– A Cambridge villa renovated by Eric Murray is back on the market after a year.
– Murray and Thea Lyle spent 18 months transforming the 1910 villa into a modern home.
– The market in Cambridge is mixed, with the villa’s first open homes attracting significant interest.
A Cambridge villa renovated by Olympic gold medallist Eric Murray is back on the market a year after it sold for just over $1.2 million.
Bayleys listing agent Amanda Merrington, who sold the property for Murray last year, told OneRoof that the only reason the vendors were selling was because of a change in circumstances. A new baby is on the way and they want to be nearer to family.
The vendors had snapped up the three-bedroom home at 114 Victoria Street in September last year, one week after it hit the market.
The property was given an all-star makeover by champion rower Eric Murray and his partner, Thea Lyle. Photo / Supplied
Merrington told OneRoof at the time: “They viewed the property within 24 hours of it going online, and made a pre-auction offer within a few hours of that. They knew straight away.”
Murray and his partner, Thea Lyle, spent 18 months and hundreds of thousands of dollars transforming the tired 1910 villa into a modern family home.
The champion rower told OneRoof last year that he was extremely proud of what they had achieved.
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“When we got it, it was a case of you do it right,” he said. “We’ve got an old girl, but she’s fully insulated, plus there’s a Rinnai Pro Series heating and air conditioning system. The climate control is second to none,” Murray said last year.
“We put on a new roof, we re-levelled the house, we’ve done basically everything it needs to last another 100 years.”
The whole renovation was documented on Murray’s Instagram page Cambridge Villa NZ, and caught the interest of many locals.
Merrington told OneRoof this week that the market in Cambridge hadn’t changed much in the last 12 months. “Some properties have gone up, some have stayed the same, some have dropped.”
The property is stylishly presented and is listed with same agent who sold it last year. Photo / Supplied
While some buyers were holding back, more were now starting to take action. “They are in more of a decision-making mode than I have seen in the last nine months. There is a lot of stock on the market.”
Merrington said the first open homes for 114 Victoria Street had been busy. “Interestingly, we have had a lot of people who said they had kicked themselves for not getting to the auction last time.”
Murray told OneRoof this week that he was surprised 114 Victoria Street was back on the market.
The former rower is in the final stages of his new renovation project, which is just a few streets away from his old home. “I bought a 1950s house that was run-down and needed a lot of TLC. We’ve been nutting away on the inside, and it’s about 90% finished. Just a few bits to paint,” he said.
“The property is a cross-lease title, but we arranged with the neighbour to split it into two freeholds. They were up for it.”
Murray said he still missed 114 Victoria Street. “I don’t go into these to sell them off for profit. It was a beautiful house, beautiful location. Everything about it was amazing. It could even be upgraded. Add a pool, take it to another level. But circumstances change, and that’s why we’re here,” he said.
Murray said the Victoria Street home had many advantages. “It’s right bang smack in the middle of town. It stands out like dogs’ balls. Especially down that street coming into Cambridge, you look left and go, ‘Oh wow, look at that villa’.
“When we originally took it, it was hidden behind a lot of trees. We just went, you know what, we’re going to show off the beauty of this old girl. And that’s what happened.”
– 114 Victoria Street, Cambridge, Waipa, goes to auction on October 7