Reno creates dream home
Atop Scarborough Hill, looking out over Taylors Mistake, sits one of the 700 houses in the area that were red-zoned in the Christchurch earthquakes.
It has been on the market twice, has had hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into it, and has caused its owners no small amount of sweat, tears and frustration over the years.
Now, just over a year after the current owner pulled back from a plan to sell it and decided instead to renovate, it has been transformed from a damaged house into a dream home.
And with a bill of more than $800,000, the work cost more than it would to buy the average home in Christchurch.
The man – a tradesman and solo father of two girls, who would only be named as Trevor – bought the three-storey 1990s house in Appian Lane in March 2022 for $1 million.
He had a geo-technical report done, ordered new cladding and double-glazed windows and applied for consents, and even completed a sunken courtyard, pizza oven and converted a studio on the property for a temporary home for himself and his family.
But after months of consenting delays and frustrations he put the 2762m² house up for sale just before Christmas that year.
“I’d had enough of consents, builders, architects, engineers. I just sat here waiting and waiting. It was a real waiting game,” he said.
The house was on the market for a few months and received a number of offers, but after his builder told him the consents had been approved, he could not resist taking on the renovation.
Trevor overhauled the entire house, putting in a new roof, exterior, flooring, interior and wiring and plumbing. The only thing he kept was the concrete frame.
A year on, it is clear to see why he made the decision to give the house a chance – and Trevor thinks it could now be worth in the millions of dollars.
His favourite spot? Upstairs at night, lights turned off, the reflection of a full moon glittering on the sea.
“It’s a runway to the moon,” he said. Other highlights included seeing Hector’s dolphins from the living room, watching runners waving from the track, and having a cup of coffee on the deck watching the boats.
“You’re right between two beaches. Twenty minutes out the back gate to Taylors Mistake, 20 minutes out that way to Sumner,” he said.
“It’s the best spot along the coastline.” The house is located in one of Christchurch’s most expensive suburbs, Scarborough, which as of January, had an average house value of $1,783,700.
The build, however, has not come without its fair share of trials and tribulations.
For Trevor it has been “life-changing”. Inflation over the past year meant costs of materials spiralled, with a $45,000 quote at one point for windowsjumping to $67,000 just a few months later.
“People say taking on a new build or reno is hard work. But this one, being a solo dad as well, doing that at the same time is tough.”
Even though he did a lot of the “donkey work” himself, he still ended up going wildly over budget.
When he spoke to The Press last year, Trevor estimated it would take another $400,000 to finish the project.
Now he ruefully concedes it hadn’t quite been an accurate estimate, and that it had cost more than double that.
After more than a year of stress and hard work, he is now finally ready to part ways with the house. He plans to put it on the market in around two weeks, and hopes it could fetch in the region of $2.5m.
“When I started I had black hair,” he said, pointing out that it now shows a hint of grey. “Someone’s going to be very happy here.”