- An Auckland family sold two Grey Lynn villas for over $9 million to a cohousing group.
- Cohaus plans to build 30 to 35 homes on the site, following their successful Surrey Crescent project.
- The properties housed three generations of the McClenaghan family, with proceeds partly going to charity.
An Auckland family got over $9 million for two neighbouring villas that had been part of their lives for close to a century.
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The houses on Stanmore Road, in Grey Lynn, were snapped up by a cohousing development group 10 days after they hit the market.
Ray White listing agent Stefan Powney, who marketed the properties with colleague Tristan Swart, told OneRoof that 156 developers had expressed interest in the 3083sqm site.
“We had 10 offers, all from developers, they all jumped on this pretty fast. Their plans varied, but the eventual buyers wrote a letter about what they’d done in previous projects and their intent for the property.
The buyer, Cohaus, has plans for the site. Co-director David Welch says they knew the properties well and acted fast. Photo / Alex Burton
The Stanmore Road properties sit on an over 3000sqm section in the heart of Grey Lynn. Photo / Supplied
“They have an office nearby and had been aware of this property for some time. They called me within hours of it going online."
Cohaus co-director David Welch said the group planned to build 30 to 35 homes on the site as part of a new cohousing project.
The group's first development, for 20 families, is in nearby Surrey Crescent, and
Welch said that it had given them the confidence to take on Stanmore Road.
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“It was a vast learning curve, but it’s been so successful. Everyone is happy. All the original people who moved in [four years ago] are still there,” he said.
“A lot of people get in touch with us asking ‘can we move in?’ ‘Are you doing another one?’ so we wanted to put our skills to use and show it’s not a one-off.”
Studio Nord, the architecture firm run by Welch's Cohaus partner, Thom Gill, will manage the new project, building on what they have learned from the first project which won them a New Zealand Institute of Architects award.
“[First time] it was essentially Tom and my families who took most of the risk. We bought the land and gathered the group,” Welch said.
The owners’ grandmother Mona McClenaghan bought the former farmhouse and empty section with a £100 deposit in 1941. Photo / Supplied
“This time we are lucky enough to have some funding behind us. It is a rare piece of land, and the executors were interested in the legacy for their land; they were keen on our project.”
Welch said that they aim to deliver a low-cost, sustainable development, and have the homes ready within three years.
“It is about building community, so the plans and designs are informed by the people who live there. We don’t imagine who is going to live there, we want to know who is going to live there and tell us what they want.”
Clifford McClenaghan told OneRoof last month that the properties had housed three generations of his family, and were being sold following the death of his uncle Rex last year.
Rex was the last surviving son of Mona McClenaghan, who bought 1-3 Stanmore Road in 1941. She had grown up in her parents’ house at No.5 and had eyed the villa and empty section next door. She lived there until her death in 2009, aged 100, after which Rex took over the property.
Mona’s parents, Sydney and Mary Lewis, had bought the large bungalow at 5 Stanmore Road in 1915. Clifford said Sydney had made his fortune and wanted “the best house in the street” for his family.
Mona was quite the go-getter, according to family stories. In a recording for the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection in 1990, she told researcher Kaaren Hiyama that it took months of negotiating to get her house.
There is no record of what she paid, but Mona proudly told the researcher that she had saved a deposit of £100 from her meagre wages as a waitress. Remarkably, she could take out the bank loan in her own name.
Clifford told OneRoof of the excitement of visiting Mona’s home as a child. “Mona partied, she got on well with many people and always had guests. She worked in the races; it was a great place,” he said.
“When we were kids, we would go down to the back door at No.5, and we were always welcome. We would get a couple of lollies and play around. Mona always had dogs, cats, sheep, and all that land to play on."
Mona’s zest for life was passed on to her son Rex, who, Clifford said, was a dancer and entertainer and travelled the world’s nightclubs, before coming back to nurse his mum.
Rex rubbed shoulders with showbiz royalty and even made it into the news when he updated Kiwi gossip columnist David Hartnell on the comings and goings of his famous songwriter friend who had worked with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr, Elvis and Ella Fitzgerald.
Clifford said some of the proceeds of the sale would go to charity.
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