An artist's touch in Mt Eden

By VICKI HOLDER

Although high-profile New Zealand artists Dick Frizzell and Don Binney both left their mark on the renovation process of this classic Victorian villa in Mt Eden, little remains to connect the house to its two previous owners - no forgotten canvases hide under floorboards.

However, the one feature upon which everyone remarks when they enter the living area is Superman. Commanding a prominent position between the renovated kitchen and the dining space, this dashing support post is a colourful painted legacy of the stint the Frizzell family spent here.

When Dick Frizzell and his wife Judith arrived in 1982, the house had been divided into three flats and was in a sorry state of repair. The Frizzells set about restoring it into one large home.

They built a two-roomed studio of demolition materials and planted out the garden, which today is a profusion of pongas, shrubs, roses, flowers and ferns.

In 1989, the Frizzells' friends and fellow artists Don Binney and his wife Phillippa bought the house. They stripped back the ceiling and floors in the formal lounge to reveal the original kauri.

Subsequent owners extended the Frizzell addition and added bifold doors. What was the aviary is now a spacious, north-facing deck that steps down into the garden. Lighting on posts means the deck is used just as frequently at night as it is during the day.

Old and new living areas merge comfortably. With a fireplace set at one end and silky gold drapes at the windows, the elegant formal lounge has a cosy, wintry atmosphere.

When it flows through glazed bifolds to the light and bright dining area and across to the kitchen, carpet gives way to gleaming timber floorboards. The high ceiling in the dining room is coved.

In the kitchen, beams on tongue-and-groove panelling serve as a reminder of the original lean-to. A modern skylight lets light into the area when the sun swings around to the west.

Across the polyurethaned Australian hardwood bench in the kitchen, windows slide back to leave an open space that is ideal as a servery for the barbecue, which sits on the covered porch outside. Just as handy, a trapdoor in the porch opens for stashing wood to be passed inside for the fire in winter.

It may be a coincidence, but the blue kitchen cabinetry teams with Superman's bodystocking. A stainless-steel D-end to the bench is complemented by stainless-steel door handles.

A wall of cabinetry opposite the kitchen bench opens to reveal a sizeable pantry, and as you follow the wall along, you arrive at a nook housing a desk for a computer station.

Standing in the living spaces you can glance up for a full-frontal view of Mount Eden, which rises ahead in the near distance.

Two downstairs bedrooms on the street side of the house have views over the pretty front garden, a blaze of orange when the clivias are in flower. The master bedroom has an original moulded ceiling and a big bay window with colourful stained-glass leadlights around the top. The other bedroom features a fireplace with library shelving on either side.

Two bathrooms sit downstairs, side by side off the broad hallway that runs down the centre of the house. One houses a toilet, basin and laundry, and the other the bath and basin, with storage.

Unlike many of the old villas in the neighbourhood, the timber staircase is original as this home has always featured the upstairs level. Big storage under the stairs would make an ideal wine cellar. Two more double bedrooms sit upstairs, one with views of the mountain, the other of the street.

With its lovely big spaces and central location, this comfortable home is crying out for a family. It's just around the corner from Mt Eden Village and along the road from Kohia Terrace Primary, Auckland Intermediate and the Auckland Teacher's Training College. The other bonus is it's zoned for Epsom Girls and Auckland Boys Grammar.

Vital Statistics:

Address: 10 Poronui St, Mt Eden.

Features: Formal and family living open to large deck and lush garden; two-roomed studio in the back yard; renovated kitchen; study area; four bedrooms; security lights; gas heating; Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girl's Grammar zones.

Size: Land area 592 sq m; floor area 180 sq m.

Auction: At 6 pm on Wednesday October 25 at 304 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby.

Agent: Marilyn Mexted, First National Meo Realty, Ponsonby. Ph 378 1500 bus; 630 8734 ah; 021 627 885 mob.