CONTACT:
Terry King, 021 484 332, or Diana King, 021 613 884.
Over the years, the home has been extended and its layout changed, but with respect to its heritage and grand proportions.From the street, Tracy Strudley and Mark Lewis' Arts and Crafts-style home sits proudly on its elevated site with what seems like a humble single garage on the road frontage.
But that building is merely a portal to a vast underground garage that can take at least seven cars.
Building it was part of a major overhaul of the property that the couple undertook to accommodate their family.
Tracy says: "At the time we had five kids and because we were blending two families we thought it would be helpful for them to have their own space. So what we did was convert the existing garage into a bedroom and bathroom and the pool house we made that into another bedroom and connected it to the house."
And that meant they needed more garage space, especially as Mark likes classic cars.
Tracy says at the time they were building the garage their neighbours were worried that an apartment block was going up in the front yard.
But now the concrete-roofed garage is covered with a flat lawn and garden beds with plants such as gardenias and port win magnolias, and the only clue to its existence being a subtle entranceway from up top by the house.
It's another chapter for a property that already had quite a story, beginning with its design in the 1920s by architect Llewellyn S Piper.
Tracy says: "18 Lucerne Rd was originally built in 1923 for William John Fletcher. The retaining wall, front steps and the two downstairs fireplaces marble work was installed in the 1930s using marble originally from the National Bank on the corner of Jean Batten Place and Shortland St."
Over the years, the home has been extended and its layout changed, but with respect to its heritage and grand proportions.
Tracy and Mark have also changed the layout to give it more flow and to suit the family's needs.
And Tracy has taken a particular interest in updating the decor, with new paint, carpet, soft furnishings, lighting, built-in furniture and bathroom fit-outs.
Image 1 of 6: Vast family home with underground garage holds pride of place in Remuera. Photos / Ted Baghurst
What was a wood-panelled foyer now sports a smart monochromatic colour scheme that recurs throughout the house.
At the rear of the house, the large kitchen/family room has a dining table with built in seating along one wall -- a spot where the family regularly congregates.
From here you can move out to the partially covered patio and in-ground swimming pool, or head in the other direction through to the formal lounge.
Behind the kitchen a butler's pantry leads through to the laundry/preparation area, which has its own entrance.
"It's great when we have caterers for parties because they can work out here and come and go out of that entrance."
Beyond there are the two added bedrooms and bathroom where the pool house and garage used to be.
Because it is serving as a bedroom, the former pool house is carpeted, but that can easily be lifted to expose the marble floor beneath if new owners want to use it for poolside entertaining.
But the grandest spaces are on the other side of the kitchen towards the front of the house with a large formal lounge with imposing marble fireplace leading through to a formal dining room with an even more spectacular marble fireplace.
Wider doors were placed between family and lounge, with the original doors now connecting lounge and dining room.
These stately spaces have benefited from Tracy's light touch and her love of luxurious drapes.
Even the powder room off the foyer is a study in elegance. Upstairs there are three more bedrooms in addition to the three downstairs with the master suite -- which the previous owners used as a media room -- featuring a walk-in wardrobe and opulent en suite with walk-in double shower and a standalone bath on a platform with views over the neighbourhood. Also on this level is another bathroom and an office overlooking the street.
With only two children at home now, Tracy and Mark are downsizing and considering splitting their time between a smaller base in Auckland and a beach house up north.
