Back in 2002, the long-time former owner of this well-loved but distinctly well-worn home in Freemans Bay's leafiest street decided the time had finally come for it to be nipped and tucked into the 21st century.
Being of a practical bent, she wanted to retain its existing use as a home and income while keeping its external appearance. Another aim was to introduce the gloss and mod cons that a large home in this increasingly desirable location should contain. By employing architect Jennifer Cook and a crack team of builders under Nigel Tizard, she achieved just this.
Roll on a few years and the present owners, Fran Bremner and Vince Abela (also an architect), moved in and - as architects tend to do - have put their mark on the property, too. Although not much needed changing because, as Fran says, "it was and is just like a new house", they felt they had to make a few changes - "more to make it ours than anything else". So they relocated the kitchen next to the big rear window and gave everything a new coat of white paint.
Vince also drew up plans and obtained the necessary building consent to enlarge the dining area, open up a few more links to the outdoors and revamp the master bedroom. Here, however, they paused. The house as it was worked well for the whole family. "We call it our vertical village," says Vince. "We have two sons and one of them lives in the flat upstairs; the other has the nearly self-contained studio below us. They have their independence and the security of the family fridge, and we see them all the time without having to share our living room. We all have the best of both worlds."
