Victoria Currey had never heard of the great New Zealand villa before landing in New Zealand.
That first visit to New Zealand was in 2001 with her Kiwi fiance Rupert, whom she had met in London when he was on his OE.
But within days of settling temporarily into Rupert's parents' place in Parnell, she'd walked past enough of those houses with their fine lines and pretty fretwork to know they were called villas -- and she wanted one.
First things first, Victoria and Rupert rented a townhouse. Then they moved twice to rented villas in Ponsonby, while still hankering for a place to call their own.
In 2003 they found this one in Western Springs, with a pleasing front yard and an even more impressive back lawn.
But it was the internals that most impressed them. And now Victoria, who knows the history of the great New Zealand villa, has something even more special than her own wooden lace.
It's the original Certificate of Title dated October 4, 1910, with a handwritten list of the previous owners, handed to the couple by their bank on settlement day.
As for making this villa their own, they continued with renovations that included new plumbing, repiling and new electrical wiring.
They put in a new kitchen and bathroom, repaired the roof and repaired or replaced the double-hung windows as necessary.
The board and batten ceilings and ceiling roses have all been refurbished.
Victoria and Rupert had new leadlight windows made for the front door, replacing the surrounding plain frosted glass panes with matching leadlight windows.
Image 1 of 7: Beautifully restored 1910 villa boasts matai floors, impressive fireplaces and a classic high stud. Photos / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
Victoria knows the architectural details here, from the matai floors to the villa mouldings including the architraves and scotias.
The surrounds and mantels around each of the back-to-back fireplaces are appreciated for their integrity, too. The lounge fireplace is gas; the dining room fireplace is non-working.
Off the back deck, Victoria and Rupert have just rebuilt their 100-year-old shed to include a purpose-built laundry and work area.
There's potential to embrace this footprint as part of an extension to the house proper to add a fourth bedroom.
Meanwhile at the front of the house, the three bedrooms on the left off the hallway have worked well for Victoria and Rupert and daughters Isabelle, 10, and Grace, 5.
Their master bedroom at the front has built-in wardrobes, as does the rear bedroom with its sloping roof and french doors out to the back deck.
Victoria and Rupert have loved the villa aesthetic, particularly the natural light beneath the high ceilings.
"We wanted to keep as many historic features as we could," says Victoria.
"I get that they are still 100-year-old houses and they might have their shortcomings -- they're old and they can be draughty -- but I love the details, the light, the high stud, the lovely perspective."
In London, Victoria owned an Edwardian flat and, as such, she understands the Kiwi equivalent of architectural significance in the features here.
She uncovered history, too, including 17 layers of wallpaper which she and Rupert peeled off and the old newspapers and magazines that were packed behind the internal walls of the shed.
For Rupert, whose grandfather was a professor of botany, it is the rear native garden he has planted -- that includes totara and various flaxes -- which is especially appealing, and the perfect antidote for life in the corporate world of IT security, he says.
Now it is his turn to bid farewell to his homeland as they shift to the UK where they'll be closer to their daughter's maternal grandparents and broader career opportunities in his IT field and Victoria's human resources specialty.
