LARNACH CASTLE

Evening Star, Issue 23500, 14 February 1940, Page 10

LARNACH CASTLE

SOLD AT ONE-HUNDREDTH ORIGINAL COST AUCTION-HAMMER FALLS AT £1,250 PURCHASER MR A. F. ARMSTRONG Auctioneering history was made today, Larnach Castle, historic landmark of Dunedin, and show place for thousands of visitors from all parts of the world, was sold at public auction, together with its 35 acrel of land, for £1,250! ■ No one was more surprised! than the purchaser himself, Mr A. F. Armstrong, of 6 View street, city, a retired caterer. Like many others, Mr Armstrong went out to the castle to-day, to see what he could pick up during the auctioning of the antiques—never for a moment contemplating the purchase of the estate and building itself. No one was more surprised than he when the property was knocked down to him for the absurdly low figure of £1,250. Mr H. L. Young, auctioneer for Alex. Harris and Co. Ltd., told the assembled people, as they clustered round the great stone steps of - the castle, that it was to be sold without reserve. He explained in detail all its many attractions and assets and then asked for a bid. Mr Jackson Pur die, he fielded, was not in good health, and had decide to sell. There was no “ fancy reserve ” on the property. “Give me a bid someone,” he asked. “ You can't shock me.” No bids were forthcoming, and then someone suggested, more in fun than in earnest, £I,OOO. That did shock Mr Young. It did more than that. It nearly howled him off the steps. Every sound and logical argument which could be advanced as'to why the property should be purchased even as a speculation was advanced by Mr Young. “ What a great advertisement this will be to my firm when it appears in the papers that Larnach Castle has been sold for £1,000.” he remarked. “ People will say, ‘ls that the best you can do? ’ ” Turning to Mr Purdie, at his elbow, ho remarked: “ What about it, Mr Purdie ?” That gentleman said it had to go. NO ENTERPRISE. Then from near the steps came a bid of £1,250 from Mr Armstrong I Chide the big gathering as he would for its lack of enterprise, Mr Young could get no further bid, and after a final warning that the place must go knocked the estate down to Mr Armstrong at the figure quoted. No one was more surprised than he. Gasps of exclamation and wonderment were heard on all sides, as those who knew the lucky purchaser came forward and congratulated him on his bargain. “ I told you it had to go. and that there was no reserve on it,” said Air Young, “ and when I say a thing I mean it.” He turned and shook hands with Mr Purdie, remarking, Well, it’s gone, Mr Purdie.” Built at a cost of something like £IOO,OOO, and thoroughly modernised by Mr and Mrs Purdie, the castle was erected in 1871. It is as solid to-day as when the first foundation stone was laid, and infinitely more attractive. , After the sale Mrs Purdie told the ‘ Star ’ that Mr Young’s statement that it cost £1,500 to install electricity into the premises was correct. “ I could get the’ purchase price nearly from the chandeliers,” she remarked. She was very sorry to part with, the property, which she and her husband purchased 15 years ago for £3,600. Since that date they had spent a tremendous amount of money in modernising the interior.

Mr Armstrong, the new proprietor, may be well remembered as the owner of the Strand and Macadams cake shops. He is now retired. He had been in the catering business for the past 25 years, he told the ‘ Star.’ Asked what he intended to do with his new acquisition, Mr Armstrong said he hadn’t the faintest idea. It had all been so sudden. He might keep it open for a, while. “ I got the shock of my life when it was knocked down to me,” he said. “It is only the price of a four-roomed villa in town.”

Some disappointed people who didn’t wake up until after the had fallen ottered Mr Armstrong a hundred or so on his deal. “ A thousand or two would be more like it,” he laughed. “ The timber on the place is worth a thousand, without touching the land or house.”

There were some hundreds of bargainhunters at the auction, most interest centring in the sale of the antiques, but the greatest bargain of all (the castle and land) they were too timid to touch.