SCHOOL ZONES:
Thames South Primary, Thames High School.
CONTACT:
Gill Bowden, 021 754 343, Bayleys.
AUCTION:
December 2.
Liz Kidd suspects her home's first owner, Ethel Hetherington, might be responsible for some of the more "frilly" touches to this gracious turn-of-last-century homestead.
Those touches include the elaborate plaster ceilings, which have cherubs and fruit, and the leadlights that feature Arts and Crafts Dutch scenes, including a woman wearing clogs.
Liz and her late husband Warren bought Thurlston 26 years ago when they moved to Thames to run a pharmacy.
They wanted to give their three young sons room to move and the big house, within walking distance to town and schools and its park-like grounds hidden behind the ivy-covered stone walls, was perfect.
It was a family affair in those days and Thurlston has a sister house diagonally across the street called Coniston. Liz thinks the houses may be named after a town and a lake in the Lake District in England. When Ethel lived in Thurlston, her brother lived in Coniston.
The houses are Californian bungalows and were designed by architect, G Selwyn Goldsboro from Auckland. Thurlston's land used to go down to the river and they used to go punting, "so some of the old stories go".
Image 1 of 7: Elegant and gracious bungalow is spacious enough for a baby grand in the foyer but it's also functional and warm. Photos / Supplied
In those days, Thames had a significant population - Liz was told there were 100 pubs in the main street.
"The population was more than Auckland at the time and it had a wharf and ships, and people used to go from here by boat to Auckland."
When Liz first set eyes on the house she fell for the character and the space. She liked the big family/dining room, the matai floors and the kauri verandas. There is a grand entrance where they have a baby grand piano, "so that's the scale of it".
To the right of the foyer are the living areas and they converted the old drawing room into a guest room and added an en suite.
"The dining room is spectacular," she says. "It's a bit like an ice cream cake - very highly decorated with a dome over the dining room table and the large chandelier."
There's a cosy inglenook, too, which has a fireplace and two built-in couches facing each other.
Off the inglenook is a butler's servery, then there's the entertainer's kitchen, which has a scullery and a big island bench and double oven. Off the other side of the foyer is the hallway and bedrooms: "It was really good as far as family goes because all the bedrooms are together in one wing with the bathroom."
Outbuildings include an outside loo they call the "gardener's toilet" and the laundry inside in what was the maid's room.
