{"id":629815,"date":"2026-10-14T00:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629815\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T00:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:16:19","slug":"family-of-98yo-landlord-with-a-heart-of-gold-sell-his-iconic-a-frame-homes-all-things-property-under-oneroof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629815\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of 98yo landlord with a heart of gold sell his iconic A-frame homes, All things property, under OneRoof"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four striking A-frame homes owned by a 98-year-old landlord with a “heart of gold” have been snapped up following a nine-month search.<\/p>\n

Worx Real Estate agent Bronwyn Abbott told OneRoof that an investor had bought the properties on Terry Street, in Auckland’s Blockhouse Bay, but declined to say if they sold for the asking price of $1.75 million.<\/p>\n

The RV for the 1697sqm site was $2.4m.<\/p>\n

The homes were the creation of Abbott’s grandfather-in-law Colin Watson, who first started building them 60 years ago and only decided to sell after moving into a retirement home.<\/p>\n

Stepson John Abbott told OneRoof in February<\/a> that Watson hired a Danish-born architect working in Auckland at the time to design the A-Frames.<\/p>\n

Watson, who worked as a mental health nurse, built the first one for Abbott and Abbott’s mother to live in.<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

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

\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 he 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

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

Discover more:<\/p>\n

– Buyer stuck overseas snaps up historic boatshed for nearly $1m<\/a><\/p>\n

– Grand Designs cliffhanger house sells sight unseen to overseas buyer<\/a><\/p>\n

– Wealthy Chow brothers relist their Auckland mega-mansion<\/a><\/p>\n

Bronwyn Abbott agreed: \u201cThe tenants always ask me how Colin is doing. They have a fondness for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

A-frame homes became popular in New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s, especially in holiday towns. They proliferated in coastal and ski towns, including Mt Ruapehu, Coromandel, Queenstown Lakes, Northland and various other popular destinations of the day.<\/p>\n

However, there are also some very unique A-frame homes currently for sale in Auckland, including a two-bedroom A-frame home at 362 Wright Road, Dairy Flat<\/a>, with significantly more glass than the standard design.<\/p>\n

The home, which has an asking price of $1.35m, is being marketed as a property that could be \u201cdemolished or transformed\u201d. Barfoot & Thompson agents Queenie Ling and Lily Zhang described 362 Wright Road in their listing as \u201ca unique art piece\u201d in \u201cdo-up condition\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

A spectacular A-frame home on 5.15ha in Auckland’s Dairy Flat is looking for a buyer willing to spend $1.35m. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

The listing for 362 Wright Road says the house “awaits its destiny – to be demolished or transformed”. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

336 Huia Road, Titirangi, in Auckland, appeared in a tense episode of Shortland Street in 2024. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a TV-famous A-frame home<\/a> in Auckland\u2019s Titirangi that appeared in an infamous episode of Shortland Street is also looking for a new owner. The “love triangle” home hidden among Kauri trees doubled as a fictional Airbnb in a 2024 episode of the hit Kiwi soap opera.<\/p>\n

However, in the real world, 336 Huia Road<\/a> is very much intact and is a striking four-bedroom 1970s home hidden among towering kauri trees.<\/p>\n

The vendors bought the home in 2016 for just under $1m. \u201cFor us, it\u2019s a very special house. We purchased it a month after getting married, and our two babies were born there. It\u2019s a very well-built house that has definitely looked after us over the years,\u201d one of the sellers told OneRoof in June this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the feeling of being amongst the kauri trees. We recognise that they\u2019ve been there for hundreds and hundreds of years, and that in itself is quite powerful. You don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re in Auckland when you\u2019re home.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Click here to find more properties for sale<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four striking A-frame homes owned by a 98-year-old landlord with a “heart of gold” have been snapped up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,1258,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-629815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","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\/629815","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=629815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}