Former schoolhouse up for sale
Once a schoolroom, a nursery, shearers’ quarters and a weekend retreat, this restored fairytale cottage in Martinborough has been in the same family for nearly 40 years.
But that’s all about to change – the cottage – estimated to have been built in the 1880s – will be auctioned today.
And listing agent Carl Fraser, of Bayleys Greytown, says there has been no shortage of interest. ‘‘It has created so much attention it has been hard to manage.’’
It’s not hard to see why – the meadow setting is picturesque and Fraser’s listing reads: ‘‘Calling all artists, writers and romantics.’’
Just as interesting is the site’s history. The Villa, as the onebedroom house is named, has been in the McDougall family since the late 1970s when John and Margy McDougall – the parents of current owner Lucy McDougall – bought Puruatanga Farm, originally part of the large Huangaroa Farm holding.
‘‘They farmed out by the coast and this was meant to be their semi-retirement farm,’’ Lucy McDougall says.
Her late parents rolled the cottage to its final resting place by sledge and rollers but it was not the first move for the building. It had been moved in the 1920s by traction engine.
In addition to being a schoolhouse for all the children of the families on the farm, the cottage was used as temporary accommodation by the farm owners on several occasions, including the two times the farm homestead was burned down – the first time was in 1900 when five people lost their lives; the second fire was around 1950.
Margy McDougall chronicled the story of the cottage in a booklet, written by hand and featuring old photos. Before the couple undertook a major renovation of the building, Margy wrote that the state of the house was ‘‘grim’’.
‘‘Upstairs was a patchwork of unfinished painting of different colours . . . bees had settled into the walls and the wax, honey and staining was impossible to remove. Paper wasps had a vast city under the floor.
Today, The Villa property covers 1.08 hectares, with the 68 square-metre house sitting on a hilltop surrounded by a grove of 100-year-old English heritage trees – plenty of room for ‘‘ponies and pets’’.
And how much can you expect to pay? Carl Fraser says its RV is $460,000. ‘‘But it is going to auction and we will set the reserve just before this, and buyer feedback will help to determine what this figure is.’’