Iconic Napier Six Sisters villa on Marine Parade sells for $1.05m

The building (right) which has been sold. Photo / Warren Buckland

One of the iconic Six Sisters buildings along Napier's waterfront has sold for the first time in almost 30 years.

The heritage-listed property at 185 Marine Pde went up for sale last October and is one of six almost identical villas - affectionately known as the Six Sisters - which stand side-by-side opposite the foreshore.

The building sold at the beginning of the month for $1.05 million.

It was previously passed in at auction and was then lined up for purchase by another buyer prior to Christmas, but that sale unfortunately fell through.

Prior to this month's sale, it had been in the hands of the same owner since 1993 and featured a ground-floor arts and crafts gallery, Arts on Parade, started by that owner.

The building first went on the market in October. Photo / Warren Buckland

The gallery has now closed after 28 years and the property includes retail space on the ground floor and a two-bedroom flat on the second floor.

Bayleys commercial and industrial real estate agent Mark Evans said a lot of people had shown interest in the historic building, and the new owner was a local.

He said the owner would look for a new tenant to occupy the ground floor space, which could be used for a retail or hospitality business.

"We had lots of inquiries from local buyers.

"There were two sorts of buyers - those who loved the location and wanted to turn it into accommodation and those who wanted a character property."

The Six Sisters survived the 1931 Napier earthquake and the buildings have drawn comparisons with San Francisco's historic Painted Ladies.

The houses were probably one of the last designs by Robert Lamb, a "versatile" British-born architect who worked in Napier between 1887 and 1895.

From carpenters to hairdressers, the occupiers of the villas were initially an assortment of Napier's working class. From the 1980s the buildings went on to have a variety of commercial uses, including an architectural studio, restaurant, cafe, a head office for a shipping company, and a variety of galleries and art and souvenir shops.

Some villas have reverted to their original use as private residences or flats.