Herne Bay: Added Value

9 GALATEA TERRACE, HERNE BAY. 

Just over 91 years ago, twins Lesley and Lindsay Adams were born in the front room of 9 Galatea Terrace. 

Lesley moved out of her much-loved family home only two weeks ago. She and Lindsay, who moved back in with his sister three years ago after his wife's death, are now in a retirement village, and the time has finally come to sell a house that has been in their family for 102 years. 

"We had a wonderful childhood here," says Lindsay. "I remember all the kids in the area had trolleys, and we'd have races from the tram terminus at the top of Herne Bay Road and down around the streets on the point here. Lesley was a real tomboy and wasn't going to be a pusher or a passenger, so she went and found her own wood and wheels and made her own trolley, and then cleaned up everybody and brassed off the whole gang!" 

Both twins, and their three elder siblings, grew up to become well known in Auckland in their fields of endeavour. Eldest daughter Marjory was headmistress of Epsom Girls Grammar, a successful painter and famous in Herne Bay for her fascinating book on the area, A Hundred Years In Herne Bay. Eldest son Geoffrey worked in the New Zealand Herald's photographic department for many years; second son Dudley taught at Auckland Grammar for 45 years; Lindsay was the first headmaster of Glendowie College when it opened in 1961 and stayed for 11 years, having previously taught at Seddon College and Mt Roskill Grammar; and Lesley was one of Auckland's top tennis players and also an accomplished photographer and painter. 

Marjory and Lesley did a lot of their painting in an upstairs studio added to the house in the 1960s. Picture windows on opposite walls look across the Waitemata to the Waitakeres on one side, and across rooftops and trees on the other. 

"We'd often come up here to watch the sunsets," says Lesley. "The light up here is just lovely." 

The house, built in 1898, was originally a return-verandah villa, but as fashions changed over the years it was altered and added to. The return verandah was replaced by a flat front in the 1950s, and a 1970s kitchen runs along the north-facing rear of the house. The carpets and wallpaper will take many back to their grandparents' homes. There are still two working fireplaces in the lounge and dining room, although their original surrounds have been replaced with later styles. The side of the verandah was turned into a sunroom. 

So this is a house in one of the best streets in Auckland that is ripe for renovation. Its villa bones are still there, particularly in the high, battened ceilings. With time, effort and, yes, money, it could become an elegant, traditional home that flows more freely to its generous, north-facing garden. 

Lesley was particularly sad to leave her garden, in which she spent a lot of time over the years. Between a multi-headed cabbage tree and tall manuka is an apple tree planted by her father 100 years ago. 

"When Marjory was a baby he stopped by a plant nursery one day and spotted this apple tree that had the same name, so of course he had to buy one," recalls Lesley. 

The tree still bears Marjory apples, which Lesley says are not so good for eating straight off the tree but are delicious cooked. 

She quietly hopes that a family will buy her old family home, and a new generation will enjoy apple pies made from her garden's produce. 


Vital Statistics: 

BEDROOMS: 3+ 

BATHROOMS: 1+ 

GARAGE: 2+ 

SIZE: Land 607sq m, house 174sq m. 

PRICE INDICATION: CV (2005) 1.36 million. Auction April 12. 

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12-1pm, or by appointment. 

CONTACT: Mark Molloy, Barfoot & Thompson, ph 021 272 8207, 630 4911 a/h. 

FEATURES: 108-year-old villa in solid condition but crying out for renovation, in one of Auckland's most desirable locations. Studio upstairs with views across the harbour to the Waitakeres. Large, north-facing back yard with established trees, including a 100-year-old apple tree.