‘Grand old lady’ has tales to tell

A hillside house with a history has gone on the market in Nelson, after major renovations, for offers above $2.99 million.

Anne Tucker and local conservationist Devon McLean have lived at 1A Richardson St in the Nelson suburb of Britannia Heights for nearly 10 years, and say many locals are connected to the house the couple affectionately call ‘‘the grand old lady’’.

‘‘It used to be a magnificent property and they used to have a boat at the bottom of Rocks Rd,’’ Anne Tucker said. The house has stood on the spot since 1922.

The property, which has since been subdivided, had had ‘‘various people’’ do ‘‘various things to it over the years’’, she said. It had needed light let in and the views opened up.

‘‘It has been here for nearly 100 years, and we wanted to make sure that it was going to be sustainable for 100 more.’’

The couple took five years deciding how to renovate, and began the work in 2013.

This included replacing all the windows, restoring the original window latches and door fittings, and installing underfloor heating – ‘‘a really inexpensive way to heat the house’’.

Stripping all the timber of paint and varnish was ‘‘probably the biggest challenge’’ of the eightmonth-long project.

They tried to recycle and reuse as many of the original features as possible and, in the garden, recreated a well which had featured in an 1840s painting.

‘‘Lots of people have told me ‘Ahh, I came to a party at this place,’ or ‘I used to live here,’’’ Tucker said, when explaining the decision to open up their home to the public for a fundraiser in December, following Anne’s treatment for breast cancer.

‘‘So I thought: ‘OK, well, why don’t we open it up and make some money for breast cancer in the process?’’’

The event raised more than

$4000 for the Breast Cancer Foundation.

The house was put on the market in December, for offers above $2.99m.

Steve Kelso, of Sotheby’s International Real Estate, said out-of-town buyers were a factor in the increasing number of

$2m-plus sales in Nelson.

This price was not the new norm, but was becoming more frequent, he said.

The house was opened up for a Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser in December, raising more than $4000.

1A Richardson St, Britannia Heights, is affectionately known by the owners as ‘‘the grand old lady’’.

The property has unobstructed views over Nelson Harbour.

Every window was replaced, the original window latches and door fittings were all restored and the couple installed underfloor heating throughout the house.