Million-dollar hovel bought by builder trio

The property at 2 Leighton St, Grey Lynn. Marketed as Worst house / Best suburb by real estate agent Kirk Vogel from Barfoot & Thompson. Photo / Jason Ox

Owners of the run-down Auckland villa that fetched a whopping $1million-plus price-tag spent the week avoiding the media.

But today we can reveal a trio of Auckland builders - Simon Watson, Thomas Rowe and Rhys Hancock - were the successful bidders who spent large on the decaying Grey Lynn cottage, which has been widely referred to as a "hovel".

The Herald on Sunday yesterday tracked down Watson, aged 36, who said the trio planned to rebuild the rundown property at 2 Leighton St.

"We are just three Kiwi guys who are rolling up our sleeves and giving it a crack," Simon Watson, 36, said. "We want to save this house, which might have otherwise fallen down."

Public interest was high in the two-bedroom settlers' cottage, which sold for $1,075,000.

The attention made bidding at an already nerve-racking auction even worse, with Watson leaving in a hurry and avoiding cameras as soon as he won the house.

"All three of us thought the attention and interest in the property was crazy," Watson said.

"There are other properties in the area that have sold for more, which are in similar condition."

The house was described by Barfoot and Thompson agent Kirk Vogel as "the worst house" he had listed. The late 1800s cottage had no power or running water and sagging ceilings and rotten floorboards throughout.

Watson admitted the trio had hard work ahead when the property settled in two months.

"There is no hiding the fact there is a lot of work but we are up for it, 100 per cent," he said.

"We like character homes and love the area. It will be in keeping with the character of the street."

The three have enlisted an architect to draw up plans and expected to use the experience gained renovating a Westmere bungalow earlier this year.

The men "honoured the heritage" of that house as they transformed the humble 96sq m bungalow into a high-end, four-bedroom home of 254sq m with an in-ground pool outside.