– First-home buyers purchased John Clarke’s childhood home in Palmerston North, sold for the first time in over 60 years.
– The house, sold by actor May Lloyd, had an RV of $600,000 but the final price was undisclosed.
– Lloyd expressed mixed emotions about the sale, highlighting the home’s readiness for a new chapter.
First-home buyers have scooped up the childhood home of John Clarke, the late comic legend whose alter ego, Fred Dagg, defined rural New Zealand to a whole generation of Kiwis.
The three-bedroom character bungalow on Milverton Avenue, in Hokowhitu, Palmerston North, was where Clarke spent his formative years and was for sale for the first time in more than 60 years.
The house passed to a new family in the 1960s and was being sold by their daughter, actor May Lloyd.
Clarke’s laconic and iconic Fred Dagg was a much-loved Kiwi comedy character. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts listing agent Tim Cook told OneRoof that some of the buyers who turned up to the open homes had never heard of Dagg, a gumboot-wearing, singlet-clad farmer who found fame in the 1970s and early 80s.
“Some of the younger buyers had blank looks on their faces. I would say, ‘Go and do some research’, or the parents would tell them, ‘Come with me, I’ll show you a YouTube clip when we get home’.”
The successful buyers, who by now are well-educated on the world of Fred Dagg, planned to make the home their own, Cook said.
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The property, which has an RV of $600,000, sold for an undisclosed sum.
Lloyd, who is best known in New Zealand for her role as a nurse on Country GP, said the family was thrilled with the sale, but added that goodbye to the house was hard. “There is a lingering sadness. But it’s ready for its new life,” she told OneRoof.
Lloyd, who lives in Australia with her actor husband Lani Tupu, said getting the house ready for sale had been a huge task. She said her parents had accumulated a lot over the years.
The house was on the market for sale for the first time in over 60 years. Photo / Supplied
“They were from a generation that threw nothing out because they had experienced the depression and the Second World War,” Lloyd said.
The process was handled with love and care and resulted in a welcoming home for the next owners. “The place felt light, clear, and lovely. It’s ready for someone else to love it. That’s the best way I can explain it.”
Clarke, who died in 2017 during a hike in an Australian park, shot to fame in the 1970s with his laconic alter-ego.
What Clarke would have made of the sale is anyone’s guess, although Dagg would have been less than enthusiastic about any process that involved a real estate agent.
He once wrote: “Like so many other jobs in this wonderful society of ours, the basic function of the real estate agent is to increase the price of the article without actually producing anything, and as a result it has a lot to do with communication, terminology, and calling a spade a delightfully bucolic colonial winner facing north and offering a unique opportunity to the handyman.”
Not Only Fred Dagg, a new documentary about Clarke, made by his daughter Lorin, premiered in Melbourne earlier this month.
– Click here to find more properties for sale in Palmerston North