Look: Inside the new heritage-style $599,000 Christchurch townhouse prize

“Everyone who bought a house between November 2024 and last month went in the draw to win,” he said.

The new house on Colombo St, Christchurch. It was given away as a prize. Photo / Brooksfield Homes

Brooksfield previously ran campaigns such as one to move to Christchurch and buy one of the company’s homes in return for their mortgage being paid for a year.

Plans for the new homes which Brooksfield built at 867 Colombo St, Christchurch. These are in the classical revival style. One of these townhouses has been given away as a prize. Photo / Brooksfield

This had great take-up, Holloway said.

“I was thinking after that: what is something we could do to really change someone’s life? After a lot of ideas, we came up with the outrageous ‘win a house’ idea. There were a few eligibility criteria, like no friends or family of any staff, the house had to be confirmed by the end of 2025, etc.

The house at 867 Colombo St, Christchurch, was won by a Christchurch man. Photo / Brooksfield Homes

“But, essentially, if you bought a house during that time, you would get one entry to go into the draw.”

Plans for one of the townhouses at 867 Colombo St, Christchurch. Photo / Brooksfield

The customer who won was planning to live in the house Brooksfield is now building for him in Christchurch.

Holloway said this may change now.

Inside the house which a local man won. Photo / Brooksfield Homes

“As you can imagine, they’re pretty overwhelmed right now.”

His name could not be released.

At 867 Colombo St, Brooksfield built eight homes in the architectural heritage style.

“This is another exceptional display of our classical revival style townhouses, designed in London by renowned classical architect Ben Pentreath,” it said.

A Brooksfield development overlooking Waltham Park in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied.

In Auckland, Brooksfield plans to build eight colonial-style weatherboard townhouses in its debut in the city.

Holloway said the company planned eight new Pt Chevalier homes on two sites, with a projected end valuation of $11.6 million.

Plans for 61 Smale Rd, Pt Chevalier, by developer Brooksfield from Christchurch. The business has arrived in Auckland because demand is high for its product, its co-founder Vinny Holloway said.

It called these places “cottages” because of their architectural design, and aimed to revive styles of homes prevalent in many older suburbs.

Deposits had been paid on five of eight Brooksfield cottages before construction began, he said last September.

Oliver Hickman and Vinny Holloway of Brooksfield.

“We’ve been marketing 51 Moa Rd with a completed valuation of just over $6m, and 61 Smale St with a completed value of $5.6m,” he said.

“We’re coming to Auckland because we have a lot of requests from Aucklanders, people who love our houses and don’t want to move to Christchurch.”

The townhouses are priced from $1.2m for a 98sq m two-bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, one study and a garage.

For $1.58m, a three-bedroom 2.5-bathroom home is for sale.

Brooksfield Mews in Spreydon, Christchurch.

The homes are planned to have pitched roofs, tall gables, finials and verandas, “more Auckland than a lot of the stuff we do in Christchurch”.

New developments in Auckland were “awful” and many Aucklanders want a villa or bungalow close to the city, Holloway said last year.

Yet many people could not afford those but they could afford a Brooksfield home, he said.

Central suburbs in Auckland had “quite a lot of bad development”.

Part of the reason why older homes last so long is because they were beautiful and people loved them, he said.

Brooksfield has delivered more than 600 houses since its inception in 2019, making Holloway and co-founder Oliver Hickman millions of dollars.

Both have featured in the Herald’s Society Insider columns.

Williams Corporation’s Matthew Horncastle said the company had a specific niche and he predicted it would do well with its shift north.

Hannah Bungay and Matthew Horncastle on the WW last April. Photo / Instagram @Hannahbungayy.

Architect Julian Mitchell, of Mitchell Stout Dodd, questioned Brooksfield homes.

“They built faux, architecturally regressive buildings. Referring to our history is important but designing carbon copies of houses built a century ago isn’t a healthy way forward,” Mitchell said.

“Old buildings have great charm but there’s something somewhat simple-minded about just re-doing it in this day and age. It’s not a progressive way of doing things,” Mitchell said.

He understood people loved quaint styles but asked how far should we look.

Shane Brealey, of build-to-rent apartment developer Simplicity Living, said it was “fantastic” that Brooksfield was coming to Auckland.

James Kellow of NZ Mortgages and Securities said that business had funded about six Brooksfield projects, including the two in Pt Chevalier.

“They’re good guys,” Kellow said of Holloway and Hickman.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.

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