Instant attraction in Wadestown
TENDERS CLOSE on November 22 for a much admired and secluded character home in Wadestown that’s featured in magazines, on television and in a new book.
The supremely picturesque property, at 5 Rankin St, also is one of the suburb’s most visited.
As well as hosting the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Spike Milligan under previous owners, it’s long been a staple of the Wadestown House and Garden Walk.
Landscape designer Sarah Caughley, who founded the walk, bought the four-bedroom Edwardian villa in 1989 with her husband, Richard.
She says they’d looked at about 50 houses before seeing 5 Rankin St, which was built in 1904.
“I opened the front door and thought, ‘Oh my God, this is it.’”
She was excited by not only the 220-square metre weatherboardand-iron roof dwelling’s character but also the potential for creating a stunning garden.
Which she has – in spades. The latest publication to recognise her work is the book, Flourish: New Zealand Women and Their Extraordinary Gardens. What makes the sublime 964 square metre setting unique is the combination of a leafy Victorian garden with flat lawn on the eastern side of the house and an enchanting Italian-French courtyard garden, complete with fountain, on the western side.
The latter can be accessed off the kitchen extension, which was completed in 2007, and three of the bedrooms, including the main bedroom suite.
It’s to the right of the front door, which opens into a two metre-wide central hall with a 4m-stud height.
The formal living and dining rooms are to the left and overlook the Victorian garden. Each has a bay window and the living room also has built-in cabinetry and a working fireplace.
There’s another fireplace in the ADDRESS: 5 Rankin St, Wadestown.
AGENT: Caroline Collison, phone 027 566 1666.
VIEWING: Tomorrow, 11am11.30am.
family room, which is part of the open-plan kitchen at the end of the hall.
It combines premium appliances and a hideaway laundry with the traditional (tongue-and-groove walls with open shelving) and the funky (pineapple-shape chandeliers made from hand-beaten copper).
All the bedrooms are doubles with ample storage. One has a tiled fireplace with floor-to-ceiling shelving on either side and the main bedroom has a bay window and ensuite.
The main bathroom has painted tongue-and-groove walls and ceiling, polished floorboards, standalone bath, shower cabinet and a toilet.
Other features include ducted heating, ivy-clad driveway and a single garage below a charming guesthouse the Caughleys built in the style of their home.
“This is the first time this magnificent home has been offered for sale in nearly 30 years,” Caroline Collison, of Just Paterson Real Estate, says.
“It’s in such a private, beautiful setting you’d think you were in the country rather than just minutes from the city.”
The property has a rateable value of $1.5 million (November 2018).