Historic Dunedin home could be one of city’s most expensive

A grand estate built by former Dunedin lawyer and politician Harry Bedford is for sale for only the fourth time in its 100-plus year history and could be one of the city’s most expensive.

The large five-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 101 Gladstone Rd, in South East Taieri, is being described as “one of the finest homes in East Taieri and greater Dunedin” and is located on the suburb’s Golden Mile.

NZ Property Solutions listing agent Denise Casey said the impressive home had earnt its title as being one of the finest in the area because of its history, periodic features and substantial 430sqm home plus 220sqm garaging.

“It’s a good representation of an early 1900s property that has had all those beautiful period features carefully retained by the owners over the years and it’s the sort of property you can’t recreate.”

The grand home is set on a private 4300sqm site surrounded by exotic and native mature trees and shrubs.

Dunedin lawyer, politician and professor of economics and history Harry Bedford built the Tudoresque-style home on the bare hillside in 1907 and lived there with his wife Ella and their four children.

Extensive renovations in the 1980s saw the house almost double in size and more recently the current owners have remodelled it to create a modern open-plan home with a modern kitchen. The period features such as the impressive winding staircase in the grand entrance and the wood-panelled formal dining room and main lounge still remain.

The home has only had four owners since it was built. The current owners have lived there for 20 years. The property last changed hands in 2002 for $900,000, OneRoof property records show.

“These types of home they just don’t come on the market very often. They tend to be the sort of homes that dreams are made of. People move in, it’s not like you will upgrade very quickly – it's that ultimate dream home whoever that buyer is.”

Last year one of Dunedin’s oldest homes, Bishopsgrove, on Patmos Ave in Woodhaugh, sold for $3.005 million after being on the market for three years, making it one of the city’s most expensive.

However, the most expensive sale in the city dates back to 2011 when an award-winning manor in Māori Hill sold for $5m.

Casey said the Bishopsgrove and Gladstone Rd properties were of a similar calibre, the main difference being that Bishopsgrove was significantly larger both in terms of house and land size.

But she feels the size of Gladstone Rd, which has a current RV of $2.74m, makes it a much more liveable property that will appeal to a wider market.

“Bishopsgrove was grand and so big that I think some buyers might have found it difficult to imagine actually living there, and it’s not to fault the home, but Gladstone, although it’s grand and is substantial in size, there’s something about it that it has a real homely feel about it.

“I think the upgrades and renovation and removal of some walls and addition of ensuites has just made it a stunning, sensational home to live in, but live in comfortably without being too grand or too over the top.”

The current owners fell in love with the property after living in London, in the UK, and moved their then young children for a complete lifestyle change.

Casey said the couple are now wanting to relocate to the North Island to be closer to their adult children and thinks the property could attract those seeking out a slower pace of life just like the current owners had.

“To have a property like this or properties of this calibre is certainly going to be attractive to some of the people that will be considering moving to Dunedin to be involved in a lot of these new projects.”

It also represented good value for money, she said, adding that a similar property in close proximity to Wellington or Auckland’s CBD would be significantly more.

“You’re not going to be in that price range, you are going to be substantially higher.”

 - By Nikki Preston, OneRoof