Mid-century gem held by 90-year-old owners for 65 years

Auckland’s Onehunga was a new suburb when Bill and Jean Price asked their mate to design a house for the section they’d just bought there.

A recent architecture school graduate, Ross Lee had already impressed them with the design he’d done for his mum’s house - in fact, there were lots of unique, interesting things about that house the Prices wanted Lee to copy for their place.

It was 1959, tracts of rural land on the outskirts of booming Auckland were being re-zoned and carved up for development, and banks were more inclined to loan money for new builds than for renovations. The Prices, just 26 and 24 at the time, jumped at the opportunity to buy some land and build their own home.

Having grown up in draughty old villas and pokey old bungalows, they wanted something new and modern that worked with the environment, not in spite of it.

"He did this as a favour to them," says the Prices’ youngest child, daughter Bronwyn, who, along with two older brothers, grew up at the house. "He'd been their groomsman at their wedding the year before. He was only 24."

The couple’s brief was simple: a small house, that a young married couple could afford, that makes the most of the location, and leaves room for them to add on as and their family grows and money allows.

Inspired by modernism, and the ground breaking work of Bill Wilson and the Group Architects, Lee set to work.

Unlike most builds, which were oriented towards the road, because it was a new subdivision, Lee was able to orient the home towards the sun. Floor to ceiling glass walls and post and beam construction meant the home would be flooded with light, with views of the surrounding bush giving the home privacy and a sense of being close to nature.

The design would feature soaring, open ceilings, exposed beams, built in furniture, and storage used to divide spaces, without blocking light. Central to the home would be a large brick fireplace, that separated the foyer from the living room.

The first stage of the build was the upstairs rooms, a semi open plane living/dining/foyer/kitchen space, with one double bedroom at the other end of the house. The work began in 1959, and the couple moved in in 1960.

The ground below sloped away from the house, leaving space for an extension that would come a few years later, when the couple started welcoming their children. An extension off the back of the house would include four bedrooms, an ensuite and a rumpus/recreation room.

"With the second renovation, my brothers were teenagers, so they intentionally added all this extra space so they could have some independence or privacy."

Other than that, the family has done little to change or to “modernise” in the past 65 years. The kitchen has been updated, but it is in keeping with the Mid-century style of the home.

"Good design meant that the house just allowed a family to function so well. That's why they never moved. The good design allowed it to be such a functional house."

It’s been 65 years since the Prices moved into their home. Now in their 90s, the Prices have only recently moved to retirement care, hence the decision to list the house for the first time.

Bronwyn says her mum's hope for the future of the house is that, "somebody else enjoys it as much as we had particularly from the aspect of children growing up there with room to have adventures outside".

The house has already drawn a lot of attention from buyers and fans of Ross’ homes in Titirangi.

“Last weekend was our first open home and it was very busy,” listing agent Carolyn Ryan of Bayleys says. “We had about 40 groups through the home. Most people were there just to appreciate the house. It was just so nice to have everybody there - it was a slim opportunity for people to look through.”

The home is open for the next two weekends, on both Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm-12.30pm.

With a CV of $1,775,000, the home is for sale by auction, which takes place on September 24 at 10 am.

According to Trade Me, in August, the national average asking price for property has gone up for the first time since June 2024, to $820,800, up 0.5% year-on-year. This signals sellers and buyers having more confidence in the market.