Deceased estate, 50 Maungawhau Road, Epsom, Auckland City. Video / Michael Craig
A three-level Auckland house sold for $3,050,000 after a competitive auction.
The 1950s home, designed by Rigby Mullan, features unique mid-century design elements.
The new owners, a family with children, plan to restore it as their family home.
A three-level Auckland house described as a “mid-century time capsule” off the set of the TV show Mad Men has been snapped up for just over $3 million by a family with young children who want to restore the property.
The double-grammar zone home sold for $3,050,000 at auction after a “bidding war” between two groups.
The steel and concrete 1950s home on a sprawling 2020sq m of land in Epsom features a plush leopard-print plumbed-in bar, bamboo beaded curtains, carpet on the bedroom ceiling and a sweeping red steel staircase.
Ray White real estate agent Sho Mehta said bidding at the on-site auction was tough with two groups desperately wanting it.
He said the winning bid came from a family who “fell in love with the property” and spent more than an hour after one open home walking around taking in all the details.
“They have children ranging from primary age to high school and they want to restore it into a family home,” Mehta said.
The bedroom in Colin and Hildegard Maclean's house in Epsom has the original flocked wallpaper, carpet on the ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows.
The couple also outbid others to buy the empty section at the front of the property, on 46 Almorah Rd, for $1.5 million, taking the total purchase to more than $4.5m.
Securing the front section ensured the new owners had total privacy and exclusive use of a long, sweeping driveway. The rear garden is an adventurer’s playground full of trees.
The three-level home in Maungawhau Road in Epsom. Photo / Supplied
The house was designed in 1953 by well-known architect firm Rigby Mullan as a bachelor pad for then-single businessman Colin Maclean.
Maclean, who owned Colemax Menswear on Karangahape Rd, died about 20 years ago and his wife Hildegard continued living in the house until her death in December last year.
A close family friend described Maclean as “incredibly talented, someone who loved the stars and music and who could build anything from a house to a transistor radio”.
He ran Tudor Recording Studio from his Epsom home and had an observatory on the front lawn so he and Hildegard could stargaze.
A photo of Colin Maclean standing in front of the home he built at 50 Maungawhau Rd in Epsom which has just sold. Photo / Michael Craig
An eight-page spread in Metro magazine in 2001 about the closure of Colemax Menswear revealed Maclean also owned the biggest telescope in New Zealand. Through Tudor Records he was known to produce eight-minute messages for mothers to send their sons serving in the Pacific.
Remnants of both the recording studio and the observatory remain at the house.
Fellow agent Steve Stone said the property was designed for the future and had many hidden design aspects.
The house has been untouched for 70 years and looks like the set from the TV series Mad Men. Photo / Ray White
Downpipes taking water from the roof are painted bright yellow and form part of Rigby Mullan’s design. Communication over the three levels is never a problem, with a Maclean-designed internal phone system.
“There are plenty of hidden features that make you realise how clever the design was,” Stone said.
Kirsty Wynn is an Auckland-based journalist with more than 20 years experience in New Zealand newsrooms. She has covered everything from crime and social issues to the property market and consumer affairs.
