Added value - Westmere

Address: 42 Sunny Brae Cres, Westmere.

Five years ago Hamish Burt and Natasha Mahony were driven by more than just a wish to have a nice home.

``I have to say my surroundings are important to me,'' admits Natasha, ``but they weren't the driving force at the time. I needed to nest.''

Heavily pregnant with their first baby, Natasha was impatient to have a comfortable place to settle down and await the birth.

But Hamish, who is a bit of a perfectionist at heart, would not be hurried into doing anything but the best job with their solid by neglected former state house.

``Natasha's a bit like a bull at a gate, but I wanted to do it right,'' says Hamish. ``We were sleeping on a mattress in my father's house in the middle of winter, so I could see why she wanted to move things along, but I knew once we were living there again it would be impossibly difficult, especially with a newborn baby.''

So he ploughed on with stripping by hand the 13 heart rimu doors, putting extra coats of paint on the ceilings and polishing the matai floors, while Natasha crossed her fingers and hoped Oliver would hang in there.

``Everything took longer than you would ever imagine. I wanted to have one bedroom perfect for Natasha to be able to relax in with the new baby but in the end it was touch and go.''

Natasha remembers the time well. ``We were both working fulltime so Hamish only had the evenings to do the work. But by the time Oliver arrived it was all done.''

No longer dark and damp, this stylish, sturdy home now boasts three warm bedrooms, a modern bathroom and a combined living, dining and kitchen room leading out through big French doors onto a sunny deck.

``This has lovely views out over Meola Reef, and because it is west-facing, it's sunny at the time of day when we are home from work and can appreciate it.''

Oliver is now four, and happily settled in one of the front bedrooms. Then along came baby Zoe. ``I didn't plan on getting pregnant five minutes after stopping breastfeeding Oliver,'' laughs Natasha. ``We always wanted more than one child but our family grew rather faster than we imagined.''

As a result the house is now bursting at the seams. Zoe, who is now 2, sleeps in the third bedroom which Hamish created from what was once a sun room on the sunny north-west corner of the house. While it works well as a little girl's bedroom, Natasha misses its previous existence as a place to be creative in.

``This used to be the place where we had an office and I could do my painting. Now that has to happen at the kitchen table or wherever there is a bit of space. ''

So Hamish and Natasha are looking for something a bit bigger. ``It'll be hard to leave this. We put so much of ourselves into it, and it was our first home together. We want to stay in the central area so our next place will probably be another do-up, but we're resigned to that. We've had lots of practice.''

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 1

GARAGES: 0

SIZE: Land 440sq m, house 100sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV (2005) $650,000.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2-2.45pm.

ON THE WEB: www.uprealty.co.nz # 134868

CONTACT: David Simons or Angela Ryan, Unlimited Potential Herne Bay, ph 361 6485, David 021 277 7579, Angela 021 636 444.

FEATURES: Ex-state sweetheart, lovingly upgraded by its present owners, in a fast-appreciating suburb. West-facing views across Meola Reef.