Claude Megson house attracting aficionados ‘not for demolition’

Claude Megson houses rarely come on the market, and when they do, you can be sure architects, designers and students are among the first through the door.

The Barr House in Meadowbank, Auckland is no exception. But owners, Hayley and Mike, are selling privately, as they believe anyone buying a house by the late post-Modernist architect needs time to take it all in – something they can’t do with a four-week auction campaign. Although, Hayley says she knew she was onto a winner from her first visit back in 2016.

“I put one foot inside the front door, then went and stood in the main living room. I didn’t need to see anything else. I knew this was the house I wanted to buy. But we did come back to five open homes, because it is a very complicated house, and that’s how long it took us to discover everything.”

The couple are also anxious the house does not sell to the “wrong” person, like the last Claude Megson house to feature on Stuff, the Jopling House. The St Heliers house was sold two years ago for $4.2 million and was promptly bulldozed (see video below). An application was made to council in March this year for a new three-storey dwelling on the site, with five bedrooms, study, five bathrooms and a new swimming pool.

Hayley and Mike know the former owners of that house, as they know the owners of other Megson houses in Auckland – they are a tight community that catch up at open homes of other notable architectural properties.

And, as Hayley points out, another significant Megson house in Arney Road above the Shore Road cliff that collapsed during the Auckland floods has been red-stickered. That one is believed to have sold last year for more than $10 million. It has an RV of $7.4 million. “So that makes two we’ve lost,” she says.

Significantly, the only other person bidding at the auction of the Barr House when the couple bought it was a developer.

Hayley and Mike have had architects, designers and architectural students through the house on many occasions, and will be hosting another day at the end of August when they can come through before they sell. They have even had Claude Megson’s daughter and her family come through.

The couple are just the second owners – they bought off the Barr family. And they have made improvements, but “wherever possible we haven’t changed anything”, Hayley says. “That was never our intention. I’m a bit of a purist on that front.

“We did have to renovate the bathrooms as they were in a terrible state, and we have put in new heating and hotwater systems. We sought guidance from architects.”

Hayley says it’s interesting to watch young children visiting the house – there are so many nooks and crannies and different levels, they love to play hide-and-seek.

And she believes their role has been to be guardians. “It has been an incredible experience living here, and it wasn’t till we bought the house that we realised how amazing it was. You purchase these houses, but you never really own them. You live in the house, and if you’re comfortable with the idea you share it with architecture schools that like to bring students through.

“And I hope whoever the new owners are, they also share it with the community.”

Like many of Megson’s projects, the 270m², three-bedroom house has a bold, “fortified” presence to the street, opening up on the other side to lush landscaping and a pool.

One of the most dramatic features inside is a screen of colourful louvres at the entry. Hayley says eight coats of paint were required to achieve the required depth of colour. And the louvres reflect the typical Megson palette – purple, orange, yellow, magenta and white.

Other signature Megson features include sculptural forms, raked ceilings, atrium and mezzanine volumes that allow strong visual connections between spaces on different levels.

Author Giles Reid who wrote the book Claude Megson: Counter Constructions with photograph Jackie Meiring and designer Seb McLauchlan has said Megson admitted to few influences, but he openly acknowledged Frank Lloyd Wright.

“The Barr House is Megson at this most Wrightian, minus the projecting roofs,” he wrote in Homes to Love. “Like Wright’s Usonian houses, the Barr House has horizontal cedar cladding inside and out.”

And what’s next for Hayley and Mike? Hayley says her daughters are independent and setting out their own paths for the future, and the family is planning a move back to the Waikato, where Mike hails from.

“It’s time to go,” Hayley says. “Covid has been a challenge, and the kids are older, and we are thinking, maybe a lifestyle property not more than two hours from a city will be our next move.

In the meantime, prospective purchasers can contact the couple privately from this Trade Me listing. The property has an RV of $3.45 million.

Stuff has also written about Claude Megson’s stunning Wong house in Remuera, which was beautifully renovated by Charlotte and Chris three years ago.