Historic Mount Victoria villa with own botanic garden

An historic Mount Victoria villa with its own botanic garden is for sale for the first time in 67 years.

The four-bedroom landmark, at 43 Austin St, is on a verdant 1472-square metre section and has been in three generations of the same family since the vendor’s grandparents bought it in 1954.

With the passing of her father, she has reluctantly decided to sell the 260sqm home called ‘Westbourne’ that’s believed to have been one of Mount Victoria’s earliest boarding houses.

Set back from the street for privacy and tranquility, below the Mount Victoria Bowling Club and metres from the town belt, it’s elevated for fantastic sun and stunning views across the city towards Mt Kaukau.

‘‘Because of the panoramic view, the police once lay on our roof for a stake-out, with longrange surveillance telescopes pointed towards Kelburn whilst my Grandmother brought them cups of tea,’’ the vendor remembers.

She refers to the densely planted property, with its secret trails and numerous native and fruit trees, as ‘‘our botanic garden or bird sanctuary, with kakas, rainbow parrots, tui, fantails … and moreporks that sing us to sleep.

‘‘It’s a home that’s deeply rooted to the earth.’’

A path threads from the bottom of the garden, where there are two single garages, past pohutukawa, kowhai and sycamore trees, and one of the few Norfolk pines in Mount Victoria, to the front steps of the twostorey dwelling.

Westbourne was built of heart native timbers and, because it was divided in half for the grandfather and his son to live in separately, has two kitchens and three bathrooms.

The front door opens off an enclosed porch with marginlight and Florentine glass into a wide central hall with a high ceiling and matai floorboards .

The main bedroom is to the left and the formal lounge to the right; both have west-facing bay windows.

Another double-bedroom, the dining room, and the kitchen and bathroom comprise the rest of this wing.

The second wing has an openplan kitchen and dining room, a lounge with an adjoining sunroom, two bathrooms and two upstairs bedrooms: one looks across to the Carillon bell tower, the other faces north-west with city views.

Other features include vintage carpet, Anaglypta wallpaper, gas heating, a retro studio with storeroom, a garden shed, an old safe and a regal flagpole.

‘‘The beautiful double-bay villa needs significant restoration, but it sits on easily the best piece of land I have ever taken to market this close to the city,’’ Craig Lowe, of Lowe & Co

Realty, says.

‘‘The size and seclusion of the garden is something you’re unlikely to ever see repeated in Mount Victoria.

‘‘With panoramic views over Te Aro and incredible sun this will appeal to developers or someone wanting to create a one-off family home to be enjoyed for generations.’’