Batger House, a heritage-protected villa built in the 1890s, hit the market last month as a mortgagee sale after narrowly avoiding the same fate six months earlier.<\/p>\n
The five-bedroom landmark home at 358 Mount Eden Road, in Auckland\u2019s Mount Eden, was due to be sold at a mortgagee auction in November last year but was withdrawn from sale.<\/p>\n
The forced sale comes two-and-a-half years after the property was snapped up for $4.55 million by buyers looking for a family home.<\/p>\n
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The heritage home sits on a prominent corner site. The current listing shows only the exterior of the building, not the interior. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Barfoot & Thompson agent Ari Tidyman, who listed the villa last year and is selling it again this year, declined to comment on the mortgagee sale.<\/p>\n
His listing copy hasn\u2019t changed, and highlights the home\u2019s character features. \u201cWith rare character features such as carved kauri panelling, ornate ceilings, bygone wallpaper, a viewing turret and an immaculate facade, this is your chance to own something very special, with room to modernise,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe interior layout of the property comprises multiple living areas, a modern kitchen, five bedrooms, a magnificent living room and a detached double garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grounds of the property are landscaped with mature gardens, maintained lawns with the property backing onto Mt Eden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discover more:<\/p>\n
– Grey Lynn villa with Chinese roots sells for $4.4m after major \u2018surgery\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n – Mortgagee mansion linked to Ex-Black Caps star Adam Parore finally sells<\/a><\/p>\n – Craft beer legends behind Panhead selling their multi-million-dollar coastal estate<\/a><\/p>\n Tidyman\u2019s listing does not show any photos of the villa\u2019s interiors, and encourages interested buyers to get in touch.<\/p>\n The villa, which sits on a corner 1341sqm section, has an RV of $4m.<\/p>\n The ornate building is named after prominent 19th-century Auckland businessman and property developer John Batger.<\/p>\n When it hit the market in May 2023, OneRoof ran a profile of the house and its vendor<\/a>.<\/p>\n The vendor, Mark Townsend, told OneRoof that he bought the house with his late wife Del in the late 1980s and spent the subsequent decades bringing it back to life and extending its footprint.<\/p>\n Townsend said he studied the home\u2019s original features and set about recreating many of them in the new extension. \u201cI found a clever man in Onehunga who was able to make copies of the figures that are found on the friezes throughout the rest of the house,\u201d he said, adding that he obsessively matched paints and finishes to ensure the home\u2019s cohesion.<\/p>\n The listing photos from 2023 show what the interiors looked like back then. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n The home\u2019s rich heritage was carefully and painstakingly preserved. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n Period wallpaper, including designs by Victorian artist William Morris, was a key feature of the home in 2023. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n He said that the couple wallpapered most rooms with period-appropriate patterns \u2013 including designs by Victorian artist William Morris, and devotedly looked after the hand-painted ceilings in the main lounge, which evoke a sense of the magnificent Sistine Chapel in Rome.<\/p>\n Townsend\u2019s listing agent, Barfoot & Thompson\u2019s Leila MacDonald, was also the listing agent when he bought the property. \u201cI remember how funny it was because Mark and Del made their best offer to the previous owner, and he said it was $5000 too much and instructed me to go back to them with a reduced price. It\u2019s the only time something like that has happened in my entire career,\u201d she told OneRoof in 2023.<\/p>\n Batger House is the latest high-end mortgagee sale on OneRoof. <\/p>\n Last month OneRoof reported that a multimillion-dollar country estate linked to former New Zealand cricket star Adam Parore found a buyer<\/a> less than two months after it was listed as a mortgagee sale.<\/p>\n The castle at 430 Hawkins Hill Road, in Brooklyn, once housed Woofington\u2019s, a luxury hotel for dogs. It is listed as a mortgagee sale on OneRoof. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n The six-bedroom trophy home on Papakura-Clevedon Road, in Clevedon, was the home of Kiwi interior designer Danielle Francis, who was previously married to Parore.<\/p>\n And an architectural stunner that inspired a former All Black fetched $110,000 over its RV<\/a> at a mortgagee auction in May.<\/p>\n Multiple bidders competed to own the distinctive four-bedroom house designed by award-winning architect Chris Tate in Auckland\u2019s Remuera, with the hammer coming down at $2.56m.<\/p>\n In Wellington, an iconic hilltop castle at the centre of a new true crime documentary hit the market as a mortgagee sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n The former luxury dog retreat, known as Woofington\u2019s, is heading to auction on July 17, almost a year after it last sold.<\/p>\n The property, a distinctive yellow chateau at 430 Hawkins Hill Road, in Brooklyn, was snapped up in October last year for $3.2m – below its RV of $3.68m. It is now listed with Harcourts agents Paul Yianakis and Ken Dentice.<\/p>\n The listing follows the release of TVNZ\u2019s new true crime documentary about the property, What the Hell Happened at Woofington\u2019s?<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/79dff54bd94eb2268db896e3a328c901.jpg\")
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