By DANIEL JACKSON
RUSSELL - Homes from a notorious Auckland housing estate are now sitting pretty in a Bay of Islands subdivision.
Three houses from the Madeleine Ave estate sold by Housing New Zealand in 1998 have been included in a subdivision overlooking Orongo Bay, 4km from Russell, after an extensive facelift.
The former state houses on 2000m2 sections are expected to be marketed for between $200,000 and $250,000.
The two-storey houses were the last of 169 houses either demolished or moved from Glendowie's "Mad Ave," once labelled Auckland's worst street. Developer Kerry Dines bought the estate from Housing NZ for about $13 million.
They left the Waitemata Harbour on board a barge in May.
Tonya McDonald, of Ray White Real Estate, said the three-bedroomed homes had been gutted and refurbished and "look nothing like they did."
The homes were worth the effort because they were of solid native timber construction.
"They came up in such a raw state that a lot of local people were horrified but now they look really good," she said.
Far North District councillor Johnson Davis said that when locals first learned of the Orongo Bay development, called Clairmont Estate, he received a lot of concerned feedback. It had since died down.
But it is not the first time houses have been moved in the area.
In the 19th century, when manganese was mined nearby, the area was home to a number of miners' cottages.
When the mine closed in the late 1880s the cottages were dismantled and removed from the site.
Those cottages fetched the princely sum of between 2 and 5 pounds and were shipped around the Bay of Islands.
Change of scenery and state homes are stately
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.