Childproof charms in Herne Bay

5 Emmett St, St Mary's Bay, Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst

5 EMMETT ST HERNE BAY

4

2

2

SIZE: Land 521sq m, house 296sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected above $2.5 million.

INSPECT: Sat/Wed 1-1.30pm.

ON THE WEB: bayleys.co.nz/4102149

SCHOOL ZONES: Ponsonby Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls' Grammar, Western Springs College.

CONTACT: Andrea and Duncan Ritchie, Bayleys, ph 021 906 793 (Andrea), or 021 400 811 (Duncan).

FEATURES: Two-year-old architect-designed house on private section, with sheltered backyard and swimming pool. Cleverly designed over three levels with huge open-plan kitchen, living and dining room opening to sheltered loggia and deck. Second living/playroom and generous storage and utility rooms.

For some people, building a house is a traumatic experience they never want to repeat. For others, it is a great project they can't wait to tackle again.

Dale Smith and Jo Castelli-Smith are clearly in the latter camp, as after only two years in the light and airy St Mary's Bay house they built, they are about to embark on another new build on land they've found near the water in Herne Bay. And that on top of building projects on Waiheke Island and Omaha Beach.

"Yes, we're about to embark on Dream House Number Two," laughs Jo. "We built this house when Ashton was a baby, so we really thought of the set-up with young kids."

But with boys Ashton, almost 5, Miller, 4, and a baby on the way, they're ready for a home with a fifth bedroom.

Walking through the Emmett St house, the couple's attention to detail and pleasure working with skilled people is clear.

When child-free Dale and Jo bought the tiny square-fronted villa in 2006, they thought it very cute, "but you couldn't swing a cat in it, let alone fit in all the paraphernalia a baby seems to bring", says Jo. Their brief to architect Julian Guthrie was for the openness, modernity and light they craved, plus four bedrooms, a separate living room and internal-access garaging.

Guthrie developed the concepts through to resource consent, then builder Mike Olson and the couple saw the project through. His plans cleverly worked with the restrictions of a typically narrow inner-city site (only one corner needed a neighbour's sign-off for going outside the building envelope), using the slope of the section to create a vaulted great room that brings visitors from the front door to the sheltered back garden. The couple thought ahead, digging out a swimming pool before the house was built and cleaning up and trimming the protected trees on the boundary to create an unexpectedly large lawn for the boys to play on.

But it is the great room that is the drawcard. Jo delights in the ease of the open-plan kitchen, where she can keep an eye on the kids playing in the yard, while their toys and mess in the adjoining playroom can be closed away at night by Japanese-style brushed-aluminium and frosted-glass sliding doors.

Indeed, the entire room can be closed off from entrance and hallway, creating a cosy winter space. The space easily accommodated over 40 people on a rainy day for the family's Christmas party, with room for caterers to spare.

Clever sliding storage is an ongoing theme of the house. Kitchens by Design's Linda Christensen tucked an entire pantry, appliance station and wet bar behind a wall of lacquered sliding doors in the kitchen, hid the TV behind a textured panel in the family room and, under the bar, a drinks fridge for Dale. White lacquer and matt paint, terrazzo and white benches and bleached American oak floors bounce light around the airy, vaulted space. The bathrooms and bedrooms have a cosier grey carpet and sophisticated tile scheme.

Off the internal-access garage, Jo detailed the dream laundry, complete with laundry chute, airing cupboard and drying racks, while the brains of the electronically controlled house are hidden under the stairs.

Guthrie's design fits four spacious bedrooms in the split upper levels, along with two luxuriously appointed bathrooms. The master suite has not only his-and-hers basins, but also his-and-hers shower heads - a rain head for him, a gentler one for her - plus a generous spa tub.