GRAND PLANS

Upland Road is recognised as one of New Zealand’s most desirable streets. With average values in the $2 million-plus mark, it’s lined with gracious mansions set amidst mature greenery. The sort of place you’d live if you won Lotto.

There was a misfit in this street of stars, however. A derelict 1960s wooden home, abandoned and sinking into decrepitude. The owner was an old man with no family, who lived by himself, until poor health forced him into a care home.

“It was a really sad story, actually,”