How do you value a house with a priceless artwork painted on the walls?
The Parnell house with a priceless Michael Smither artwork painted in the entry and stairwell has sold at auction for $4.18 million. Listing agent Linda Galbraith of Barfoot & Thompson Parnell says there was a lot of interest in the Takutai Street house at the auction on May 19, 2021, and the buyer is “absolutely ecstatic”. “I did ask him before the auction if he was going to keep the artwork and he said ‘yes, yes, yes’. But if he changes his mind, I’ll be first in line.” The aquatic mural was completed by Smither over 10 years from the 1970s when he would come around to visit friends living in the house.