SCHOOL ZONES:
St Heliers, St Ignatius, St Thomas Schools, Glendowie College.
CONTACT:
David Nightingale, 027 227 2949, or Jennie Yung, 021 774 877, Harcourts.
AUCTION:
September 20, 3pm on site.
*2 off-street parks
Like a lot of renovations, the overhaul of Philip and Alana O'Neill's 1950s weatherboard home became a bigger project than they envisaged.
The couple wanted to modernise the home they bought five years ago and change its layout for family living but ended up almost rebuilding it.
As they got into the project they realised the weatherboards they hoped to re-use needed to be replaced, as did some framing. That was on top of reroofing, regibbing, insulating the ceilings, floors and walls, and installing thermally blocked double glazing as they opened the house up more to the outdoors. They also installed central heating -- and Philip says he loves hearing it kick in on cold winter mornings before they get up.
Reconfiguring the home has meant moving the living spaces to the rear of the house so they open to the large, north-facing back lawn.
"That was one of the reasons we leapt on this place, because the house was so well positioned on the site," says Alana. "People walk through the front door and go, 'Oh my God' when they see the space we have out the back."
On the street frontage, a parking pad sits outside what used to be the garage (but is now a bedroom), and from here you make your way into the fully fenced section and past a small lawn before entering the house.
On this side, there are three bedrooms with the O'Neills' two children having a smart bathroom with monochrome colour scheme between their bedrooms.
Image 1 of 13: A thorough overhaul has taken a mid-century property in a great area from pretty plain to simply gorgeous, writes Graham Hepburn
The master bedroom is on the other side of the house and has a walk-in wardrobe with pulldown stairs in the ceiling that furnish access to a fully lined storage attic. The master also has an elegant tiled en suite with double vanities and a glass shower with double shower heads.
Alana says they tried to maximise the useable space in the house. One of the ways they achieved that was by taking what was a meandering hallway straight through the house. But they made it wide to create a sense of space, which is further accentuated when you emerge into the living area with its soaring ceilings and extensive glazing on the rear wall.
Open-plan in design, the living space has dark-stained timber floors and spans the rear of the home, transitioning east to west from kitchen to dining to living area. Off the kitchen is a cosy media room, then beyond that the laundry.
Alana says this configuration means when she is in the kitchen the children are never too far away, whether they are inside or out.
With design help from Bella Cassita, Alana created a kitchen with a stone-topped island bench/breakfast bar that has a cooktop and sink set in it.
"I really wanted to cook facing out because I am often getting the dinner ready when the kids are doing their stuff, and people naturally congregate around here," she says. "It's a fantastic kitchen for cooking and it's nice in summer when you have the doors open because it's an island and when you have them closed it's more like a galley kitchen."
Extending the roofline has created a partially covered deck that is an outdoor room given its size.
"The reason we made the deck so large is because that is where the sun is," says Philip, who adds that the back lawn has been a great asset -- big enough for cricket and rugby games as well as hosting a trampoline, fort and garden shed.
"It's that classic Kiwi thing where you will have 12 kids in the backyard and you are not sure where they all came from but they are having a great time."
Having enjoyed this project, the O'Neills are looking for a new one.
