– TV pad: Some houses are ‘boring as bats***’, but not this one<\/a><\/p>\nThey viewed other properties but kept coming back to Brown\u2019s old home. \u201cEverything else we saw was in a better state, but didn’t have the water view. We just couldn’t unsee what we saw here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dominick said: “The structure and the bones of the house really appealed to us, and we fell in love with it.\u201d <\/p>\n
It was a first-time renovation for both. Dragojevic was working for Freedom Furniture during the early stages of the project, but quit to manage what turned out to be a Grand Designs-style endeavour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a budget for interior designers, so I did it myself. We were working every weekend and after work, but then we needed to make a lot of decisions during the day when we weren’t here,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Because they were working with a tight budget, the couple lived in the house during the renovation. \u201cYou wake up and there are five builders in your living room already,\u201d Dragojevic said. \u201cIt was fun. We would renovate again, but we wouldn\u2019t live [in the house] and renovate again.” <\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2058d5912cb7f0cfed61df47f20f4d72.jpg\")
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Vendor Dunya Dragojevic quit her job to ensure the project stayed on budget and turned out the way it did. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/b9f197464f02f07b04553b21e81d50df.jpg\")
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Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. He owned 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road back in the 1970s. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Dominick added: \u201cWe’ve lived with scaffolding through the house for about two years.\u201d <\/p>\n
Real estate agents in the area have been blown away by the quality of the couple’s work. The makeover makes the most of the high vaulted ceilings and the water views. The kitchen and bathrooms all boast a high-quality finish, and the outdoor entertainment area features a firepit, a swimming pool, and a large, open deck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just couldn\u2019t believe what they were seeing. They were like, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019\u201d The couple would also love to show Brown their handiwork. \u201cIt would be fun to see [Wayne Brown’s] reaction to the renovation,\u201d Dragojevic said. <\/p>\n
The couple’s plan to set up a business together is the reason why they are selling. “As a team, we enjoy working together. But you can\u2019t really start a business while you have a mortgage,\u201d Dominick said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were tossing up what to do for quite a few months. Then Dunya\u2019s mum got cancer in Croatia. She\u2019s fine now, but it put a lot in perspective. Dunya hasn\u2019t been home for six years, hasn\u2019t seen her family. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided that the life we want now, starting our own business, spending time in Europe, seeing Dunya\u2019s family, we couldn\u2019t keep the house.” <\/p>\n
Dragojevic tearing up added: \u201cThere was an option to rent it out, but we don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea after all the renovation. It looks like a brand-new house now.\u201d <\/p>\n
Their listing agent, Terri Robinson, from Real Property Kerikeri, sold them the house back in 2022 and is enthusiastic about its chances.<\/p>\n
“This is a home like no other, with an extraordinary transformation that will appeal to the owner-occupier or the holiday home buyer. Whatever your situation, you can be sure it will tug on your heartstrings,” she says in her listing on OneRoof.<\/p>\n
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on 3956sqm of land and has a double garage and separate access to a lower-level studio. <\/p>\n
You can follow Dragojevic’s renovation work on Instragram at @dee.souliving. <\/p>\n
OneRoof reached out to Brown for comment, but at the time of publication had not heard back. <\/p>\n
– 307 Kerikeri Inlet Road, Kerikeri, Far North, is for sale, enquiries over $1.275m<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Matt Dominick and Dunya Dragojevic are selling Wayne Brown’s former Kerikeri home for over $1.275 million. –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,1258,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-33876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-latest-news","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33876","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=33876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/f76420c2217e06151ead478ff81f66d2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7d2ed4c36053ad2cc7f43d302a20a218.jpg\")
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