PHOTO: Jude Clark with the old Abbeyfield House behind. PHOTO/FILE
Abbeyfield House has been sold and is being sliced up into five pieces to be carried off Church St, Masterton, by May next year.
The move is a type of retirement for the old girl, and she hopes to find a quiet meadow on the fringes of Masterton and be put out to pasture.
But it should be a very glamorous retirement because her new owners have a penchant for “doing up” old wooden houses.
They own the renovating company Rare Buildings.
The 144-year-old, two-storey, 280m2 former St Matthew’s church vicarage on Church St was sold in October by real estate agent for Ray White Leaders Masterton Jude Clark.
Abbeyfield House comprises buildings from three eras – the manse dating back to 1876, with additions in the 1950s and 1995.
New owner Chessa Stevens said because she and her partner and business partner Rob Tilbrook brought knowledge about the complexities of moving a building to the conversation, it gave confidence to the current owners that the building would be moved properly and on time.
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