Love letters

Years of letter writing to own this Dunedin villa culminated in a labour of love renovation

- Caroline Moratti

For four years, while living in the leafy suburb of Dunedin’s North East Valley, Claire Robinson wrote letters to the owner of the house down the road. She’d fallen in love with the villa, which although in need of some tender love and care, basked in all-day sun and enjoyed a sizeable section within walking distance to town and good schools.

But Claire’s door knocks and letters went unanswered, and life carried on. Until, as luck would have it, within a week of moving back from Perth to the scarfie city, the family of the villa’s previous owner reached out to see if she was still interested in the property. They’d found her letters while clearing out the vacant house — a serendipitous move as Claire had just settled in with her mum at the top of the steep street.

“I had no idea what condition the house was in as it wasn’t visible from the street and behind a tall holly hedge,” Claire admits. Neglected since the death of its owner, the house was far from habitable, particularly with a roof that had been leaking for years, but the very next day, Claire submitted an offer with an intention to restore the villa back to its original glory. “The builder had told me to demolish, but that was never the plan.”

The renovations