{"id":389235,"date":"2026-04-20T20:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389235\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T20:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T20:06:10","slug":"renegade-artists-cult-home-for-sale-all-things-property-under-oneroof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/389235\/","title":{"rendered":"Renegade artist\u2019s cult home for sale, All things property, under OneRoof"},"content":{"rendered":"

– The unique home at 288 Wakapuaka Road, Nelson, built by artist John Gosney, is for sale.<\/p>\n

– Current owner Glenn Stewart restored the property, uncovering Gosney\u2019s art amidst overgrown gorse.<\/p>\n

– Ray White agent Dennis Christian describes the property as whimsical, with a history of council disputes.<\/p>\n

Is this New Zealand\u2019s quirkiest home? Built by a renegade artist, the unusual abode is Gaud\u00ed meets gorse and is on the market for only the second time in its history. <\/p>\n

288 Wakapuaka Road, in Wakapuaka, Nelson, is located in a former quarry and is a giant monument to local artist and landscape architect John Gosney.<\/p>\n

Gosney, who died in 2015, had convinced Nelson City Council to sell him the site, which he believed would be the perfect backdrop to his work. <\/p>\n

Current owner Glenn Stewart told OneRoof he got to know the house during his commute. \u201cI used to drive past there for work in the 90s. It was a really funky\u2011looking house with heaps of concrete bits of art,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Stewart often wondered who owned it, and then, after Gosney\u2019s death, he chanced upon a real estate listing for the house. \u201cBy that time, I\u2019d found out that John Gosney was the owner. He was a well\u2011known identity and landscape architect, and he\u2019d built numerous houses and gardens around Nelson as well as a few commercial places,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

The house, which is more artwork than home, is loved by Gosney fans. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

The home was built in a retired quarry and was overgrown when the current vendor bought it in 2015. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a massive following, and he was prolific. You see [his art] everywhere -people\u2019s letterboxes, massive stone pillars. He used to drive around in this massive Ford F\u2011150 truck with a crane on it, and he had long dreads and heaps of tattoos. He was quite the character.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got curious when I saw it was for sale and went and had a look. It was really run-down. There were huge amounts of landscaping supplies and old house parts \u2013 all sorts of funky stuff that he\u2019d made and used for his art.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d been unwell for a while [before he died]. Because it hadn\u2019t been looked after and it was quite unusual, there wasn\u2019t a lot of interest, so I managed to buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the property had been overtaken by gorse. \u201cIt was like an archaeological dig,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cYou\u2019d be clearing a bit of land and all of a sudden, you\u2019d come across an amazing Easter Island head or one of the numerous things that [Gosney] made.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Stewart said he ran online auctions for years to get rid of the discoveries, although he did keep the stuff: \u201cI thought was really cool\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said cleaning up the site was punishing work. \u201cI\u2019m reasonably competent outside. I can use machinery. [But] it was quite the undertaking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Inside didn\u2019t need a massive amount of work, just fixing a few windows, adding extra insulation to the ceiling and replacing some GIB board. \u201cIt was mainly painting. It was orange, black and purple inside when I got there. And although I do love the funky art, that had to change,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n

What stayed was the built\u2011in artwork. \u201cReally cool heads and busts and all sorts of cool things. The floors are amazing. That\u2019s concrete with inlaid tiles and bits of metal and stuff like that. All done in a really arty way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

The gardens include faux Roman pillars and hidden treasures. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Stewart has often answered the door to people who knew Gosney or were just fascinated with the house. Gosney\u2019s fans didn\u2019t extend to Nelson City Council.<\/p>\n

When Stewart turned up at the council to ask questions, there was some frostiness. \u201cMy understanding is that he had a less than easygoing relationship with them. He was a bit of a typical artist,\u201d Stewart said. <\/p>\n

Ray White listing agent Dennis Christian described the relationship between the council and Gosney as \u201ca bit of argy-bargy\u201d, especially in relation to the erection of signs, a gate that popped up without consent, and other \u201cweird things\u201d. \u201cHe was a bit of a renegade. The [property] files make some interesting reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian, who lives nearby, had never been inside the house before getting the listing and was grateful for the opportunity to sell it. Like many other locals, he loves the home, and in particular the \u201cRoman ruins\u201d in the gardens. \u201cIt\u2019s very whimsical. A quirky property,\u201d he told OneRoof.<\/p>\n

Gosney left many landmarks in and around Nelson, including the Smugglers Pub & Cafe at Tahunanui Beach. For that, Gosney sourced original wooden beams and thick steel riveted brackets from old South Island West Coast bridges and wharves, the pub\u2019s website said. <\/p>\n

\u201cTwo life\u2011sized reproduction ship cannons greet patrons at the main entrance doors. Inside, the roof space is awash with fishing nets, an old clinker rowboat and a life\u2011sized skeleton playing a piano. <\/p>\n

\u201cA motley crew of replica smugglers, seagulls \u2013 and a large rat \u2013 sets the scene of the bad old days of pirates and smuggling. Assorted old English signs, paintings and tapestries hang on the restaurant and bar walls depicting scenes from days gone by.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Gosney\u2019s obituary, he went to build a mansion in heaven when he died. <\/p>\n

His three-bedroom, one-bathroom home is up for grabs with an RV of $563,000, with Stewart telling OneRoof that he is selling to move closer to Nelson city with his partner. <\/p>\n

– 288 Wakapuaka Road, Wakapuaka, Nelson, is for sale, deadline closing April 29<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– The unique home at 288 Wakapuaka Road, Nelson, built by artist John Gosney, is for sale. –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,1258,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-389235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-latest-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389235","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=389235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}