"It was in a terrible state," said Mrs McAuley, who first saw it when she was 5 and it had remained a favourite.
Years later when she and Mr Bell were looking for property, they had walked past the house and "luckily he fell in love with it too".
The house was an important centre for Maori leaders visiting Wellington on political business and was also home to a few.
The Hon Te Heuheu Tukino, chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, lived there in the early 1900s with his family. He is known for leading a committee of chiefs who worked in Wellington to support Maori members of Parliament and to see petitions through the native affairs committee.
Notable visitors to the house have included King Mahuta, Sir James Carroll and Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward.
The house was also home to Wiremu Ratana, the founder of a Maori religious movement that, in the late 1920s, became a major political movement.
The house was eventually turned into a boarding house in the 1950s and, after that, remained empty for many years.
Rumours persist of a ghost, Te Heuheu's sister Te Kahui, weeping in the grounds of the house, remembering its former glory.
Mrs McAuley said a lot of Lyall Bay locals visiting Vynfields reported their parents had talked about seeing the ghost.
She said that on one occasion a plumber who had gone to the house to do a job sent another person to do it when he heard about the spirit.
She said she was sceptical but lots of people had been "absolutely sure about it".
"We think it stayed with the land," she said.
The two-storey house has been the couple's home and also includes a cafe and wine bar.
Besides the vineyard, the 5.3-hectare property also has an orchard.
