Over-100-year-old Whanganui building to go under auction hammer after 8-year restoration

Historic Whanganui building Heritage House is for sale. Photo / Bevan Conley

An over-100-year-old Whanganui building is set to go under the hammer after its current owners spent eight years restoring it.

Heritage House on St Hill St was originally built as the clubrooms for the Wanganui Gentleman’s Club in 1914 and is listed as a Category B heritage building by Heritage New Zealand.

The current owner of the building, Bronwyn Paul, said she and her husband Mark Simmonds bought the building at auction, bidding against someone who planned on tearing it down to sell its bricks.

“So we stopped thinking with our heads and started thinking with our hearts because there’s no way anybody could do that,” Paul said.

The building was in pretty poor condition when they bought it, with many ceilings falling apart, walls half painted and rooms filled with junk.

Extensive work was done to restore the building and bring it back to its former glory, including resurfacing floors, rejuvenating its woodwork, rewiring and replumbing and knocking down some non-structural walls to create more space.

“We’ve done everything,” she said.

The restoration work took eight years in total, and Paul said it had been a labour of love.

“This place is such a joy to work on and live in and we don’t regret a single minute.”

One of the highlights of the project was bringing the building’s woodwork back to life after decades of neglect, particularly the main staircase at the entrance of the building.

“The stairs for instance were black and grimy and we had no idea the beauty that was underneath that,” she said.

As well as using the house’s ballroom for functions, weddings and other celebrations, it also houses multiple apartments and local businesses, as well as The Wanganui Club, whose clubroom still features the building’s original carpet from 1914.

The ballroom was currently booked out until 2025 and the couple has also added a rear courtyard and summerhouse on land which used to be part of the carpark, which Paul said had proved popular for Christmas parties.

Heritage House owner Bronwyn Paul on the building's restored kauri staircase. Photo / Bevan Conley

Paul thought the kind of person who would suit owning the house would be someone who loved Whanganui, but not necessarily someone who lived here.

“Somebody who falls in love with Whanganui values the heritage buildings, you’re not going to get much better than this.

“All the hard work’s done, they can just walk in the door and start making money because it’s making a good income,” she said.

If the building didn’t sell, she said they would continue to care for it.

It has been listed by Property Brokers Whanganui, and commercial sales consultant Richard White said it was in unbelievable condition and considered it a hidden gem of the city.

“I would say it’s almost better than it was when it was built.

“You arrive and there’s this beautiful kauri staircase that just opens up in front of you and chandeliers everywhere, it’s real grandeur,” White said.

As well as this, the various business arms of the building were doing well so he believed there was real potential for a buyer to take what the current owners have done with the place and take it even further.

“There’s a real business opportunity there to expand on.

“There’s definitely a good model there already in place that’s working well with the opportunity to expand it.”

With the amount of history tied to the building, White expected there to be a lot of interest in the building, both locally and from afar.

“There may be locals that are interested, the buyers could come from anywhere around the world really or around the country.

“It’s a very unique property, and it’s not only unique for Whanganui, it’s unique on a New Zealand scale so we do anticipate there’ll be a good level of interest,” he said.

He hoped for its next owner to be an open and honest custodian to respect the building and keep it thriving.

Once the building sold, Paul said she and Simmonds planned on taking a trip to Italy, before starting another project, something smaller than Heritage House, but just as fun.

The building will be auctioned on Tuesday, December 5 unless sold prior.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.