SCHOOL ZONES:
Devonport Primary School and Vauxhall Primary, Belmont Intermediate, Takapuna Grammar
CONTACT:
Prue de Bie, 021 521 242, or Lynda Betts, 021 278 3024, Bayleys
*Tandem carport for 2 cars
As former show homes go, this one was a beauty in a line-up of beauties along this side of Allenby Ave back in 1913.
Its villa street frontage was the epitome of the style of the era with its pitched roof, central entrance and decorative adornments. Inside it was about kauri floors that were most likely covered up back then, beautiful front rooms for guests and a 3.3m stud height and board and batten ceilings with elaborate ceiling roses for lighting.
It is a style that has famously proven its adaptability as lifestyles have changed. In the case of this particular villa, the stories of its various structural and decorative updates to suit lifestyle changes have been more high-profile than most.
In April 1998, this home featured in Your Home & Garden magazine, its architecturally-redesigned interior resplendent in reds and mustard tones. The central hallway was given a deep inky blue paint colour with frosted glass lights to suit.
Bi-fold windows above the 1.6m deep kitchen with its European Beech and port wine laminate cabinetry defined the end of the original house.
Four years later, the same owners brought architect Geoff Richards back to create the pavilion-style living area in a plastered/concrete block extension at the rear of the house. In doing so they added an upstand to the kitchen bench where the bi-fold windows were previously, redesigning the rear garden beyond the new deck to suit.
They painted out the entire bold interior with a contemporary choice of a pale grey and, in June 2004, they updated the magazine's readers with their latest twist on the changing life of a classic New Zealand villa.
The house as it revealed itself then is the same house Nick Howe-Smith and his wife Julie brought their family into 17 months later in December 2005. It worked as well then when teenagers Hannah and Matt were youngsters at primary school and its single-level configuration has worked well for cosy family living and large-scale entertaining.
Sliding doors above the built-in desk mean that area can be opened up to look into the lounge and beyond the two-directional rear sliding glass doors into the garden if desired.
Alcoves beside the gas fireplace have become built-in bookshelves and the whole house has been warmed up with central heating. They decided against updating the kitchen with an island bench because they felt they would lose valuable space.
But the charm of this home's previous iterations is still there, from the kids' platform in the towering feijoa tree to the square bay windows that are a feature of the front bedrooms. Best of all, this well-proportioned home had been thoughtfully well-equipped for modern living.
Beyond the galley-style laundry is a partially-covered tandem parking area including a utility space with two sheds.
Within the laundry itself, a pull-down attic ladder provides access up into standing-height roof space storage.
Elsewhere there are built-in wardrobes, tall cupboards in the hallway and two lots of full-height cupboards en route into the family bathroom. Behind the hall door into the living area an indispensable 300mm deep built-in shelving unit was already in place.
"This is a hoarder's paradise," says Nick.
Now the family is packing up their cupboards full of lifestyle props and memories for a move to a home not too far from here, both for familiarity and a change of pace.
