Jessica Laing stretched their budget to buy the house and have lived in it while they have renovated over the past three years.
“We bought it as a family home as opposed to buying it to renovate and flick on so we have lived in it 100 per cent of the time,” Nathan Laing said.
“The hole in the toilet was quite amusing but when you are planning a big renovation it doesn’t really matter if the toilet is falling through the floor.”
But the unsafe toilet was the first thing to go as the couple ripped off the rear extension that housed the kitchen and original bathroom.
From there they removed the dangerous, crumbling chimney and replaced the roof, making the once-leaky house watertight.
“We also went through council and added a good-sized extension at the back, making it a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home.”
The couple have kept the villa as true to the original as possible and have resisted the urge for any architectural extension at the rear.
They had the house lifted and moved back on the 354sq m site so they could fit two cars off street at the front.
A lean-to carport was removed from the front and the traditional villa balcony and front windows were reinstated.
“It has taken us a long time to get this far but we are almost there,” Laing said.
“We have a bit of landscaping to do yet but we are glad to be in the area and we love being in our house.”