A local family found themselves in a surreal moment on discovering the Pāpāmoa house they'd been contracted to demolish was their old family home.

'We bought the house in 1971 off the Roche family through Thelma Crosby,” says Fiona Pratt.

Thelma, married to Gordon Crosby, was a real estate agent at the time; the Crosby's owned the Pāpāmoa Beach Holiday Resort.

'We paid $6350 for the house. It looked like a little tram with little louvres in front, was painted a terrible blue and had a water tank which was removed.”

Fiona and Graham Pratt's son Andre Pratt is a director of AJ Demolition.

'Andre was born in Tauranga Hospital and grew up in this house with his two sisters Tania and Annick. It's absolutely amazing to think he and his father are pulling it down after 51 years.”

Fiona says they redesigned the house at 652 Pāpāmoa Beach Rd themselves, contracting Pāpāmoa builder Dave Dewhurst and renovating further over the years.

'We painted it mustard. I thought the mustard was pretty gross too.”

The house was on a water bore.

'We had to prime it every day to pump water.”

The four-bedroom home was 'quite modern,” back then says Fiona.

'All white walls with lime green carpet and blue through the back. Mediterranean style, with stained archways and a cork wall that could roll up like wallpaper. Quite novel.”

In those early years, Graham Pratt ran Pratt's Handyman Service.

'In the 1970s there was only Flays Store and the Cash's dairy up by the Pāpāmoa Domain. In later years there was another store run by Rita and Nick Haigh.”

The memories come flooding back.

'We used to go to the Pāpāmoa Hall. Did fundraisers. All of us were involved in establishing Pāpāmoa Surf Life Club, Pāpāmoa Playcentre and the Pāpāmoa Primary Swimming Pool.

'There wasn't many of us but we got together. I wasn't a leader but certainly a worker who tried to help out.”

Fiona says it was once all farmland behind their house.

'We grew potatoes in Douglas Place. An old Pāpāmoa identity Noel McLeod used to drive past up the dirt track to the farm behind us. His brother owned the cranes.”

The Pratt family's white ferrets were used to catch rabbits. Photo: Supplied.

The Pratts had pet ferrets, mainly white. Also pet ducks, pig dogs, goats, a pet weasel and even a pet pig.

'A child found the weasel. It used to live in our wood box. Graham liked to rescue animals. Our ferrets and weasels were caged and used for catching rabbits. We had a big aviary, and netting went right down so they couldn't burrow out.”

Graham ran Pratt's Handyman Service for about six years before moving on to Bay Graders, making farm tracks around Te Puke. He now works with Andre at AJ Demolition. They called Fiona when they saw which house they were due to demolish in Pāpāmoa Beach Rd.

'It was a bit sad when I went down but let's face it, we all have to move on,” says Fiona.

Graeme Pratt with son Andre Pratt demolishing the Pāpāmoa house that he and his wife Fiona Pratt bought more than 50 years ago. Photo: Supplied.