Stepson John Abbott told OneRoof that the A-frames were designed by a Danish-born architect, working in Auckland at the time, and that Watson, who worked as a mental health nurse, built the first one for him and Abbott\u2019s mother to live in.<\/p>\n
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Watson built the A-frames himself with the help of a labourer. They were designed by a Danish architect 60 years ago. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
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The property next door, 52 Terry Street, is being sold with the A-frames on No.54. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cHe eventually built the other three as an income. And that\u2019s what he did progressively over the next few years as finance became available and got an income from them,\u201d he said, adding that his stepfather built them himself using only a labourer to help out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were built with pretty good quality materials. Colin was always a bit of a pioneer. They\u2019re pretty substantial. He used what was called a board made from compressed wood wool and concrete.\u201d <\/p>\n
Later on, in the 1970s, he built another home on the 1222sqm site next door. That property is also up for grabs along with the four A-frames. <\/p>\n
Discover more:<\/p>\n
– Tony Alexander: The new average – and why we all need to get used to it<\/a><\/p>\n – \u2018Bittersweet\u2019: Property hoarder sells derelict cottage for around $400,000<\/a><\/p>\n – Big kid’s rail paradise up for sale – 10 tunnels, two bridges and a 370m track<\/a><\/p>\n Abbott said of his stepfather: \u201cColin was a bit of a philanthropist, and he charged the tenants minimum rent on the basis that they would be happy to stay [in the home] as long as possible. The tenant at number four has been there for over 20 years. His children have grown up in that unit. A lot of the others have been there for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Listing agent Bronwyn Abbott, who is Abbott\u2019s daughter-in-law, agreed: \u201cThe tenants always ask me how Colin is doing. They have a fondness for him.\u201d <\/p>\n Together, 52 and 54 Terry Street<\/a> sit on almost 3000sqm of land, boast eight bedrooms and have an RV of just over $4.3m. They are for sale by negotiation.<\/p>\n The Coromandel A-frame chalets for sale at 1112 Colville Road, in Amodeo Bay<\/a>, are up for grabs for $2.8m. Retired teacher Bronnie Kennedy bought the property with her former husband when they immigrated from England a decade ago.<\/p>\n Also up for grabs are the A-frames at 1112 Colville Road, in Amodeo Bay. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n The chalets are part of Aroha A-Frames, Bush & Beach Retro Retreat. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we bought them, there was a family of ducks living in the bottom one,\u201d she told OneRoof.<\/p>\n Kennedy, who has a love of interior decoration, upgraded the chalets and brought the land back to life. \u201cWe\u2019ve done lots of native planting. I planted a hundred plants there a few years ago, and they\u2019re flourishing. The tuis are arriving.\u201d<\/p>\n She said her interest in A-frame style homes led her to join a US-based international A-frame appreciation group. \u201cThe Facebook page is hilarious.\u201d When Kennedy mentioned that she planned to put guttering on her four A-frames, the group exploded. \u201cThey all came back and said, \u2018oh no, you can\u2019t put the gutter on the bottom because the snow just backs up\u2019. Well, I don\u2019t have that problem [in Coromandel].\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy, who operates the chalets as Aroha A-Frames, Bush & Beach Retro Retreat, is selling the property privately. The property is located 13.7km northwest of Coromandel town. The 1.22ha property has an RV of $1.18m, but that does not include the business. <\/p>\n Kennedy is currently working through the options of a possible subdivision, and potential buyers will have access to any reports and documents on that process. <\/p>\n She has loved the property and running the business, but said that 10 years was enough. \u201cMy partner and I want to do a lot more travelling. I have two sons in Germany and two in Australia, so I\u2019d like to be freer to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n – 52 and 54 Terry Street, Blockhouse Bay, in Auckland, is for sale by negotiation<\/a>; 1112 Colville Road, Amodeo Bay, Thames-Coromandel, has an asking price of $2.8m<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Two lots of A-frame homes in Auckland and Coromandel, owned by separate individuals, are for sale with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1258,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-284427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-latest-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/c7714d268d0bcf3d77434677cbcf15a1.jpg\")
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