FEATURES:
Character home in private, elevated, north-facing position in Waitakeres with wide city and harbour views. Open-plan living flows to sunny deck. Loft room that could be home theatre or child's play room. Heat pump, woodburner and HRV system.
Walking into Tironui for the first time, Katie Mills and Greg Bonnett were captivated by the views of the city and harbour.
The character home high up in the Waitakeres is perched on a ridge with a panoramic view that begins with the surrounding bush, progresses through farmland in the foothills and culminates with Auckland City and its harbour. When the couple bought the home two years ago, they were looking for a change from Ponsonby, preferably a place in Titirangi. But when they saw this property - owned by a friend - that plan changed.
"We broke all the rules," says Katie. "We walked in and fell in love with it and we bought it off one of my best friends."
And those sensational north-facing views have the same captivating effect on visitors.
"People come out here for a cup of tea and end up staying the night so we have to pull every bed out of the house," says Katie. Guests stay up to enjoy the night-time view of the city "fairy lights" from the deck, which runs the width of the house, while a double hammock has been strung up just where the hill drops away. "There's nothing better than sitting in that hammock in summer time; you get that real sense of being on the edge of a cliff," says Katie. "You grab a drink and a book and that's your afternoon."
On the other side of the house, facing the road, is a lawn surrounded by gardens with a couple of magnolia trees at one end whose trunks make perfect goalposts for Greg's son Louis and his mates when they play soccer. An ancient puriri has a hut wedged in its branches.
Inside, the house has an open-plan living area with dining and a kitchen grouped by the front door. A heat pump warms this end of the house and there is also a woodburner in the lounge, which has French doors on to the deck.
From the lounge, a glass panelled door opens into a hallway that leads to the bedrooms and a room that has been set up as a second lounge. There are spectacular views from this room and the master bedroom, which has a door on to the deck. "Lying in bed in the morning you can see what sort of day is coming up because you can see it all out there," says Katie. "And you know you are living the dream when you have tuis sitting in the pohutukawa outside the window."
At the end of the house is the main bathroom, while on the southern side of the hallway are two more bedrooms, one a guest bedroom with en suite. These look out to the front garden, and Louis' bedroom has a loft room upstairs. Katie and Greg have enjoyed every moment "up in the clouds", but the imminent arrival of their first child together means a move back into the city.
