SCHOOL ZONES:
Richmond Road Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Western Springs College, Auckland Girls’ Grammar.
CONTACT:
Marty Hall, Ray White, 0274 500168.
AUCTION:
December 11, 6.30pm.
*2 off-street parks
This old workers' cottage in Ponsonby would be almost unrecognisable to its original owners.
Dating from the late 1800s, current owner Fraser Lampen believes the cottage would have been home to dockyard workers or others working in nearby developing Auckland.
The original cottage was tiny and used to be at the back of the site, and had a lean-to where the old toilet was.
"It was just in ghastly condition, holes everywhere. The window in the bathroom didn't even have a window for the top part of it. I don't know how anyone could live in it."
Fraser, who restores and renovates houses, bought this property in June last year. He rebuilt the cottage and added a new build behind.
The big challenge was moving the cottage to the front, he says.
"One of the difficulties with it was that it's a very small sort of skinny Ponsonby site and the cottage was at the back and so therefore you couldn't really build anything on the front of it like you would do with a villa.
"So this one, I had to bring the cottage forward on the site in order to build on the back of it. But one of the tricky parts was the cottage was in the way in that current position to bring the digger in and to move the soil out and bring all the materials in, so we ended up moving the cottage around.
"Temporarily, it was dragged up to the front and put on its side so you could get up the back and then essentially build the new main part of the house there.
"Then it got turned back around, so that was definitely one of the tricky bits."
Now, the cottage is at the roadside and Fraser has created two off-street parks, which are a bonus for Ponsonby's often busy and narrow streets.
Previously, the cottage was mainly two rooms and the doorways and roof were low, but now the gables are exposed and there is a sense of height that Fraser has carried through to the modern addition out the back.
"In terms of a classic cottage which has got these gabled roofs, they're not that common so it was quite nice to be able to at least retain that."
The old cottage now makes up a lounge and a bedroom, with double-glazed windows, and a verandah which looks over Ponsonby.
It connects to the rest of the house via a hallway with American oak floors, leading down to further bedrooms, a modern bathroom and a large open-plan entertainers' kitchen and lounge.
Along with the high ceilings, the lounge has a wall of cathedral-like windows which pull back to a private courtyard enclosed by high fencing for privacy, and the kitchen has a slate island bench top and a scullery, which also has the laundry.
Cupboards have been created in every bit of available space, and off the hallway is a discreet stairway which leads up to the master bedroom with en suite and walk-in wardrobe, plus other storage space, and an urban Ponsonby view.
Image 1 of 10: Renovated 19th-century cottage in the city's trendiest suburb will appeal to urbanites
Fraser has worked in property since he was young and says these days he renovates properties for a living, relishing the creative process.
"I did a business studies degree with a property major. I've always enjoyed property and I did work as a commercial property manager for a property fund, then moved on to this."
He works with architects but has quite a bit of say in how projects are created, and many of the design aspects are his.
