From rotting hovel to $4m best on the block

After a restoration costing more than $2m, it now stands proud with a large addition at the back, additional double garage with au pair quarters, heated pool and spa.

An old villa with rotting floorboards and a rusty roof is now one of the best on the block after an extensive and expensive restoration.

The heritage-protected Epsom mansion in Brightside Rd had severe water damage, nicotine-stained walls and rotten floorboards when Auckland couple Eden and Lisa Houlihan, above, bought it for $2 million four years ago.

After a restoration costing more than $2m, it now stands proud with a large addition at the back, additional double garage with au pair quarters, heated pool and spa.

"It was pretty much unliveable when we took possession," Eden said. "There was a cupboard door in the kitchen that had been pulled off and screwed to the floor to cover a big hole in the floorboards."

The property was painstakingly restored.

It had taken six months and 20 skip bins just to remove the rubbish in and around the house.

The task had been daunting but the property was painstakingly restored while the couple, their new baby son and now 13-year-old daughter lived in a small room at the front of the house.

"I had a laundry tub for a sink and a Bunnings table for a bench. They were difficult times, to say the least," Lisa said. Now the Houlihans have seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, two studies and a huge kitchen with a scullery.

No expense had been spared with the restoration.

Bathroom tiles weighed 20kg each and took a specialist tiler to install. A crystal chandelier in the entrance took five days to assemble and install and was made by the same Czech Republic company that supplied chandeliers for blockbuster movie A Good Day to Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis.

A rickety ballroom at the back of the property was removed and a large open-plan kitchen and living area, master bedroom and study was added.

The ballroom was infamous in the 1920s, Eden said. "We have heard it was well-known as the party house. It definitely had a colourful history."

The family's labour of love is now for sale as the couple has bought a new house in Westmere to move closer to family and friends.

Andre Bodde from Barfoot and Thompson Ponsonby said no expense had been spared with the restoration.

"It has all the original character but is like a new build because of the extent of the renovation."

The house, on 1,017sqm, has a current council valuation of $4m but it is expected to reach much more when it goes to auction this month.

Auckland Council files show the land the house sits on was originally part of 4ha given to cutlery merchant George Burgoyne Owen as a wedding gift from his father-in-law. The successful businessman went on to become vice-president of The Northern Club, director of the Bank of New Zealand and New Zealand Insurance.

A protected puriri tree the Owen family planted still stands on the front lawn.