Glendowie: Oriental Affair

A beautifully detailed Group Architects home is on the market for the first time in 20 years.

The Cedars, 385 Riddell Road, Glendowie.

A 1962 classic Ivan Juriss house of Group Architects fame is on the market after 20 years in the same family.

Owner Avon Adams and her husband Richard Thomas moved into the house, known to architecture buffs as the Robertson House or The Cedars, when their boys Hugh and Bevan were toddlers.

"All we had to do was empty the goldfish pond and fence off the cliff so we didn't loose anybody," recalls Avon. "Otherwise it was a perfect family house."

The boys have safely grown into strapping young men - there have been no cliff falls but plenty of rope swings and ladders and messing about with boats in the sea at the bottom of the garden. They are leaving the nest. And Avon, public affairs director at TVNZ, has realised that her busy schedule does not allow for the upkeep of an enormous house and section, nor a commute, so is re-locating to an inner city apartment within walking distance of work.

The house is reportedly the only New Zealand one to feature in the American Journal of Architecture. Other architecture writers note Juriss' richness of treatment, his love of timber and impeccable detailing. All of the principal rooms have beautiful original timbers, many of the cupboards showing distinctly Japanese tansu detailing in panels, door knobs and trims.

From a split-level entry lobby, you can go upstairs to the living spaces and main bedrooms, to more bedrooms in the mid-level, or downstairs to the rumpus room and another bedroom.

Public rooms are open to each other, sharing sun and views, but remain distinct spaces. The split-level living room was way ahead of its time and separates dining and summertime outdoor living. Enormous cedar sliding doors open to Japanese-style covered decks with sea views. The decks drop in levels into the native and sub-tropical gardens and extensive lawns.

A brick fireplace creates the second, cosy winter sitting room which captures the last of the western sun. Clever windows and cross ventilation keep the house cool and breezy in summer, while skylights illuminate internal bathrooms.

Juriss' intricately detailed design is everywhere: in the rimu and stainless steel kitchen (with its original copper hood), the copper exterior trims, and the well-proportioned beams and sarking throughout. Avon has learned that the builder was a Danish boat builder, and has grown to love his fine workmanship, often using dovetail joints.

"But the views make this place," says Avon. Indeed, only the laundry and bathrooms do not get the views, which stretch from Musick Point, Half Moon Bay and beyond. "My husband used to say why would you need a holiday house when you lived with this all year?" says Avon.

The only change the couple made to the property was to carve a fifth bedroom out of the large rumpus room that is now used as a media space. The downstairs rooms open through tropical gardens to the lawn. Further courtyards at the front of the house provide walled gardens, utility spaces and plenty of visitor parking.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 5

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 1666sq m; floor area 260sq m. Zoned Res 3B.

PRICE INDICATION: CV (2002) $1.02 million. Auction November 26.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 11am-noon, Wed 5.30-6pm.

CONTACT: Jonathan White, Barfoot & Thompson, ph 366 0015 or 021 320 300.

FEATURES: 1962 Group Architects home of cedar and concrete block. Original kitchen with dining room and two open plan living areas. Rumpus room. Decks to a landscaped section which leads to the water.