Listing urges bidders to 'be brave' over fire damage

The villa, which was built in 1890, caught fire last year. Photo / Nick Reed

A fire-damaged property in the heart of Ponsonby with a capital value of $1.37 million will go to auction next month.

Valerie Gibson, 71, died when the house where she lived with several small dogs went up in flames in October.

One of her Japanese chin dogs survived the blaze and was adopted by friends.

The square-fronted villa, built in 1890, has two bedrooms and one bathroom, according to its Barfoot & Thompson listing. The damaged villa is an opportunity to recreate what was once there, the listing says, "a reinstatement of a time gone by perhaps?"

It urges buyers to be brave and contemplate the options that the 404sq m site offer.

The house will go to auction on May 4.

Property records show the house has a capital value of $1.37 million and the Ponsonby suburb has a median house value of more than $1.55 million.

It was bought for just $210,000 in 1990 when it had a CV of $230,000 and 10 years earlier sold for $28,000, according to property records.

It's understood a friend of Ms Gibson's inherited the property but the new owner did not want to comment on the sale.

A decrepit 120-year-old Grey Lynn cottage with rotting floorboards and sagging ceilings sold at auction for $1.075 million in late 2014. The extensively renovated Leighton St property was auctioned by Barfoot & Thompson earlier this year as an "elegant renewed villa". It failed to sell under the hammer despite a $2.5 million bid, but subsequently sold for an undisclosed amount.

Auckland's median house price hit a record $820,000 last month.